Content Remains King

[Marie Ysais]

I just had to share a story, I had a client that was ranking 47th organically for a local term and I made some content changes and........2 days later the ranking for the local term is now in 7th position. A small victory but a really good one. Reminds me that content is still really important.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Great work Marie! That must feel great

Care to share what you did? No need to go into detail (unless you want to )

 

[Linda Buquet]

YEA Marie!

Was it on-site changes? Mainly home page? We are just curious for more 'general' info if you care to share a little more.

Will be exciting to see what you can do with this site after you get finished with my training and implement "Linda's Secret Sauce" tips.

 

[Alicia Hardy]

I actually had a similar experience this week! We just added two pages and the (homepage) rank jumped 25 spots. Nothing else was done.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Whoa good to hear Alicia! Maybe now it's really true that content is king.

 

[Marie Ysais]

I don't mind sharing in here! All I adjusted on the site was the keyword density of the home page.
The keyword was already in the title tag but only appeared a few times in the main text. I added the keyword enough to raise the keyword density on the home page. I did not alter any of the interior pages at all.
The keyword has high levels of competition so it was pretty neat to see it happen!!
I am now testing it again on a few websites that are ranking now in the 30th something position to see if content truly is King.

I can't wait to hear all about that secret SAUCE!! It is keeping me up at night, Linda!!

 

[Travis Van Slooten]

First...congrats! But now you bring up an interesting topic on keyword density. Is keyword density still important? As you know, everyone lately has been saying keyword density is dead. Hell, I haven't concentrated or worried about keyword density since about 2009. If your page jumped that dramatically by just increasing the keyword density, then that suggests keyword density does in fact make a difference. Hmmm....

Now you have my head spinning

Do you have any before and after figures on the keyword density you used? Like was it 1% before you made the changes and then you increased it to 3%? It would be interesting to know.

Travis Van Slooten

P.S. I hope you guys figured out that I'm having a little fun with keyword density

 

[Nick.SEOSpark]

I don't mind sharing in here! All I adjusted on the site was the keyword density of the home page.
The keyword was already in the title tag but only appeared a few times in the main text. I added the keyword enough to raise the keyword density on the home page. I did not alter any of the interior pages at all.
The keyword has high levels of competition so it was pretty neat to see it happen!!
I am now testing it again on a few websites that are ranking now in the 30th something position to see if content truly is King.

I can't wait to hear all about that secret SAUCE!! It is keeping me up at night, Linda!!

I know I keep saying the same thing about this but the SECRET SAUCE is amazing and I'm so glad I learnt about it. Before, it was also keeping me up at night!!! Now I've learnt it, I'm going to keep it to myself and not share otherwise it would get abused.

About keyword density: it all actually means the same thing. Best SEO organic practice points to including the keyword 4-5 times in variations. Keyword Density was just a fancy way of saying it. I don't ever think keyword density died. I think it took on a less measurable meaning.

 

[Linda Buquet]

I know I keep saying the same thing about this but the SECRET SAUCE is amazing and I'm so glad I learnt about it. Before, it was also keeping me up at night!!! Now I've learnt it, I'm going to keep it to myself and not share otherwise it would get abused.

Glad you love my "Secret Sauce" Nick. I have a pretty tasty Local SEO recipe, I must admit!

 

[Travis Van Slooten]

O.K. that makes sense. Thanks for the clarification. Using a keyword 4-5 times in VARIATIONS is very different than strict keyword density, however, which is using the same EXACT keyword multiple times. Back in the day, keyword density was all rage because it worked. I think it's important to point out the distinction so that people reading this thread don't think they just have to stuff the same keyword on a page more times. In fact what you did was add more variations of the keyword. It's a small distinction but an important one.

Travis Van Slooten

Best SEO organic practice points to including the keyword 4-5 times in variations. Keyword Density was just a fancy way of saying it. I don't ever think keyword density died. I think it took on a less measurable meaning.

 

[Nick.SEOSpark]

I've always thought that keyword density was a bit ridiculous as it implies that there is a formula towards using them. It's not completely pointless but I prefer to use the keyword a few times+ variations rather than losing sleep over a mythical formula.

 

[Marie Ysais]

I guess one's mythical formula is another's secret.

 

[MiriamEllis]

Marie,
Big hands clapping for your breakthrough with your client. That is just the best feeling!

I think it's good that your thread has (inadvertently, perhaps) started a discussion on KW density. I've noticed that people use this phrase somewhat loosely, as Travis has pointed out. It's not a term I use at all, preferring to think in terms of thoroughness rather than density. Some people's idea of keyword density is, in fact, just stuffing tons of keywords into text (ugh!). But, gentle optimization can work wonders. What you call it, in the end, doesn't really matter, eh?

 

[Gio Greenard]

Hmmm interesting read.

Not quite sure why yet, but quite a few of my clients have dropped from page 1 to page 2. I tend to use the same techniques for all of my clients so it's no coincidence.

Having read the posts it may be a case of re writing the inner page with more variations of the keyword, unless there has been another algo update I'm not aware of.