Keyword density checker
Paste your text and instantly see keyword frequency, density percentages, and word count. Optimise for SEO.
What is keyword density and does it still matter for SEO?
Keyword density is the percentage of times a target keyword appears in a piece of content relative to the total word count. If a 1,000-word article contains the phrase "domain name" 10 times, its keyword density for that phrase is 1%. The concept originated in early SEO when search engines used keyword frequency as a primary relevance signal.
Modern search engines like Google use hundreds of ranking signals and are sophisticated enough to identify keyword stuffing (artificially repeating keywords) as a manipulation tactic, actively penalising it. However, keyword density analysis remains useful as a diagnostic tool: if your primary keyword appears 0 times in a piece of content, there is likely an under-optimisation problem. If it appears 15 times in 500 words, you may be triggering spam filters.
The generally accepted best practice is a primary keyword density of 1-2%, with related semantic keywords (synonyms, related phrases) distributed naturally throughout the text. This tool excludes common English stop words (the, and, of, in, etc.) from the analysis so the results focus on meaningful content words. The colour coding highlights keywords above 3% density in red as a warning flag, amber for 2-3%, and green for the ideal 1-2% range.
Frequently asked questions
What is the ideal keyword density?
1-2% for your primary keyword. There is no universal "correct" density, focus on writing naturally for readers, not optimising a number.
Does this tool analyse multi-word phrases?
Currently it analyses single words. For phrase density, count the occurrences manually (Ctrl+F in your browser or editor).
Is keyword stuffing still penalised?
Yes. Google's quality guidelines explicitly warn against keyword stuffing. Unnaturally high density can trigger manual or algorithmic penalties that suppress your rankings.