Search engine optimization (SEO) just means having your content written in such a way as to be available to search engines so that when a search is done, your content will be what is made available to the searcher. When a person doing a search on a particular search engine, they type in a particular work or phrase, called a keyword or key phrase. Your goal is to have that word or phrase contained in your content so that your site will be one of the first returned to them.



Evidence has shown that only the first page or two will usually be browsed before the person searching will click on a site or click off the search. So, your goal is to be within the first two pages, preferably the first page.

You might think that the more times you repeat the word or phrase in your content, be it an article or web page, the more chance you have of being selected when a search is done. But, that is not the case. If you put the word too often, the search engine interprets that as a negative. Your article or web page will be considered as not having good content, but just being “stuffed” with the key word to get the traffic. The goal you have to increase your search engine traffic will backfire. Instead of increasing it, you will get your site rejected by the search engine.

What is the answer, then? How do you increase website traffic without risking losing your ranking? What is the key to getting this free website traffic? How can you utilize search engine optimization to increase your website traffic?

The key is to watch the keyword density. This simply means the number of times the key word or phrase appears in relation to the total number of words. You need to have the correct density to optimize your ranking. Too dense, and you risk rejection by the search engine. Too little density and you lose that search engine traffic.

What is the correct density? How can you insure getting the right density? The ideal keyword density varies from search engine to search engine, and also varies by the popularity of the keyword. Keywords that are very popular can carry a higher density without danger of being considered stuffing. Less popular keywords need less density. Density should normally vary from 1%-7%, but popular keywords can have a density above 50% without getting a good ranking or being considered stuffing. Correct density can be had by including the keyword or phrase one to two times per page. Also, most experts recommend using only one keyword per page, and to have at least 250 words of content.

To insure good search engine placement, focus on writing good content, including the keyword as needed, and don't focus so much on density. Make sure the content you write has benefit related to the key word or phrase, without focusing so much on SEO, and you won't go wrong.