SEO Answers: How Many Keywords to Target per Page Share: The Missing Link Date Published 10 January 2019 Categories Blog Reading Time 3-Minute Read Article discussing the why targeting only one keyword per page in SEO is the most effective strategy. Why Targetting Only One Keyword per Page is the Most Effective SEO Strategy 1. Laser Focus Generally speaking, each webpage should be focused on one topic. Whether it be answering a potential customers question, touting a product or service or describing your company there should be a single topic in mind. When targeting multiple keywords per page that takes the focus away from the main message the page is trying to convey and makes for a poor experience for the reader. 2. Keyword Dilution There are only so many areas for optimization on a single page (title tags, meta descriptions, header tags etc). If focussing on multiple keywords the optimization is spread too thin. The result? poor rankings on several keywords. As you can see on the chart to the left having one top-ranking ranking will drive a considerably higher amount of traffic than a few lower rankings. 3. Trickle-Down Affect We’ve talked about how a laser focus will result in a higher ranking for an individual keyword, which will generate more traffic. Another added benefit is trickle down keywords that benefit from focussed optimization. In keyword strategies that target multiple keywords, you tend to see similarities between those keywords. Sometimes they are even just slight variations of the same word, with the hope of ranking for all. As we discussed that will likely result in a few decent rankings, but not top spots. When a page ranks in the top spot for a keyword that is Google’s way of telling us this is the best page to send people to who are searching for this keyword. Here is where the trickle-down effect comes into play. Google is smart, they know for example if a webpage A is the best place to send people searching for the keyword “women’s sweaters”, for example, it understands that the keyword “sweaters for women” is essentially the same thing and even though the page not be optimized for that particular version of the word it is still the best place to send that searcher. Summary Targeting only one keyword per page is the most effective way to enhance SEO performance. The benefits include: Laser focus Full utilization of optimization opportunities Trickle-down effect for additional keywords To learn how The Missing Link can drive the SEO performance of your website contact us today.