Often we talk about optimizing a Web site to improve Search performance, but over-optimizing can be just as serious of a detriment. In June 2009, Matt Cutts of Google discussed this subject (among others) in a YouTube video covering a range of webmaster topics. As Cutts stated, using a keyword twice on a page is sufficient for optimization purposes – Google in particular can find relevance for your page for that term with just one usage.

Over-optimization for one particular word not only looks like spam, it also creates a very negative user experience. Sentences tend to be repetitive, long-winded or not make sense because of the overuse of specific words or phrases.

The best approach is to write Web content for the intended reader, and not for the search engines. Once your content is written, find ways to work keyword phases into the content in a natural way. Keep this rule in mind when optimizing content – if the keyword won’t naturally fit into the content, it’s probably not the right keyword to focus on.