How to Calculate Keyword Density (and Why There Is No Ideal %)

The short answer

Keyword density = (times the keyword appears ÷ total words) × 100. A keyword used 5 times in a 76-word paragraph has a density of 5 ÷ 76 × 100 = 6.58%. Google does not publish an ideal percentage; its spam policies instead warn against repeating words so often that the text sounds unnatural. Use the Word Frequency Counter to see which words you repeat most, and rewrite where one word dominates.

The formula

Count the total words in the text. The Word Counter gives this instantly.

Count how many times the keyword appears.

Divide the keyword count by the total, then multiply by 100.

Worked example

Here is a 76-word paragraph:

"Choosing running shoes for flat feet is easier when you know what to look for. Running shoes with firm arch support help many runners with flat feet. Try shoes late in the day, when your feet are slightly larger, and bring the socks you run in. A good shop will let you jog in the shoes before you buy. Replace running shoes when the midsole feels flat or your knees start to ache after short runs."

Keyword	Appears	Calculation	Density
shoes	5	5 ÷ 76 × 100	6.58%
running shoes	3	3 ÷ 76 × 100	3.95%

How to count phrases

For a phrase such as "running shoes", tools and guides use one of two methods, which is why different checkers give different numbers:

• Count the phrase as one unit: 3 ÷ 76 × 100 = 3.95%.
• Count every word in the phrase: (3 × 2) ÷ 76 × 100 = 7.89%, because the two-word phrase covers 6 of the 76 words.

Neither is wrong. Pick one method and use it consistently when you compare drafts.

Is there an ideal keyword density?

No official figure exists. Google's spam policies describe keyword stuffing as filling a page with keywords or numbers, often in a list or group, unnaturally or out of context. One of the examples Google gives is "repeating the same words or phrases so often that it sounds unnatural."

So the useful question is not "have I reached 2%?" but "does this read naturally to a person?" A few practical signs that you have overdone it:

• The same phrase appears in several sentences in a row.
• You use the exact keyword where a pronoun ("it", "they") or a synonym would read better.
• A paragraph exists mainly to repeat the keyword, such as a list of city names or variations.
• Reading the text aloud sounds awkward or like an advert.

In the example above, "running shoes" three times in five sentences is borderline. Changing the last sentence to "Replace them when the midsole feels flat" reads better and loses nothing.

What to do instead of chasing a number

• Use the main phrase where it naturally fits: the title, the first paragraph, and a heading if it describes that section.
• Cover the topic fully. Answering related questions (sizes, fit, when to replace) helps readers more than repetition.
• Use natural variations. "Trainers", "running shoes" and "shoes" all describe the same thing.
• Write for the person searching. If the page answers their question clearly, the right words will appear often enough on their own.

Using the Word Frequency Counter

The Word Frequency Counter lists the top 25 words in your text with a bar, a count and a percentage. Paste your draft and run it.

Know how it counts, so you read the numbers correctly:

• It skips common stop words such as "the", "and", "with", "is" and "you".
• It counts only words of three or more letters, so words such as "go" or "UX" are not listed.
• It counts single words, not phrases.
• The percentage is out of the words it counted (after removing stop words and short words), not out of every word in the text.

For the example paragraph, the tool counts 53 words and shows "shoes" as 5 times (9.4%), while the standard keyword density is 6.58%. Both are correct for what they measure. For the standard figure, take the count from the tool and divide by the total from the word counter.

The list is most useful for spotting overused words. In the example, "shoes" (5), "running" (3), "flat" (3), "feet" (3) and "when" (3) top the list. Seeing "when" three times is a cue to vary the sentence openings. For more on this use, see How to Find Overused Words in Your Writing (Word Frequency).

A quick editing routine

Paste the finished draft into the Word Frequency Counter.

Look at the top five words. Are they the topic words you expect?

If a word is far ahead of the rest, search for it in your draft and replace some uses with a pronoun or a more specific word.

Read the edited paragraphs aloud.

Run the counter again and stop when the text reads naturally, whatever the percentage says.

Common mistakes

• Treating a density target as a rule. No percentage guarantees rankings, and forcing one hurts readability.
• Comparing numbers from different tools. One may count phrases as units and another word by word, or exclude stop words.
• Counting only exact matches. Readers and search engines both understand plurals and close variations.
• Optimising one page for many near-identical keywords. Pages that list variations unnaturally are close to the keyword stuffing Google describes.

For page titles and descriptions, the Meta Tag Generator helps you write and preview them.