Something on your mind?
as always, a stellar post with lots of things to think about - thank you.
like you, i am just a communications person trying to work out this online space and like your last post, i have two thoughts on this.
one, keyword density is an important internal measure. just like meta tags ensure you focus on the content, knowing what keywords you want to use on a page will focus you to include that keyword - just enough to make sure that if someone is searching for the term you want people to use to find your page (such as "i hate vista" - i actually don't) they will find your page. however, keyword density is not as important as keyword placement. why is your page ranked s highly? because the phrase is right there in your post's title. again, it comes down to user experience. sometimes you have to be very literal in describing to a user what is on the page - the same applies to search engines which is why your Ptolemy example is so interesting. machines can't (yet, thankfully) infer meaning, they can only tell you what is being said.
second, the problem with a series of posts around SEO implies that there are a series of simple problems that need to be fixed. nothing could be further from the truth. SEO is, in truth, a complex and ever changing subject (partly why i am so fascinated by it and frustrated i will never know a lot about it) that, like all aspects of communication, relies on an integrated approach that blends technology, content and authority.
take "i hate vista". you have used the phrase in the title of your post (content). blogger has ensured that it becomes both a header tag AND part of the URL (technology). finally you have been blogging for about eight years so you have built up a large number of incoming links to your blog which translate into a high authority ranking. it's all of these three things in totality, not isolation, that means that your post is number one on Google for that key phrase.
Ed - thanks for this.
First, I find nothing to disagree with in anything you've said (and much to enthusiastically nod my head about).
Second, you've succeeded in stealing the thunder from my planned last post in the series, darn you. The 5th Myth was going to be a piece all about how SEO has to be an ongoing process, not a discrete series of tactics. I was also going to talk about how it's way too big, complex, and volatile a subject domain for anyone to fully understand. There's always something new to learn; it's a moveable and ever-moving feast of experimentation.
So what the hell am I going to write for my 5th post in the series now? Bah. Maybe I should take the Python approach: "Myth Five: There is no... Myth Five".
Hi Micheal,
I thoroughly enjoyed this post. I especially liked your elaboration on keyword density, and its relevance in relation to search.
As long as we continue to rely on search as an enabler to accessing brands in virtual environments, so too will keywords inform marketing and monitoring strategies.
And while this has kept consultants, communicators and listeners like us busy, its a shame that less keyword research is performed before coming-up with company/product names, catch-phrases, marketing materials, and the development of social Web channels.
The relevance of the latter point isn't only about conveying better communication harmony, but its about preparing ones strategy for the melding of search with existing syndication platforms, search and retrieval technologies, and newly emerging ones.
Search still remains central, but I believe its when you use a combined approach (feeds, search - both real-time and indexed), tag clouds and emerging media channels) to locate relevant online content that you begin to notice how you are really caught-up in a battle against infoglut. Especially if we are talking about a brand name sharing a regular expression used in everyday language.
It also becomes more apparent that its not really a cat and mouse game between you and those competing for the same keywords, but more to do with authoring good content and using terms that describe your business as one that is authentic, unique and creative. And doing it consistently, even if it means writing about your displeasure with Vista for 8 years 
@RepuTrack
These are excellent posts. Looking forward to #3.
Thanks so much for the effort,
Jeff
I must admin I tried zealously to get to an optimal keyword density on our website at first and as I noted in my last comment 98% of what I did was useless, not to mention it often ended up sounding like I'd failed grade 9 English as I tried to stuff keyword phrases in to match what people would actually type into the search bar. As you've suggested keep the focus on writing good readable content and hope it works.
Thanks
Lynn
It was a very nice idea! Just wanna say thank you for the information you have shared. Just continue writing this kind of post. I will be your loyal reader. Thanks again.
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