Keyword Density CalculatorKeyword frequency, placement and repeated phrases, without the myths
Paste your content to see how often your keyword appears, where it sits in the text, which phrases you repeat most and whether the page reads as natural or stuffed.
Aligned with Google’s spam policies on keyword stuffing and its guidance on people-first content
Updated October 24, 2026
Where the keyword appears (text split into 10 parts)
Most-used phrases
| Secondary keyword | Count | Density |
|---|
Your text with keywords highlighted
What is keyword density?
Keyword density is the percentage of words on a page that match a target keyword: occurrences ÷ total words × 100. Ten mentions in 1,000 words is 1%. There is no ideal density for SEO; Google does not target a percentage and treats keyword stuffing as spam. Use density to catch unnatural repetition, not as a goal.
How to check keyword density
- Enter your target keyword. Use the exact phrase you want the page to rank for. Multi-word phrases are matched word for word, with simple plurals counted if the option is on.
- Add secondary keywords. Related terms and subtopics show whether the page covers the topic broadly or leans on one phrase.
- Paste the body text. Leave out menus, footers and sidebars, which inflate the word count and hide what the main content is doing.
- Read density, spread and placement together. A healthy page mentions the topic early, spreads mentions through the text and does not repeat the phrase so often that readers notice.
Keyword density formula (two versions)
The common definition and this calculator’s headline number. Five mentions in 500 words is 1%.
The share of all words taken up by the phrase. Five mentions of a two-word phrase in 500 words is 2%. Some tools quote this figure instead, which is why their numbers can look double.
Worked example: the sample cold brew article
- The sample has 175 words and the phrase “cold brew” appears 5 times.
- Keyword density = 5 ÷ 175 × 100 = 2.86%, about once every 35 words.
- Word share = 5 × 2 ÷ 175 × 100 = 5.71%.
- The first mention is word 1 and mentions appear in 5 of the 10 parts of the text, so placement and spread are good. The most repeated single word is “coffee”, which supports the topic rather than competing with it.
- At 2.86% a two-word phrase crosses the 2% repetition heuristic. Replacing two mentions with “it” or “the brew” brings density to 1.71% and the text reads more naturally, with no loss of relevance.
Is there an ideal keyword density for SEO?
No. Google has said for years that its systems do not look for a target keyword density, and its spam policies list keyword stuffing (filling a page with keywords to manipulate rankings) as a violation. Modern search understands topics, synonyms and context.
What density is good for
Catching over-optimisation in drafts, auditing old pages written for “1–3% density” rules, and spotting pages where the real topic never appears at all.
What matters more
Answering the query fully, covering the subtopics searchers expect, and using the main phrase where it is natural: the title, the H1, the opening paragraph and a subheading or two.
The heuristic used here
This tool flags single-word keywords above 3% and phrases above 2% as “repetitive”. That is an editorial heuristic from my own content audits, where readers start to notice repetition at those levels. It is not a Google rule.
| What you see | Likely meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 0 occurrences of the main phrase | Topic is implied, never stated | Use it naturally in the first paragraph and the H1 |
| Density under 0.5% on a long page | Usually fine if related terms are present | Check secondary keywords and subtopics instead |
| Mentions bunched in 1–3 parts | Keyword stuffed into the intro or the footer | Spread mentions through the body |
| Single word over 3% or phrase over 2% | Repetitive to readers | Replace some mentions with pronouns and synonyms |
| Another word dominates the phrase list | Page may be about something else | Rethink the focus keyword or the angle of the page |
How to optimise keyword usage the modern way
Place it where it counts
Title tag, H1, first 100 words, one subheading and the URL. Beyond that, write naturally. Check the title fits in search results with the Pixel Width Checker.
Cover the subtopics
Use the phrase lists to see which related terms you already cover. A cold brew guide that never mentions grind size, ratio or steeping time is thin, whatever its density.
Use natural variations
Plurals, synonyms and reordered phrases (“brew it cold”, “cold-brewed”) help readers and search engines alike. Exact-match repetition adds nothing.
Audit old content
Pages written years ago for density targets often read awkwardly. Rewriting them for readers can improve engagement, and occasionally rankings, without adding a single keyword.
Related SEO calculators
Natural keyword use is one part of an on-page review. These calculators handle the other checks I run before a page goes live.
Keyword density questions, answered
Divide the number of times the keyword appears by the total number of words and multiply by 100. A keyword used 8 times in an 800-word article has a density of 1%.
There is no ideal number. Google does not use a target keyword density, and stuffing keywords violates its spam policies. As a reading heuristic, single words above about 3% and phrases above about 2% usually start to feel repetitive.
No. Google's representatives have said for years that keyword density is not something its systems look for. Relevance comes from covering the topic well and using the main terms naturally.
Keyword stuffing is filling a page with keywords or numbers to manipulate rankings, often in lists or out of context. Google lists it in its spam policies, and it can lead to lower rankings or removal from results.
Enough to make the topic clear: usually in the title, the H1, the first paragraph and a subheading, then wherever it reads naturally. Write for the reader first and the count takes care of itself.
They count words differently, may or may not include plurals, and some measure occurrences while others measure the share of all words used by the phrase, which doubles the figure for two-word keywords.
With the plurals option on, it counts simple plural forms of the last word in the phrase, such as shoe and shoes. It does not count synonyms, which you can track as secondary keywords instead.
N-grams are repeated sequences of words: 1-grams are single words, 2-grams are two-word phrases and so on. The phrase lists show which terms your content actually emphasises.
For spotting topics, no. Words like 'the' and 'and' dominate any text. The stop-word option hides phrases that start or end with them so meaningful phrases rise to the top.
No. The analysis runs entirely in your browser, and nothing you paste is uploaded or saved.
Manzoor Ahmad
Web developer & SEO specialist · 13+ years
In 13+ years of SEO I have audited hundreds of pages written for old ‘keyword density’ rules, and rewriting them for readers has done more for traffic than any percentage ever did. I built this tool to catch over-optimisation, not to chase a number. Read my full profile.
Published and last reviewed: October 24, 2026
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Sources & references
- Google Search Central. Spam policies for Google web search (keyword stuffing).
- Google Search Central. Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content.
- Google Search Central. SEO Starter Guide.
- Wikipedia. Keyword density.
Keyword density is a diagnostic measure. The repetition thresholds in this tool are editorial heuristics, not search engine rules, and no density figure guarantees rankings. All text analysis runs locally in your browser.