Free keyword density checker
Paste your text and type the keyword you're aiming at. You get how many times it appears, its keyword density as a percentage, and the one-, two- and three-word phrases you repeat most. It runs in your browser: your text is never sent anywhere.
What is keyword density?
Keyword density is how much of a page's text is one keyword, shown as a percentage. If a 500-word page uses "content brief" 5 times, the keyword density is 2%.
Keyword density = (times the keyword appears × words in the keyword) ÷ total words × 100
The words-in-the-keyword part matters for phrases. Five uses of a two-word phrase put ten of the 500 words inside that phrase, so most checkers, this one included, count 10 ÷ 500 = 2%, not 1%. Some tools count only the occurrences (5 ÷ 500 = 1%). If two checkers disagree on a phrase, that is usually why.
How this keyword density checker counts
- Words. Anything made of letters or digits is a word. Apostrophes stay inside a word ("don't" is one), hyphens split it ("long-tail" is two), and everything is lowercased.
- Your keyword. It is split into words the same way and matched against the text as a run of whole words, so "cat" does not count inside "category". A phrase must appear in order and in full, and overlapping matches count once, so "ha ha" in "ha ha ha" is one match.
- Phrase lists. Every run of one, two and three words is counted. With the common-words box ticked, one-word lists skip common words, and two- and three-word phrases skip any that start or end on one, so you see "keyword density" and not "of the".
- Nothing leaves the page. The count runs in your browser. There is no sign-up and no limit.
What is a good keyword density for SEO?
Google doesn't publish one. Its spam policies define keyword stuffing as "filling a web page with keywords or numbers in an attempt to manipulate rankings", including "repeating the same words or phrases so often that it sounds unnatural" (Google Search Central, spam policies, checked 2026-10-22). There is no percentage in that definition, so any "ideal 1 to 2%" figure is a rule of thumb from SEO tools, not a threshold from Google.
Use the number as a smell test instead:
- Read it aloud. If you hear the same phrase every other sentence, cut some, whatever the percentage says.
- Check the top of your list. If your keyword is not among your page's most-used phrases at all, the page may be about something else.
- Compare with the pages that rank. Paste the text of a top result in and see how the best pages in your search handle it. It is a comparison, not a target to hit.
- A high number on a short text is normal. A 40-word product blurb with the keyword twice is 5% by arithmetic alone.
How to lower or fix a keyword that's overused
- Keep the keyword in the title, the H1 and the first sentence, where it tells the reader and Google what the page is about.
- Replace later repeats with what the reader would say: "it", "the tool", "this method", or a more specific name.
- Where the same phrase starts several headings, rewrite the headings around the question each section answers.
- Add the related words and sections your readers expect. Running the search through the free content brief generator shows the names, phrases and headings Google's top five pages share, which is a better guide to what to add than a density figure.
- Check again, then read the page once more as a visitor.
Where density fits with the rest of on-page SEO
Density counts one thing, repetition. It can't tell you whether the page answers the search, covers the subtopics the top results cover, or earns links. Those decide rankings far more than a percentage. For that, read whether entity coverage works and how Dinkum's content briefs work. Whether AI answers quote you has even less to do with repeats: see how to get recommended by ChatGPT.
What this keyword density checker can't do
- It reads only the text you paste. It doesn't fetch a URL, so copy the visible text and leave out the navigation and footer.
- It matches exact words. "Check", "checker" and "checking" are different words to it, and synonyms don't count.
- It can't say what density a ranking page has unless you paste that page in too.
- It doesn't count words in images, or text your page builds with JavaScript after loading, unless you copy it.
Keyword density checker questions
Is this SEO keyword density checker free?
Yes. It's free, needs no sign-up and has no word limit. The counting happens in your browser, so your text is not uploaded or stored.
How do I check keyword density on my page?
Open the page, select the article text and copy it, paste it into the box above, type your keyword and press Check density. You get the keyword's count, its percentage and your most repeated one-, two- and three-word phrases.
What keyword density should I aim for?
Google gives no target. Its guidance is against repeating words or phrases so often that the text sounds unnatural. Write for the reader first, then use the checker to catch phrases you have overused.
Is keyword density a Google ranking factor?
Google doesn't list it as one. What it does document is that unnatural repetition can count as keyword stuffing, which is spam. Matching what searchers expect, through the words and sections of the pages that already rank, is a more useful thing to measure.
Does it work for phrases and not only single words?
Yes. Type a phrase of up to a few words and it counts exact in-order matches, then reports density with the formula above. The tables also show your most repeated two- and three-word phrases without you choosing them.
Can Dinkum fix this for me?
Yes. Every weekday morning Dinkum picks the change that will help your site most, writes it from a brief of what the top results cover, and opens it as a pull request for you to approve. Your first five changes are free.