Keyword Density for Automotive SEO

automotive seo for dealers
When developing content for dealership microsites its important to keep Keyword Density in mind. Keyword density is the percentage of times a keyword or phrase appears on a web page compared to the total number of words on the page. When developing an Automotive SEO strategy, density is used by Google as a factor in determining whether a website is relevant to a specified keyword or keyword phrase.

An integral part of any Automotive SEO campaign is the keyword research carried out by your Internet Sales Manager. The keywords selected are basically the words your dealership will be competing against for the top spots of Google Page One. Before you optimize anything it is imperative to draw a keyword strategy map.

Lets say for example you represent a Honda dealership in Jackson,MS. After doing your keyword research you determine that the principal keyword phrase you want to optimize is "Honda MS" Why you may ask??? Simple answer. . . According to Google, approximately 12,000 people in the US search for "Honda MS" every month.

Once the Internet Sales Manager has determined the group of keywords to optimize, the content developer needs to input the strategic keywords in the content and meta tags. This needs to be accomplished without sacrificing the natural flow of the text. This includes all page titles, heading tags and hyper links. It is not an easy process, but necessary for an effective Automotive SEO strategy.

When you insert your keywords throughout the content it is vital to understand the density at which the keywords are optimized on a page. The "keyword density" is referring specifically to how often a keyword is used in the corresponding page. Search engines compute the percentage of keyword density on a webpage and the more often a search term is included the more the search engine will think that your page is relevant and effectively rank your page higher for the keyword. However, there is a fine line between having an optimum density of the keyword and over-stuffing your content with keywords and terms. You need to avoid an over-saturation of keyword use in your content, if Google finds keyword stuffing on your site it will raise red flags.

Automotive SEO professionals shoot for an optimal percentage of keyword density. There is no magic number but I tend to shoot for 5 % of keyword density to be on the safe side, anything over this level is playing with fire. It is recommended that you know the formula for calculating each page. The formula for the keyword density is quite simple.

  1. Count how many words you have on your page.
  2. Count how many times you have used your keyword
  3. Apply this formula
Keyword density = ([key word count]) * 100 / (total word count)

If you focus too much on keyword density you can potentially lose focus on other important elements in the dynamic approach to optimizing your site. Use the formula for keyword density to ensure that you are applying relevant applications of your keywords in quality content and links so that you are getting the most out of your research.

Feel free to email me with any questions regarding content development or help with your Automotive SEO initiatives. elvis@claramark.com Google+