What Is Keyword Frequency?
Keyword frequency is the number of times a keyword appears on a web page or within a piece of content. The keyword frequency is measured as a ratio or percentage of the overall word count.
Keyword frequency is also known as keyword repetition and keyword density, which is a partial ranking factor for search engine optimization (SEO). If the keyword frequency for a target term or phrase on a web page is too low, then the content may have trouble ranking for it in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing use the frequency of keywords to help understand what the content is about so the algorithms can index and rank the page for relevant search queries. However, keyword frequency in and of itself is not a direct ranking factor for modern search engines because it is too easy to spam with keyword stuffing (i.e., loading a page with a high number of keywords in an attempt to manipulate SERP rankings).
A good keyword frequency to follow for on-page SEO is to use the primary and secondary keywords one to two times per 100 words. This frequency will keep the keyword density around 1-2% which represents a more natural language model.
Visit the SEO Glossary
Go to the SEO Glossary to find more terms and definitions that relate to the field of search engine optimization.
The Editorial Staff at SEO Chatter is a team of search engine optimization and digital marketing experts led by Stephen Hockman with more than 15 years of experience in search engine marketing. We publish guides on the fundamentals of SEO for beginner marketers.
