How Many Keywords in a Page Should I Target?

​If you are a regular blogger or affiliate marketer, you are probably familiar with the term keyword research. You should already have the habit of researching for keywords to target before you start writing your posts. This is very crucial for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) which is the rankings of your site in search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo.

But many people have this common question:

How many keywords in a page should I target for better SEO?​

People have this question mainly because of the misconceptions they have towards keywords. In this article, I'm going to reveal to you the 3 most common misconceptions many people have and give you the essential knowledge you need regarding keyword targeting. By the end of this article, you should understand how search engines see keywords and how to rank better.

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1. There is a Finite Number of Keywords

​Due to the competitive mindset we have on the Internet, some of us think that there are a finite number of keywords and we need to compete for these keywords. In order to rank better, we need to compete against other websites within the limited keywords. And if we fail the competition, our efforts are in vain. This is why some people have the intention to target multiple keywords in order to get a higher chance of "winning".

However, the opposite is true.

There is no such thing as finite keywords.​ The keywords on the Internet is infinite. There are millions of new "first time searches" in Google appearing everyday. Given Billions of keywords out there and millions appearing everyday, the competition is really not that high and every keyword has potential.

2. The More Keywords I Target, The More Traffic I Can Get

When doing keyword research, we know the number of searches for the keyword per month, it's traffic and so on.

So by common sense,​ if I target more than one keyword, the number of searches and traffic is the addition of the respective keywords.

Doesn't this mean that there is a higher chance to get ranked and more traffic if we target more keywords?

Keyword Research on Jaaxy

In essence, YES. But the problem with targeting multiple keywords is that it is very easy for your posts to be associated with "Not completely relevant" keywords. And this can in turn hurt your ranking because irrelevancy can adversely affect "user experience" and "time spent on site". Search engines can see all these and rank you down.

3. Search Engines Will Only Rank My Page Under My Target Keywords​

​This is the most serious misconception that led people to the thinking of targeting more keywords for better ranking. In order to solve this misconception, we first need to understand how Google analyze your content today.

In the past when Google is not so advanced yet, this may be true and target more keywords could benefit you. However, Google is much smarter today and it can understand your content a lot better. Google can understand what your content is and which keyword it should rank under.

Just to give you an example:​

Google can understand your content a lot better than before

I did a quick search on "who is the guy invented apple". In the past, the results might appear pages that target this keyword phrase. But today, Google straightaway gives you the Founders of Apple and more information about Apple as the technology company in the right side as well as Steve Jobs Wikipedia page.

It's just like Google is a real person and you are asking him questions. He then reply you with what he knows. Isn't this amazing?

This simple example shows how much more important your actual content is than your target keywords.

Let me tell you the truth...

Any words or phrases in your content CAN be ranked in search engines, NOT just the target keywords you choose in the beginning. (I'll show you how in the next section.)

When you create a title for your post, you should only focus on ONE target keyword. I repeat, just ONE target keyword. You will find out the reason from the rest of this article.

(I'm going to give you some very valuable information and tips to help you with your site ranking. So please give me your 100% attention!)

​The tip to create a good title is to make your title captivating and interesting. At the same time, you need to target one keyword. The way to do this is to integrate your keyword with some captivating content.

To explain this, look at the following examples:​

​Which title is better? It is very obvious that the second title can get a much higher Click Through Rate (CTR) as more people will tend to click on it than the first one. A better CTR indicates to Google that the content is better and hence higher ranking. (CTR is also an indicator in Google's algorithm to determine ranking)

Another interesting thing that is happening here is that although I started with one target keyword, I can get ranked under multiple keyword variations.

For example, my page can now be ranked under keywords such as:

• what is the best affiliate marketing program
• what is affiliate marketing
• affiliate marketing prgram
• affiliate marketing
• affiliate marketing guide
• best affiliate marketing​

Can you see more clearly how Google works now?

So the ultimate​ tip for writing a title is to:

Google Search Console Proof

To prove you what I'm talking about here is 100% true in Google, let's head over to your Google Search Console (It used to call "Google Webmaster")

Inside search console, you will see a "Search Analysis" option under "Search Traffic". In this section, it will show you all the search terms people typed in Google which "activated" your site (causes your site to show up in Google).

You will be surprised how many different forms of keywords your site is actually ranked for, not just the primary keyword you target. This proves my point that you should just target ONE keyword per page (but a long tailed one, which include the captivating content).

If you haven't had your Google Search Console setup with your website, you should do it now because it will help you to get indexed by Google a lot faster. Just follow the Video Guide below:

WATCH VIDEO: Google Search Console Setup & Verification

​In the past, Google looked at your keyword and its density, meaning the number of times it appears in the page. But today, things changed. Keyword is no longer as important as the actual content. Targeting more keywords won't benefit you if your content is not good.

Just target ONE keyword so that your article has a focus and the message you want to deliver to your audience is clear. Then focus on writing awesome content. Your content determines your ranking.

And by the way, forget about keyword density and all the guidelines you used to know. I can tell you honestly, I use Yoast SEO plugin for this website and most of my post does not have good SEO score according to Yoast. It warns me that my keyword doesn't appear in my first paragraph or my keyword density is too low. However, I can still rank well in Google.

Just remember, Google is much smarter now and your content is everything​.

Thank you for reading and I wish you all the best for your ranking. Please leave a comment below should you have any questions regarding keyword research, keyword targeting or SEO. I would be more than happy to help you out.