Keyword density checker

Every term on the page ranked by what share of the total it occupies. Use it to catch accidental over-repetition, not to hit a target.

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Density by term Hide common words

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What keyword density measures

Keyword density is how often a term appears divided by the total word count, expressed as a percentage. A term used 12 times in a 1,200-word page has a density of one per cent.

It was a meaningful ranking signal in the early 2000s. It is not one now — search engines moved to semantic understanding of topics more than a decade ago, and keyword stuffing has been explicitly penalised since the Florida update in 2003. The metric survives because it is still a useful diagnostic, just not a target.

How to read the number

There is no optimal density. There are, however, densities that indicate a problem.

Density	Reading	Action
0 %	Target term never appears	The page may not be about what you think
0.3–1.5 %	Natural for a well-written page	None
1.5–2.5 %	Noticeably repetitive to a reader	Vary the phrasing
Over 3 %	Reads as stuffed	Rewrite; this can suppress the page

Read the page aloud. If the term sounds repetitive to you, it reads that way to a visitor, and the percentage merely confirms what your ear already noticed. If it does not sound repetitive, the percentage does not matter.

What to do instead of chasing density

Cover the topic, not the term. A page about running shoes should mention pronation, drop, cushioning and sizing: the terms a knowledgeable writer would reach for anyway.
Use the term where placement carries meaning: title, first paragraph, one subheading, and naturally throughout.
Vary the form. Singular, plural, and related phrasings all reinforce the topic without repetition.
Check what actually ranks. The pages above you are the closest thing to ground truth about the query.

The stop-word filter is on by default so function words do not dominate the list. Turn it off if you want the unfiltered distribution: the top entries will be the, of and and on almost any English text.

Common questions

What is a good keyword density?

There is no target worth aiming for. Naturally written pages usually land between 0.5 and 1.5 per cent for their main term. Above 3 per cent, the writing reads as stuffed and may be suppressed.

Does keyword density still affect rankings?

Not as a positive signal. Excessive repetition can still hurt you, because keyword stuffing is an explicit spam policy violation. Modern ranking depends on topical relevance and whether the page satisfies the query.

How do I check density for a two-word phrase?

This tool ranks single terms. For a phrase, count its occurrences with your browser's find function and divide by the total word count shown in the panel.