A few years back, using a particular keyword density in an article may have helped it rank better in Google. However, as many people exploited this, Google changed their algorithm to protect against this ploy. They want to reward quality content, not people who use the rules to get free traffic.
This battle between SEOers and Google started an arms race between the two. Google try to change their algorithm in order to serve quality content in their results, while SEOers try to exploit Google’s algorithm. As far as creating SEO content is concerned, spamming keywords to the point that the language doesn’t sound natural is no longer rewarded. But that isn’t to say that there isn’t anything you can do to help your articles rank for a particular key word or phrase. Here are some tips to consider when writing articles with SEO in mind:
Only Use Your Keyword If It Sounds Natural
As I’ve already said, Google doesn’t like it if you force your keyword into every sentence because it sounds out of place. Using your keyword in the title is still beneficial, and you may consider using the keyword in the first sentence of the article, but beyond that you should only use the keyword when you legitimately need to use it. I don’t think there is much difference between using the keyword three times in an article or ten times; Google no longer rewards that kind of spamming.
Use Related LSI Keywords
One way that Google has changed the algorithm is that rather than rewarding many repetitions of a keyword, it now rewards articles that use words that are related to each other, or latent semantic index keywords. You can easily find the LSI keywords related to your keyword by using a tilde when searching in Google. For example, if you wanted to find out words related to “dog”, you could search for “~dog” in Google. The related keywords will be highlighted in bold in the results. You can then use these keywords in your article to help it rank better.
Work With Google, Not Against Them
If you try to rank higher by exploiting Google’s algorithm then you may be successful now, but that doesn’t ensure that your articles will always suit Google’s ever-changing algorithm. As they constantly change it, they may change it to punish articles that have exploited the algorithm in some way, and thereby you may eventually get punished for what was supposed to help you. I believe the key is to work with Google rather than against them. If you work against them, the extra benefits will probably only be short-term; in the long-term, you will be punished. If you work with them, all the content you add to your website will be beneficial for years and years to come.
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