I have been using exact matched term, 2 times in an article. But I have been using that same keyword in alt tag of 2-3 images.
I want to know if alt tag text contribute to keyword density. How exactly this works?
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3 Answers
Well, at the moment of this post, you have one answer saying 'yes' and one answer saying 'no'. I guess you may be confused and I hope not make your confussion bigger, but my answer is: It doesn't matter.
"Keyword density" is a SEO concept of 1990's and maybe 2000's, but this does no apply any more. SEO evolve and this is one of the things that are now part of the past. I would care about using synonimous, non-synonimous related words (like 'war' is related to 'weapon'), user experienace and this kind of things.
Really, I don't know if Google is going to start using this matric again, at least in 2016, this is not important to rank your site.
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Can you show your sources for the claim that keyword density doesn't matter? The panda update specifically targets thin sites, poor quality sites or sites that are "Spammy"...keyword density can be a factor in this. It is also important for getting good results as we would want to monitor our keyword density in order to visualize whether we are over optimizing certain words/phrases instead of emphasizing synonyms.– CZorioCommented Jun 22, 2016 at 1:20
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Maybe Keyword density doesn't matter, or maybe it does. But that's not what I was asking. What the question really is, does alt tag contribute to the content and seen as a part of it. And if it does then, adding the keyword in alt tag will increase the keyword density which is bad, and if it doesn't then I can add exact keyword in 100s of images without worrying about it. Commented Jun 22, 2016 at 3:10
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@CZorio yes, keyword density still matters. But I don't think we can/should use it as a weapon to boost our ranking because it doesn't work the same way as it used to be. Why we still need to monitor it is to protect us from any wrong doing. Higher keyword density is a first-class ticket to the penalty train. Commented Jun 22, 2016 at 3:18
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@Roberthue exactly. I just think its worth mentioning that watching your keyword density can also IMPROVE your SEO because it allows you to recognize when you are not being efficient with your keyword targeting and missing other opportunities to rank.– CZorioCommented Jun 22, 2016 at 11:51
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Here is a good article that jives with my experience with keyword density: shoutmeloud.com/keyword-density-seo.html It can be paraphrased as: "There is a wide range of keyword density that can work well. Anywhere between 1.5 to 3%. Higher than that and you risk a keyword stuffing penalty." I've personally found that positive ranking, keyword prominence matters more than keyword density. Using a keyword in the title is 50 times as powerful as using it multiple times in the text of the article. Keyword density is only good for making sure you are not stuffing. Commented Jul 15, 2016 at 16:28
The appearance of keyword in any of your page elements, including title, description, headers, alt tags, link titles all contribute to the overall keyword density of your page.
However, if these images do require inclusion of those keywords to describe the images aptly, don't shy away from using them. The goal is to make the content of the page (including images) as good as possible without making them look spammy.
No, Search engines will not consider the alt tags in keyword density. It helps search engines to understand your images. The alt tag parameter will be consider for image searches.
Alt tag also provides additional information to search engine to understand the content of the page. It is advisable that naming of the images should be proper to get better search engine ranking.
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Alt tags appear directly in SERPS as text. Try it out with a unique string of words that you can search for later. After index, the string will show in the area normally reserved for meta desc. Another thing you can do is take note of density count, then mass add alt keyword synonyms, then check back later and see GWT tick them up.– dhaupinCommented Jun 21, 2016 at 20:40
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@Prashant If Google does not consider alt tags in keyword density, then can I add 100 images in my content with exact keyword in the alt tag and do not worry about it? Commented Jun 22, 2016 at 3:21
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Yes you can, but I would suggest using different name for the each image. You can go for the long tail keywords.It will help you to get your images rank in image search for various search queries. Commented Jun 22, 2016 at 13:01