How to use the keyword density checker
Paste the text of your article, product page or landing page. You can also paste raw HTML; tags, scripts and styles are removed before counting. A table lists the most used keywords with how many times each appears and its density as a percentage of all words.
Switch to 2-word phrases or 3-word phrases to see the phrases you repeat, which is usually more useful than single words because real searches are phrases. Enter a Focus keyword to see exactly how many times that phrase appears and its density.
How keyword density is calculated
Keyword density is the number of times a keyword appears divided by the total number of words, multiplied by 100. A word that appears 10 times in a 1,000-word article has a density of 1 percent. The same formula is used for phrases, so the percentages in every view are comparable.
Matching ignores capital letters. Phrases are only counted within a sentence, so a phrase that would span the end of one sentence and the start of the next is not counted. With Ignore common words ticked, words such as the, and and of are left out of single-word results, and phrases that start or end with one are hidden. A phrase like cost of living still appears, because the common word is in the middle.
Is there an ideal keyword density?
No. Google has said many times that there is no ideal keyword density and that it does not use density as a ranking factor. Modern search engines understand synonyms, related terms and topics, so repeating an exact phrase more often doesn't make a page more relevant. Repeating it too often is a problem: Google's spam policies name keyword stuffing, meaning loading a page with keywords in an unnatural way, as a practice that can lower rankings.
That makes this tool most useful as a check for balance rather than a target to hit:
- Look for outliers. If one phrase sits far above everything else, read those sentences aloud. If they sound repetitive, vary the wording.
- Confirm the topic is clear. The top phrases should match what the page is about. If your main topic doesn't appear in the top ten at all, the page may be vague.
- Check competitors. Paste a top-ranking page on the same topic and compare the phrases it covers with yours. Gaps can suggest subtopics worth adding.
- Keep placement natural. Where a keyword appears matters more than how often. Using it in the title, first paragraph and a heading helps readers and search engines more than extra repetitions.
As a rough guide, a main keyword appearing between 0.5 and 2 percent of the time is common in naturally written content. Well above 3 percent usually reads as forced.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good keyword density for SEO?
There isn't an official one; Google doesn't use keyword density as a ranking factor. Naturally written pages usually use their main keyword around 0.5 to 2 percent of the time. Focus on clear, readable text rather than a number.
Can I check the keyword density of a URL?
Paste the page's text or its HTML source here. Open the page, press Ctrl+U (Cmd+Option+U on a Mac) to view the source, copy everything, and paste it; the HTML tags are removed automatically.
What does Ignore common words do?
It hides very common words such as the, and, is and of from the single-word list, and hides phrases that begin or end with them. This keeps the results focused on meaningful keywords.
Why do 2-word phrases only show repeated phrases?
Almost every pair of neighbouring words is unique, so phrases that appear only once are hidden to keep the list useful.
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