Keyword Density and It's Role in SEO

Hey readers, again I found a very informative topic in SEO which is nothing but Keyword.
Just read this post to get a better understanding of keyword density, frequency, prominence & proximity.

Keyword Density

Keyword density refers to the ratio (percentage) of keywords contained within the total number of indexable words within a web page.

The preferred keyword density ratio varies from search engine to search engine. In general, I recommend using a keyword density ratio in the range of 2-8%.

You may like to use this real-time keyword analysis tool to help you optimize a web page's keyword density ratio.

Keyword Frequency

Keyword frequency refers to the number of times a keyword or keyword phrase appears within a web page.

The theory is that the more times a keyword or keyword phrase appears within a web page, the more relevance a search engine is likely to give the page for a search with those keywords.

In general, I recommend that you ensure that the most important keyword or keyword phrase is the most frequently use keywords in a web page.

But be careful not to abuse the system by repeating the same keyword or keyword phrases over and over again.

Keyword Prominence

Keyword prominence refers to how prominent (Important) keywords are within a web page.

The general recommendation is to place important keywords at, or near, the start of a web page, sentence, TITLE or META tag.

Keyword Proximity

Keyword proximity refers to the closeness between two or more keywords. In general, the closer the keywords are the better.

For example:

How Keyword Density Affects Search Engine Rankings

How Keyword Density Affects Rankings in Search Engine

Using the example above, if someone searched for "search engine rankings," a web page containing the first sentence is more likely to rank higher than the second.

The reason is because the keywords are placed closer together. This is assuming that everything else is equal, of course.
You may find the full Article here

Search Engine Optimization Guide

Hey Readers, I hope you get a better understading of Search Engine Optimization(SEO)

Industry. I have found some good Search Engine Optimization Tips. Please go through the below points to understand the process of SEO in a better way.

1. An Introduction to Search Engine Optimization

2. Site Design Considerations

2.1 Do not use frames

2.2 Do not use dynamic URL's

2.3 Do not have an entirely FLASH homepage

2.4 Do not use image maps as the only method of navigation

2.5 Do not use javascript as the only method of navigation

3. Carefully choose your keywords

4. Optimisation of your Title Tag

5. Optimisation of your page content

6. Optimisation of your META tags

7. Optimisation of your images using "alt"

8. Optimisation of your Text Hyperlinks

9. Optimisation of Heading Tags

10. How long should I wait before re-submitting to a particular search engine?

11. Creating Doorway Pages

12. Things to Avoid ~ Optimisation for Search Engines

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1. An introduction to Search Engine Optimisation

Unfortunately simply submitting your web site to search engines will not drive traffic to your site. Although submission is an integral part of any effective search engine optimising strategy, you must achieve good search positions for anyone to find your listing. Hopefully our useful hints and tips will help you optimise your site and achieve that top ten position.

As any search engine optimisation company will tell you, getting you site listed in the first ten results for a specific keyword is as much art as a science. Anyone can get to number 1 on a unique word or trade name, but on a generic key phrase, it's much more tricky. Search engine optimising can be difficult and confusing, but once you are aware of the key optimisation techniques, time and persistence can yield a hugely gratifying reward if you get it right.

As Search Engine Optimiser's (SEO's), we ensure that the relevant words and phrases appear in the best positions on the pages. There are many other considerations, complicated by the engines modifying their preferences on a monthly basis. We pay for access to a the Wordtracker keyword database, which holds 301 million entries over the last 60 days. Using this information, we make sure that we are optimising the page in such a way that people will find it.

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2. Site design considerations

2.1 Do not use frames

One of the biggest potential pitfalls for Webmasters is search engines that do not index the text within frames. A frame is an HTML page that "frames" other HTML pages. If your site uses frames you homepage is actually a frameset with no real content. Several major engines (including Excite, WebCrawler and HotBot) do not support frames, others do not index framed sites very well. If you site uses frames we recommend redesigning your site without them if you want to get good listings in the search engines.

If you must use frames, include text in the NOFRAMES tag. Another solution is to create pages (without frames) to act as doorways or alternate entrances to your site for the purpose of giving these engines something they can see and index.

2.2 Do not use dynamic URL's

Most search engine cannot list dynamic URL's which are commonly listed on database driven sites using scripting languages such as VBScript within Active Server Pages (ASP). An example of a dynamic URL is shown below.

http://www.searchengineoptimising.com/products.asp?ID=dynamic+example



2.3 Do not have an entirely FLASH homepage

Search engines cannot index pages made entirely with FLASH. When you submit a page to a search engine a spider will follow the links on the page and listing the rest of the site. The best way to remedy this is to create a site map that uses normal html links to every page on your site. Also add a standard HTML link on each page of you site that links to the site map.

2.4 Do not use image maps as the only method of navigation

Search engines cannot index the code that makes up image maps. You can use image maps in your site but you should also include standard html links. As with a Flash site, create a site map that uses normal html links to every page on your site. Also add a standard HTML link on each page of you site that links to the site map.

2.5 Do not use javascript as the only method of navigation

Search engines can't follow links that are within Javascript, so your site will not get spidered unless you also have some form standard HTML hyperlinks that they can follow. You should add some form standard HTML hyperlinks to all of your pages on each of your pages so that your site will be spidered properly. An easy way to do this is to create a site map page uses standard HTML links to link to every page on your site. Then add a standard HTML link on each page of your site that links to the site map.

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3. Carefully choose your keywords

Target the wrong keywords and all your efforts will be in vain. Choose the right keywords and you’ll see your traffic dramatically increase. Therefore, think long and hard about what keywords people are most likely to use when search for your site. Make lists of single keywords and then combine them into phrases.

For more information on choosing and the optimisation keywords for particular search engines have a look at our keywords section.

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4 . Optimisation of your Title Tag

The title tag of your page is an extremely important factor to consider during the optimisation of a web page for search engines. This is because many engines and directories place a high level of importance on keywords that are found in your title tag. The title tag is also what the search engines usually use for the title of your listing in the search results.

What it looks like:

Here's the title tag of this page:

<TITLE>Hints and Tips - optimisation of your title tag for search engines</TITLE>

Where it belongs:

The correct placement for the title tag is between the <HEAD> and </HEAD> tags within the HTML the makes up your page.

Tag limits:

Generally, we recommend that your title tag, including spaces, be between 50-80 characters long. The optimum level differs from search engine to search engine, therefore we recommend using a tool such as WebPosition Gold 2 tool to analyse your page.

Tips for optimising your Meta Tags:

• We recommend including 1-2 of your most important keyword phrases in the title tag, be careful not to just list keywords. If you just list keywords you risk being viewed as a spamming the engines which can ultimately lead to you being blacklisted by the search engines. Your title tag should include your keyword phrases while remaining as close to a readable sentence as possible to avoid any problems.

• Make your title enticing! Don't forget that even if you get that #1 listing in the search engines your listing still needs to say something that makes the surfer want to clickthrough and visit your site.

• Since the length of your title tag could be a little long for some engines we suggest placing the keywords at the beginning of the tag when possible so that you do not risk having them cut off.

• Each page of your site should have a unique title tag with it's own keywords that related to the page that it appears on.

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5. Optimisation of your page content

Your page content is another very important factor in achieving better search engine listings. Your page content is the information that a visitor would read from the page. Search engines look through Did you know that just like a visitor to your site would read the copy on your page to figure out what you have to offer, the search engines do too? And what do you think the search engines are looking for when they 'read' your page copy? Keyword phrases, of course!

Page content tips:

• We recommend that each page you submit has at contains least 200 words.

• This text should include your most important keyword phrases, but should remain logical & readable.

• Include the phrases that you have used in your other tags (i.e. metas, alt, headings, title, etc.) during the optimisation process.

• Add additional content rich pages to your site. For example, how-to articles, hint and tips, or tutorials. These types of content pages not only help you in the search engines, but many other sites will link to them too.

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6. Optimisation of your META tags

The head element contains general information (meta-information) about a document. HTML also includes a meta element that goes inside the head element. The purpose of the meta element is to provide meta-information about the document.

Most often the meta element is used to provide information that is relevant to browsers or search engines like describing the content of your document. Some search engines will use the name and content attributes of the meta tag to index your pages.

This meta element defines a description of your page:

<meta name="description" content="Free Web tutorials on HTML, CSS, XML, and XHTML">

This meta element defines keywords for your page:

<meta name="keywords" content="HTML, DHTML, CSS, XML, XHTML, JavaScript, VBScript">

The intention of the name and content attributes is to describe the content of a page. However, since too many webmasters have used meta tags for spamming, like repeating keywords to give pages a higher ranking, many major search engines have stopped using them entirely.

Where they belong: The correct placement for both meta tags is between the <HEAD> and </HEAD> tags within the HTML the makes up your page. Their order does not really matter, but most people usually place the description first then the keywords meta. Tag limits:

• We recommend that your Keywords Meta not exceed 1024 characters including spaces.

• We recommend that your Description Meta tag not exceed 250 characters including spaces.

Meta description tips:

• Make sure you accurately describe the content of your page while trying to entice visitors to click on your listing.

• Include 3-4 of your most important keyword phrases. Especially those used in your title tag and page copy.

• Try to have your most important keywords appear at the beginning of your description. This often brings better results, and will help avoid having any search engine cut off your keywords if they limit the length of your description.

Meta keywords tips:

• Aside from what we mention in the other tips below you should only use those keyword phrases that you also used in the copy of your page, title tag, meta description, and other tags. Any keywords phrases that you use that do not appear in your other tags or page copy are likely to not have enough prominence to help your listings for that phrase.

• Don't forget plurals.

• Don't forget common misspelling of a popular keyword that could be used to find your site.

• Watch out for repeats! You want to include your most important phrases, but when doing so it can be difficult not to repeat one word many times. There in no limit, but we recommend that no one word be repeated in the keyword meta more than 5 times.

• If your site has content of interest to a specific geographic location be sure to include the actual location in your keyword meta.

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7. Optimisation of your images using "alt"

The alt attribute is used to define an "alternate text" for an image. The value of the alt attribute is an author-defined text:

<img src="optimised.gif" alt="Search Engine Optimisation">

The "alt" attribute tells the reader what he or she is missing on a page if the browser can't load images. The browser will then display the alternate text instead of the image. It is a good practice to include the "alt" attribute for each image on a page, to improve the display and usefulness of your document for people who have text-only browsers.

Although not all search engines use the Alt tab it can help your listings on some of them. We recommend on using 2-3 words for each image and using it where ever possible.

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8. Optimisation of Text Hyperlinks

A text based hyperlink is a standard HTML example optimising search (this is an example link that does not go anywhere).

Search engines use complex algorithms to see if what you are linking to is something closely related to the content of your page. Some of the engines look for keywords in hyperlinks and in the surrounding text of the hyperlinks. We recommend including your most important keyword phrases in the link itself and possibly the surrounding text.

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9. Optimisation of Heading Tags

Headings are defined with the <h1> to <h6> tags. <h1> defines the largest heading. <h6> defines the smallest heading.

<h1>This is a heading</h1>

<h2>This is a heading</h2>

<h3>This is a heading</h3>

<h4>This is a heading</h4>

<h5>This is a heading</h5>

<h6>This is a heading</h6>

HTML automatically adds an extra blank line before and after a heading.

Although they are used less frequently due to new technologies, HTML heading tags can help improve your listings in the search engines also. You should include you most important keyword phrases in the heading tags on your page. Some search engines use them in the analysis of your page content.

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10. How long should I wait before re-submitting to a particular search engine?

MSN

30 days

Google

4-6 weeks

AltaVista

15-30 days

Fast

15-30 days

Excite

4-6 weeks

Northern Light

30 days

AOL

30 days

HotBot 30 days

iWon

30 days

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11. Creating Doorway Pages

With the exception of Yahoo! you can submit more than one URL to a search engine. A doorway page is simply a page that has been created for the sole purpose of ranking higher in search engines for a particular keyword or set of keywords. These pages act as “doorways” to the real content of your site, without having to redesign or remove the content of your site.

You can create doorway pages to take advantage of a search engine’s criteria for a specific keyword or keyword phase. Doorway pages help you solve the most troubling Web marketing dilemma: The techniques that will get you a high ranking in one search engine can get you penalized or even removed from the index of another search engine. It is impossible to design a single page that will rank well for all of your chosen keywords in all engines.

Since there are so many sites indexed by Web search engines, the content of your page must be very focused to rank well in today’s overflowing search engines.

If you are creating doorway pages we strongly recommend that you at least try the trail version of Webposition Gold 2. Without it or a similar tool, creating doorway pages can be an extremely difficult task.

Typically, when targeting five keywords, across eight search engines, you end up with 40 pages pointing to your home page or other section on your site. Don’t worry, this is not unusual. If you are cautious and

heed the warnings below, you won’t have any problems.

Some techniques work better than others, depending on the engine. Sometimes, a shorter, more concise page will rank higher on AltaVista than a longer one. You could create alternate shorter pages and name them accordingly. For example,

http://www.search-engine-optimising.co.uk/tips-short.htm

http://www.search-engine-optimising.co.uk/hints-tips-short.htm

http://www.search-engine-optimising.co.uk/equine-short.htm

Experiment with different pages and page names to describe these experiments, but be careful and don't go overboard!

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12. Things to Avoid attempting Optimisation techniques for Search Engines

You should not try to trick a search engine in any way because you risk being blacklisted by them.

• Excluding the meta keyword tag, do not list you keyword one after another anywhere on the page

• An old trick is to try and keyword stuff the page by using the same colour text as the page's background. Search engines can detect this and view it as spam.

• Do not submit the same page to any search engine more than once in any twenty-four hours.

• Do not submit identical pages. You should instead give them different filename and change the title and, if possible, the keywords for the page.

• Do not use any keywords in your keywords meta tag that do not directly relate to the content of your page.

• Don't use any keywords in your keywords meta tag that do not directly relate to the content of your page.

Search Engine Optimization FAQ's

I found some useful information while surfing the internet. Please go through the questions might be of interest to the newbies in the SEO/ SEM Indusrty.

FAQ) What are SERPs?
SERPs is an acronym for Search Engine Results Pages. Basically they are the search results you receive when doing a search at a search engine.

FAQ) What is anchor text? Why is it important?
Anchor text is the visible hyperlinked text on the page. For example, let's examine this code:
Webmaster Forums
The anchor text for this link is "Webmaster Forums". This is important in search engine rankings because the search engines use anchor text to help determine the relevance of a page being linked to for those keywords. By having this link pointing to their forum's web page, SitePoint Forums will perform better in searches for the phrase "webmaster forums" (and other similar phrases as well).

FAQ) How do I get a lot of backlinks to point to my site?
A good place to start is to submit to directories. Start with the free ones and then decide whether pay ones are worth it for you. Here's a great place where you can find a free directory listing that sorts them by PR, Alexa rank (worthless), and more: http://www.tipsntutorials.com/Top-Directories/ and also check out http://www.isedb.com/ as it lists thousands of places you might find worth submitting to.

FAQ) How do I get a lot of backlinks to point to my site?I was thinking of doing to my site but I'm afraid the search engines might think it is spam. Should I do it?
No. Why? If you're not sure if it will get you in trouble with the search engines or not then it's probably something you shouldn't be doing. Another good reason not to do it is accessibility. Many webmasters employ hacks and tricks in an effort to increase their search engine ranking. Often times these tricks are at the expense of the usability of their website. Not only to those who have disabilities but to anyone who's trying to navigate their site.

FAQ) How many keywords should I put into my <title>, <a>, and <h1>..<h6> tags?

You should only put the few keywords that are most relevant to your pages. The more you put in each tag, the more you dilute the value each keyword is given.

<h1>Advanced PHP Programming</h1>

is better then

<h1>Advanced PHP Programming Is Really Cool And Stuff Dude</h1>

Meta Tags

The large majority of search engines do not use Meta Tags as part of their ranking algorithm. Some will claim Google uses Meta tags in its algorithm. This is entirely untrue. Google, however, will use a meta description tag if it is unable to discern a description for a webpage on its own (if the page has no text and no description in the open directory [dmoz] it is likely Google will use the meta description tag in its SERPs). Please note that it is only using this description in its SERPs, not its algorithm.

FAQ) Should you use Meta Tags in your site? Yes. They do have some affect in some search engines and even though that effect is almost zero it is still more then zero so is worth the time.

FAQ) How much time should I spend on my Meta Tags? Ten minutes. Write a nice concise description of your page and throw in a sampling of keywords (which you should have handy if you've optimized your pages properly). You should spend no more time then this on them. Use your time to promote your site and get quality inbound links.

FAQ) How many keywords should I use? As many as you want. If you start to think you may have too many, you probably do. This means you need to divide your page into subpages with each one taking its own topic.

FAQ) What happens if I use includes for my pages? Will the search engines see them?The search engines don't care about what server side technology you use. All they see is the (x)HTML your server side code generates. To see what they see simply load your page in your favorite web browser and then view the source. What you see is exactly what they see.

FAQ) Should I submit my website to the Search Engines by hand or use software?Do it by hand. It will not take long to do and will ensure that you are successful in submitting each form with the correct information. There is a constant debate about how search engines feel about automated submission software. Since there is a reasonable chance these are frowned upon by the search engines, and since you can do anything they can do on your own, you might as well avoid them.

But, if you're going to use software, these title seem to be the most common ones recommended: Addweb, Web Position Gold, Web CEO

FAQ) How often should I submit my website to the search engines?Once. Resubmitting your url does not get you indexed faster or improve your rankings. Also, resubmitting your site will never cause your site to be banned. If so, then all you would need to do is submit your competitors' sites repeatedly until they were banned.

FAQ) How often should I submit my website to the search engines?This is a very common myth that is 100% untrue. The file extension does not affect your rankings in any way. After all, no matter what server side programming language you use, and what extension you choose to use with it, they all just spit out HTML in the end. That's all a web browser will see and that all a search engine will see.

FAQ) Sites with .com rank higher then with <tld>This is another common myth that is untrue. The only time a domain extension can affect your ranking is if the search is based by country. The country-specific TLDs (e.g. .co.uk) will have priority over non-country specific TLDs (e.g. .com or .net).

One observation many make is that .coms tend to rank higher then other domain extensions. They assume it is because .coms are given preferential treatment. This is a poor assumption. .coms seem to rank higher then other extensions because they are by for more popular then any other domain extension (there are more .coms than .net, .org, .biz, .edu, .gov, and .info combined) so they naturally have a greater chance of ranking higher vs other domain extensions through sheer quantity alone. .coms also tend to be older sites so they have had a chance to establish themselves whereas newer domain extensions have not. They have also used this time to acquire more backlinks which is an important factor in search engine algorithms.

It is also commonly believed that .gov and .edu sites are given preferential treatment from search engines. This is also untrue. Web pages on .edu and .gov domains tend to rank well because they contain quality content and many webmasters will link to their content as a result. Both of these are key elements in SEO. But the fact that they are .edu or .gov domains does not benefit them directly in the SERPs.