This free keyword density checker shows which words and phrases dominate any page. Check your own pages or a competitor's. Enter a URL or paste a block of text. You get an instant breakdown of 1-, 2-, and 3-word phrase frequency and density. The tool also flags where each phrase appears: title, meta description, and headings. No signup.
What is keyword density?
Keyword density is the share of a page's text that one word or phrase makes up. Say "wedding photographer" appears 12 times in an 800-word page. Its density percentage is 1.5%. This keyword density tool computes that number for every 1-, 2-, and 3-word phrase. You see what the page is "about" statistically. Then you can check whether that matches the topic you want to rank for.
Density stopped being a direct ranking dial years ago. Search engines now weigh topics and context, not raw keyword counts. The number is still a fast, useful diagnostic in both directions. A target keyword that barely appears signals thin relevance. A keyword far above natural frequency reads as stuffing, to readers and spam systems alike.
How to calculate keyword density
The formula is simple: density = (occurrences ÷ total words) × 100. A keyword used 6 times in a 400-word text has a density of 1.5%. Phrases work the same way. A 2-word phrase used 4 times in those 400 words sits at 1%. The checker runs this calculation for every phrase on the page at once. You don't have to test keywords one by one.
How the analyzer works
In URL mode, our server fetches the page the way a real Chrome browser would. Bot-sensitive sites respond normally. The analyzer then strips scripts, styles, and other non-rendered markup. Only the visible text gets counted, the same text a search engine's parser reads. In paste mode, everything runs locally in your browser. Your text never leaves your device, which makes it safe for unpublished drafts.
The analysis then:
- counts every 1-, 2-, and 3-word phrase and calculates its density percentage,
- optionally filters out stop words ("the", "and", "of"…) so filler doesn't bury your real keywords. Phrases like "state of the art" survive, because only phrase edges are checked,
- for URL scans, flags whether each phrase appears in the title tag, meta description, and headings. These are the on-page spots that carry the most weight,
- and marks single keywords above 3% density as high. That is where copy starts to read as keyword-stuffed.
What's a good keyword density?
There is no magic density percentage, and chasing one is the wrong goal. Naturally written, well-optimized pages still land in predictable ranges:
| Density (single keyword) | What it usually means |
|---|
| 0% | The page never uses the keyword. Fix that first if you want to rank for it. Search engines can't guess relevance that isn't there. |
| 0.5% – 2.5% | The typical range for a page's main topic written naturally. Nothing to do here. |
| 3% – 5% | Noticeably repetitive. Read the flagged sentences out loud. Swap some occurrences for synonyms or pronouns if the keyword feels forced. |
| Over 5% | Keyword stuffing territory. This hurts readability and risks spam filtering. Rewrite for humans first. |
Two- and three-word phrases naturally run lower. A top phrase around 0.5–1% is already a strong topical signal. Pay more attention to which phrases top the list than to exact percentages. The top 10 phrases should read like a summary of the page's topic.
How to use the results for keyword research
- Check that the top of the list matches your target. If your money keyword isn't among the top phrases, the page is statistically about something else. Work it and close variants into the copy where they fit naturally.
- Check the Title / Desc / Headings columns. Your main phrase should have all three checkmarks. Secondary phrases should appear in at least one heading. These placements matter more than raw body-text density.
- Hunt for accidental repetition. High-density words you didn't intend are the easiest editing wins. Think "really", "solutions", or your brand name in every sentence.
- Run your top competitor's URL. Their top phrases reveal vocabulary and subtopics your page is missing. Use keyword gaps you find there to optimize your own copy. This is quick, free keyword research.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is keyword density a ranking factor?
Not directly, and it hasn't been for a long time. Search engines use far more sophisticated relevance models. Density is still a useful diagnostic, though. It catches pages that never mention their target topic. It also catches pages that repeat it unnaturally. Both are worth fixing.
How do you calculate keyword density for phrases?
The same way as for single words. Divide occurrences by the total word count, then multiply by 100. A 2-word phrase appearing 4 times in a 400-word page has a density of 1%.
What counts as the page's text in URL mode?
The visible text of the fetched HTML: paragraphs, headings, lists, and link anchors. Scripts, styles, and hidden template markup are stripped. Some sites render their text with JavaScript after loading (single-page apps do). The checker can't see that text yet, so use paste mode for those pages.
Why do the numbers differ from other density tools?
Density checkers disagree on what to count. Some analyze raw HTML, including meta tags and alt text. Some count hyphenated words as two words. Some always strip stop words. This keyword density tool counts visible body text only. It treats hyphenated and apostrophe words as single words, and stop words are a toggle. Small differences from other tools are expected.
Is the text or URL I submit stored?
Pasted text never leaves your browser at all. Submitted URLs are fetched, analyzed, and discarded. We keep no scan history.
More free SEO tools live on the SEO tools hub. The On-Page SEO Checker pairs well with this one. Run it on the same URL to optimize the technical side of the page.