Why The Google Course Introduced Information on Word Count and Keyword Density

Relatively recently, Google informed its users about the development of a new project named Google Career Certificate. In the SEO training materials provided, there were suggestions on the recommended text length and the desired keyword density.

During the keyword research study, information was shared on how to achieve top positions in search results. It is required that a specific webpage has an article no less than 300 words in length. As for density, this indicator should not exceed 2%. This means that keywords should account for no more than 2% of the total text. It was also emphasized that keywords must be placed in the first and last paragraphs of the text, but not only there. They should also be included in headlines and subheadings.

Google assured that all training materials for the course were taken from the company’s own documentation, and the training is conducted by their employees. This raises the question – why did this course include recommendations on text volume and keyword density? Previously, Google has repeatedly informed that specialists should not worry about text length and keyword density when writing website content.

This question was asked to Danny Sullivan, one of Google’s experts. His response was that he was not among those preparing the course, and those involved are not members of the search team. Google has never provided and does not provide advice regarding word count and keyword density. Therefore, he recommends ignoring these metrics in the future.

Following Sullivan’s response, these recommendations were removed from the training course. However, SEO specialists still have doubts about the reliability and quality of Google’s free courses. Who can guarantee that such mistakes won’t be repeated, and are there people responsible for the course quality?

It is also worth mentioning that at the beginning of May, Google announced it would provide scholarships to those studying popular digital fields. To train the employees of one organization, Google is ready to allocate around $100,000. This primarily concerns specialists involved in analytics, e-commerce, and those working in digital marketing and IT.