Key word density

I think you hit on a decent one there. As you already found out, less is more in Google these days. It seems that for "on page optimization" you need to mention the phrase a couple times without getting out of hand. I had a page that did okay for a keyword. It ranked number 3 for years but when I read the page I realized it was sort of spammy and hard to read. I lightened it up and the page stayed exactly where it is.

Usually, optimal keyword density is anywhere between 3-7% but then again it depends on your competitors so optimize accordingly. Andrey

A don't forget to get links, and plenty of them.

Links beat on-page factors every time.

I've never heard of a controlled study showing that keyword density actually worked on Google - and if it does, I wouldn;t expect it to be so low when we've all no doubt seen all these keyword stuffed sites ranked high. But, indeed, all power to the links.

If a factor at all, KWD is a very small per centage.