What keyword density measures
Keyword density is the share of a text taken up by one word. If a word appears 5 times in a 100-word passage, its density is 5%. The calculation is just a count divided by the total number of words, multiplied by 100.
Years ago, people chased a target percentage in the belief that search engines wanted an exact amount. That is not how modern search works. Search engines do not publish a preferred density, and there is no number that guarantees a ranking. What the figure is good for is spotting accidents: a page that repeats one phrase in every sentence reads badly, and a page about a topic that never mentions its main term may be unclear to readers.
Think of it as a mirror for your own writing rather than a target. If the counts match what a reader would call the main subject of the page, you are probably fine. If they do not, that is worth a look.
When the checker is useful
Use it on a draft after you have finished writing. It quickly shows which words you lean on, which helps in two directions. It can reveal unnatural repetition you stopped noticing, and it can show that the topic word you intended to feature barely appears.
It is also a fast way to compare two versions of a paragraph, or to check a product description that was copied between pages and lightly edited. Writers who want to vary their vocabulary can use the ranked list to find overused words.
It does not analyze meaning. It cannot tell whether a page answers the reader's question, which matters far more than word counts. Combine it with a read-through, and for length checks, the Word Count Tool.
How to use the Keyword Density Checker
- Paste or type your text into the box. A short sample is pre-filled so you can see the layout.
- Look at Total words, which counts every word in the box, including short and common ones.
- Read the table. Each row shows a Keyword, its Count and its Density, sorted from most to least frequent.
- Edit the text and the table updates immediately, so you can rewrite and recheck.
To see how the finished page might appear in results, try the SERP Preview Tool.
How the counting works and where it falls short
The tool lowercases the text and splits it into words made of letters, digits and apostrophes. It then ignores a built-in list of 24 very common words, such as "the", "and" and "with", and any word shorter than three characters. Only the top 15 remaining words are shown.
Two consequences follow. Density is calculated against all words, including the ignored ones, so the percentages are slightly lower than they would be if only counted words were used. And it counts single words only: it does not find phrases like "free online tools", and it does not combine singular and plural forms, so "tool" and "tools" are separate rows.
Hyphenated words are split at the hyphen, and text in other alphabets or with accented letters may not be counted as expected. Treat the result as a rough guide. Your text is processed in your browser and is not sent anywhere.