Keyword Density Checker

What this keyword density checker does

Paste your text or enter a page address, and the keyword density checker counts how often each word and phrase appears and what share of the total it makes up. Switch between single words, two-word and three-word phrases to see which topics the page really leans on. Add a target keyword to see its density, whether it appears early, and, for live pages, whether it’s in the title, H1 and meta description.

It works on your own drafts before publishing and on competitors’ pages, which is often the more useful check: it shows which phrases the pages ranking above you actually use.

How to use the keyword density checker

1. Choose Paste text and paste your content, or choose Check a URL and enter any public page. The checker reads the page’s main content and leaves out menus and footers where the page marks them.
2. Type the keyword you’re targeting (optional).
3. Read the summary: word count, unique words and reading time.
4. Scan the table. Switch to 2 words and 3 words to find the phrases, not just single words, that dominate the page.
5. Copy the table or download it as CSV to compare pages side by side.

How keyword density is calculated

keyword density = times the keyword appears ÷ total words × 100

A keyword used 12 times in a 1,200-word article has a density of 1%. The checker counts plurals as the same keyword, so “running shoe” and “running shoes” add up together. Phrases don’t cross sentence boundaries, which avoids counting accidental pairs like the last word of one sentence and the first word of the next.

What’s a good keyword density?

There isn’t a magic number, and Google has never published one. Its own guidance is to write for people and avoid keyword stuffing, meaning repetition that makes a page read unnaturally. In practice, pages that rank tend to mention their main topic naturally, often somewhere around 0.5–2% for a single phrase, with plenty of related words around it.

Use the keyword density checker to catch two problems instead of chasing a percentage:

• Too little: the target phrase appears once or not at all, or only near the end. Google and readers may not realise what the page is about.
• Too much: one phrase is above roughly 3% on a long page, or the top of the table is the same word in slightly different forms. That usually reads as repetitive; swap in synonyms and pronouns.

Short texts always show high percentages, because each mention counts for more, so judge density on the full article.

Comparing with competitors

Check the top three results for your search with the URL mode and download each table. Phrases that appear on all of them but not on your page are usually subtopics you haven’t covered yet. That tells you more than your own density figure does.

Related tools

Preview how the page will look in Google with the SERP Snippet Preview, check length limits with the Character Counter, and see how easy your text is to read with the Readability Checker.

Frequently asked questions

Does keyword density still matter for SEO?

Not as a target number. It’s a quick way to spot a page that never mentions its topic or one that repeats it so often it reads badly. Relevance and usefulness matter far more.

Can the keyword density checker analyse a competitor’s page?

Yes. Choose Check a URL and enter any public page. Pages that need a login or block automated requests can’t be fetched.

Why are words like “the” and “and” missing?

Common words are hidden by default because they top every list. Untick Ignore common words to include them.

Does it count headings and alt text?

In URL mode it counts the visible text of the main content, including headings, but not image alt text, menus or code.