Yoast SEO examines the keyword density of your text. But what does keyword density entail, and why is it crucial for your SEO? If you are using your keyphrase too often, this is the article for you! This article provides answers to these queries. Additionally, we’ll explore ways to enhance the keyword density of your content, ensuring you achieve a favorable outcome on the plugin’s keyword density check. Let’s delve into the details!

Keyphrase and Keyword Density

Keyphrase or keyword density refers to the frequency of your chosen focus keyphrase within your content, measured against the page’s total word count. For example, if your text is 100 words long, and your focus keyphrase appears 5 times, the keyphrase density is 5%. Previously known as keyword density, the term has evolved to focus on multi-word search terms, leading to its adoption as keyphrase density in Yoast SEO.

It’s important to note that the emphasis on using the exact keyphrase a specific number of times has diminished over the years. While your text should still reflect the intended topic for ranking, Google’s evolving algorithms have diversified the ways to convey the content’s essence. Despite this, Yoast SEO retains the keyphrase density check to ensure that your text remains on-topic without excessive keyphrase usage.

Keyword Density and SEO

The significance of keyphrase density in SEO lies in Google’s efforts to align a user’s search query with the most relevant page. To achieve this alignment, it’s crucial to incorporate your keyphrase naturally throughout your content. However, excessive repetition can lead to a poor reading experience and may be interpreted by Google as keyword stuffing, adversely affecting your rankings.

The Keyphrase Density Check

The keyphrase density check in Yoast SEO evaluates the frequency of your focus keyphrase in your content and ensures it’s used appropriately without being overly repetitive. The length of your keyphrase is a factor in calculating the score, with longer phrases requiring less frequent usage to maintain readability. Yoast SEO provides a green traffic light for keyphrase density between 0.5% and 3% in its free version.

Premium versions of Yoast SEO and Yoast SEO for Shopify introduce features such as word form recognition and related keyphrases. These advanced functionalities recognize various forms of your keyphrase and allow for the inclusion of related keyphrases, providing more flexibility and natural writing options.

Improving Your Keyword Density

Improving keyphrase density involves adjusting your content based on the score. If it’s too low, increase the usage of your keyphrase to clarify the topic. Conversely, if it’s too high, consider incorporating synonyms to enhance readability without affecting the density score. Yoast SEO’s keyphrase distribution check highlights keyphrases and synonyms throughout the text, aiding in maintaining focus and relevance.

If you receive a red score on the keyphrase density check, check for issues such as ensuring the full focus keyphrase is within one sentence and verifying spelling consistency. Conflicts with page builders or non-Latin languages may also impact accuracy.

If you don’t receive feedback on keyphrase density, ensure your focus keyphrase is entered in the designated field and that your content consists of at least 100 words. Potential conflicts with other plugins, themes, or server configurations should also be considered.

Conclusion

Ensure adequate use of your focus keyphrase throughout your content, but avoid excessive repetition. It’s crucial to strike a balance, as Google may penalize keyword stuffing, negatively impacting your rankings and user experience.

If your keyphrase density is too low, incorporate your focus keyphrase more frequently into your text. Additionally, verify that your content consistently stays on topic, making it straightforward to integrate your keyphrase appropriately. Conversely, if your score is too high, review your text and identify areas where you can substitute your keyphrase with a synonym. Following these guidelines will help you achieve a favorable green traffic light for keyphrase success.