Proximity .. to what?

by Scott Jemison

When creating content for your website it is important to create keyword rich text in order for your web page to rank highly in the SERP's. But, what are the guidelines to creating keyword rich text without "keyword stuffing" or creating clunky, awkward text that no website visitor wants to read?

There are three basic factors to SEO in regards to keywords and content; density, proximity, and relevance. These three factors are the key to successful web content.

Density is the ratio of keywords to unique words. In other words, it is the balance between the "meat" of your content, disregarding conjunctions and prepositions, against the keywords your content is optimized for. While a high density of keywords is desirable, it is the delicate balance of keywords and unique words that makes your content readable.

Proximity is what search engines search for to strike the balance between keyword rich and keyword stuffing. Proximity is an evaluation of your keywords in relation to their position on the page and within your meta information. By positioning your keywords properly you can increase the importance and impact without having to "stuff" your content.

Relevance is possibly the most important factor. Search engines employ a practice called Latent Semantic Indexing. In order to distinguish relevant copy from ad copy, search engines evaluate the company your keywords keep. By placing them within relevant text, surrounded by closely associated terms (such as your secondary keywords), the text establishes a strong identity for both the search engines and your visitors.

A basic understanding of these three concepts can almost ensure your web pages will rank highly and create organic linking to other quality sites.