Truth: While the keyword should be on the page several times, it should be integrated in a natural way. Keyword Stuffing, the act of repeated and overuse of a keyword in a page to increase its keyword density (the proportion of words on a page that are a keyword to the overall number of words on page), can actually lead to penalizations.
If you try to over manipulate a search engine, they will almost certainly catch you. If not now, then later.
In reality, there is no ideal number of times to repeat a keyword on a web page, however many agree to cap it at 2%. The keyword should be in the Page title and page text at minimum so that people know what the page is going to be about. Variation on your keywords is important as well as writing for people not search engines. Simply repeating your keyword a million times just won’t work! Doing so will make your copy sound spammy and turn people away.
With Google’s new search engine, understanding the searcher’s intent and the meaning behind their search term (intuitive search) is important. If you have one or two target phrases per web page and then build quality, unique content that is well written (multi-media such as video helps engagement) you are on your way. From there, each page should be built based on strong ethical on page SEO best practices. A careful, but well thought out link campaign can complement your on page efforts, but be very careful about what types of links you have pointing to your site. Work with a professional SEO company to determine how to build links without suffering Penguin update penalizations.
Focusing on outcomes and conversion (how you will get someone to take an action) when they actually get to your page is a more strategic way to think about SEO that will get you better long term results. Keywords are a necessary and important part of the process, but keyword rankings alone will not get you results by themselves, especially in a competitive market.
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