Hi Archbishop2000 ~
It's good that you are aware that there can be problems with
over-emphasizing a keyword under which you want to be found. You don't
want to appear to be 'gaming the system' or 'spamming' your keyword,
even if the reason seems legitimate - but let's face it, a 35% keyword
density would could well be considered to be "over SEOed" or
"spamming".
It is impossible to give you either the exact number of times you can
use a term, either by actual number or percentage that it crosses over
the line and becomes 'spam', only Google knows that, and for some
reason, they're not likely to share that, as everyone would then be
'gaming' the system. Instead, they recommend you "Make pages for
users, not for search engines."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
Let's face it, your user (visitor) knows he's on a page about
insurance, and it really isn't necessary to repeat the word 30 times
when describing types of insurance, especially for the time your
visitor is on the page.
=========================
A Way to Keep From
Repeating Keyword Terms
=========================
You might want to consider some logical 'groupings' for insurance, and
list types below that, such as:
* Personal Insurance Types
ABC
DEF
GHI
* Liability Insurance
type
type
type
* Business Insurance
type
type
type
* Annuities
type
type
type
The above would be a logical presentation of your insurance lines
without repeating the term "insurance" for every type of insurance.
======================
Other Ways to Dilute
Keyword Density
======================
You might also consider diluting the obvious keyword density by adding
a sentence or two about what those 'types' of insurance are.
I suspect most people aren't very cognizant of either the types of
insurance or why they may need them. A short description with rich
content could serve two purposes. It could inform your visitor enough
to induce him to click on those pages to see why they may need that
insurance (presumably the page with full information), and it will add
some keywords for your site and that page while diluting the keyword
density you are worried about.
There is a big difference between optimizing a site for better search
engine placement and optimizing a page for your visitor; but
inevitably optimizing for search engines WITHOUT optimizing for your
visitor eventually fails when search engines adjust their algorithms
to prevent that, and sites optimized for the visitor remain fairly
level.
A good example of just such an occurrence is a recent update to
Google's algorithm and the minor 'uproar' it has created among some
site owners who claim their sites were in the first (or second or
third) page of returns and is nowhere to be found now.
Other less strident voices occasionally pop in to say that they found
just the opposite, this update has been very good for them. If you
want to read some comments, you can try Webmaster World's Google News,
- http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/
A Word of Warning:
Many of the recent threads are lengthy, and unless a post is made by
GoogleGuy (who really is a Google employee), take everything said with
more than one grain of salt and a LOT of common sense. Some of the
theories (and that's exactly what they are - theories) are so
far-fetched as to be laughable, but if nothing else, you come away
with a feeling that Google is working toward relevancy and not those
who have figured out how to 'game' the results without substantial
content, too.
=====================
Summary
====================
There are ways to accomplish your goals without an unreasonable
keyword density which may be conceivably be interpreted as spam.
Google, and all other search engines, do not like attempts to spam or
stack their results - even when a site is relevant. Google's
responsibility is ultimately to their users, not webmasters, and they
state it is their intention to present the most relevant results for
any search query.
While it may seem a bit hokey, it might help to read "Google Today",
which is basically Google's philosophy for search engine results. You
can find it here:
- ://www.google.com/corporate/today.html
And then make sure you design the type of site that Google will want
to present in its search results. That should be a big help in your
own search engine results placement.
Search terms used -
I didn't use search for the information, but instead used knowledge
from day-to-day business and bookmarks of pertinent information to
help in answering this question.
Good luck and best regards,
Serenata
Google Answers Researcher |
