Keyword Density Checker
Check keyword usage and density in your content.
| Keyword | Count | Density |
|---|
Paste some text above to see which keywords it uses most.
See which words and phrases your page repeats
Paste an article, product description or page copy and the checker lists the single words, two-word phrases and three-word phrases it uses most, with how often each appears and its density. Add a focus keyword to see how often that exact phrase turns up.
The analysis runs in your browser as you type. Your copy isn’t uploaded, so unpublished drafts and client work are fine to paste.
How to check keyword use in your content
- Paste your text into the box — just the main content, without menus or footers.
- Optionally type the phrase you’re targeting under Focus keyword (optional). A card shows its density and count, and its row is highlighted if it appears in the table.
- Switch between the 1 word, 2 words and 3 words tabs to see single words or phrases.
- Leave “Ignore common words (the, and, of…)” ticked to hide filler words, or untick it to see everything.
How to read the table
- Count is how many times the word or phrase appears. Capitals are ignored, but “tool” and “tools” are counted separately.
- Density is the count divided by total words, times 100. Phrases use the same total, so a two-word phrase used 5 times in 500 words shows 1.00%.
- Top 25 only. On the 2 words and 3 words tabs, phrases that appear just once are left out.
- Punctuation splits phrases: “…for free. Free delivery…” doesn’t count as the phrase “free free”.
- Common words still count towards Total words when hidden. A phrase is hidden only if it starts or ends with one, so “cost of living” still appears.
When a density check is worth running
- Before publishing: confirm a page actually uses the phrase its title targets. The free SEO tools guide covers where this fits among other on-page checks.
- Editing for repetition: spot a word you’ve used far more than you meant to, whether or not search is your concern.
Making sense of the numbers
- Use natural variations — plurals, synonyms, related terms — rather than repeating one exact phrase. Each variation is counted on its own row.
- Hyphens matter: “e-mail” is one word here and won’t match a focus keyword of “email”.
What keyword density does and doesn’t tell you
A measure of repetition, not quality
Density only says what share of the words a term takes up. It can’t tell whether the page answers the reader’s question, reads well or is better than other pages on the topic.
There’s no ideal percentage
Search engines don’t publish a target density, and Google’s spam policies name keyword stuffing as something to avoid. Use the numbers to spot outliers instead: a phrase far above everything else probably reads as repetitive, while a target phrase that barely appears may mean the page doesn’t clearly cover it.
Keyword Density Checker: common questions
What is a good keyword density?
There isn’t a number to hit. Make sure the main topic is clearly named, and treat an unusually high figure as a sign to reword.
Does it count plurals and other forms of a word?
No. Matching is exact apart from capitals, so “checker”, “checkers” and “checking” are separate entries. Add them up yourself if you want the total for a topic.
Why is the total different from the Word Counter?
This tool counts only runs of letters and numbers, so lone dashes, symbols and emoji aren’t words here. The Word Counter counts anything between spaces, so the totals can differ either way: symbols and emoji aren’t counted here, while “1,000” or “and/or” count as two words.
Why doesn’t a phrase I used show up?
On the phrase tabs it may appear only once, start or end with a common word while that filter is on, or be broken up by punctuation. Typing it as the focus keyword shows its count even if it’s used once or includes common words.