What Is Keyword Density? Formula, Ideal Percentage and How to Check It
Quick answer: keyword density is the percentage of words in a page that are your target keyword: (times the keyword appears ÷ total words) × 100. There's no perfect number — Google says it isn't a ranking factor — but natural, well-written pages usually land around 0.5–2% for their main phrase.
Keyword density is one of the oldest ideas in SEO. In the early 2000s, repeating a keyword more often really did help a page rank, so people stuffed pages full of them. Search engines have long since moved on, but density is still a useful sanity check: too low and the page may not be clearly about the topic, too high and it reads like spam.
Analyze word frequency and keyword density of any text for SEO, including 2 and 3 word phrases.
The keyword density formula
Keyword density = (number of times the keyword appears ÷ total number of words) × 100
- "Coffee grinder" appears 9 times in a 1,200-word article → 9 ÷ 1,200 × 100 = 0.75%
- "Budget" appears 25 times in an 800-word post → 25 ÷ 800 × 100 = 3.1% (probably too repetitive)
Some tools count a two-word phrase as two words when they calculate density, which gives a higher percentage. Either way, use the number as a guide, not a target.
What is a good keyword density?
| Density for the main keyword | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Under 0.3% | The page may not clearly say what it's about. Check the keyword is in the title, the first paragraph and at least one heading. |
| 0.5% – 2% | Typical of natural, well-written content. |
| 2% – 3% | Fine for short pages and product descriptions; on long articles, read it aloud to check it isn't repetitive. |
| Over 3% | Likely to read as keyword stuffing. Replace some uses with pronouns, synonyms and related terms. |
These ranges are rules of thumb, not Google rules. A page can rank first with a density of 0.4% if it answers the question better than anything else.
How to check keyword density
- Copy the text of your article or web page (just the main content, not the menu and footer).
- Paste it into the keyword density checker.
- Leave Ignore common words on so "the", "and" and "of" don't fill the list.
- Look at the one-word, two-word and three-word tables. Your main keyword should be near the top; if a word you didn't intend to target is dominating, that's what the page looks like it's about.
The checker also shows total and unique word counts. For a fuller breakdown — characters, sentences, reading time — use the word counter.
Where your keyword matters more than how often
Placement does more than repetition. Make sure your main keyword (or a close variation) appears in:
- The title tag — ideally near the start. It's what shows as the blue link in Google.
- The H1 heading at the top of the page.
- The first 100 words, so readers and search engines know immediately what the page covers.
- One or two subheadings where it fits naturally.
- The URL — short and readable, like
/coffee-grinder-guide. - The meta description — it doesn't affect ranking directly, but Google bolds matching words in results, which helps clicks. The meta tag generator helps you write one at the right length.
What to do instead of keyword stuffing
- Use variations. "Coffee grinder", "burr grinder", "grind coffee beans", "grinder for espresso" — modern search engines understand they're related.
- Answer the related questions people search for. Google's "People also ask" box and autocomplete suggestions are a free list of them.
- Cover the topic completely. A page that explains what, why, how, how much and common mistakes will naturally use the right words.
- Write for the reader. If a sentence only exists to fit the keyword in, delete it.
Keyword density for a 1,000-word article
At 1% density, a 1,000-word article uses its main keyword about 10 times; at 2%, about 20. In practice that's: once in the title, once in the H1, once in the opening paragraph, once or twice in subheadings, and a handful of times in the body where it reads naturally. Not sure how long your article is in pages? See how many pages 1,000 words is.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good keyword density for SEO?
There is no official ideal. Google has said keyword density is not a ranking factor. As a rule of thumb, most well-written articles end up around 0.5–2% for their main keyword. If yours is well above 3%, read the text aloud — it probably sounds repetitive.
How do you calculate keyword density?
Divide the number of times the keyword appears by the total number of words, then multiply by 100. A keyword used 12 times in a 1,000-word article has a density of 1.2%.
How many times should I use a keyword in 1,000 words?
Usually somewhere between 5 and 20 times for the exact phrase, including the title, an early paragraph and one or two headings. Focus on covering the topic fully; variations and related words count too.
What is keyword stuffing?
Repeating a keyword unnaturally to try to rank — in sentences that don't read well, in long lists, or hidden on the page. Google treats it as spam and it can lower your rankings.
Does keyword density count multi-word phrases?
It can. For a two-word phrase, count how many times the phrase appears and divide by the total word count. The keyword density checker shows one-, two- and three-word phrases separately.
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