A keyword density checker shows how often a word or phrase appears in your text compared with the total number of words. Paste a draft, an article or a product description, add the keyword you are targeting, and this tool shows the count, the density, whether the keyword appears in the opening and which words and phrases dominate the text. It updates as you type and runs in your browser, so your text is not uploaded or stored.
How to Use the Keyword Density Checker
- Paste your text: the copy you want to check. The tool reads pasted text, not URLs, so for a live page copy the main content and leave out the menu, sidebar and footer, which add words that are not part of the article.
- Focus keyword (optional): the word or phrase you are targeting, such as "shopify seo". Leave it empty to see only the word and phrase tables.
- Ignore common words: set to Yes by default. It hides words such as the, and, of and with from the single-word table and drops phrases that start or end with them, so the tables show topic words rather than grammar.
Four results appear at the top:
- Words: the total word count.
- Focus keyword uses: how many times the exact phrase appears.
- Focus keyword density: the share of the text taken up by the phrase.
- In the first 100 words: Yes if the phrase starts within the first 100 words, otherwise No.
Below them, three tables list up to 15 entries each: the most frequent single words, two-word phrases and three-word phrases, each with its count and density. Phrases appear only if they occur at least twice, so the tables show real repetition rather than every pair of words in the text.
How the checker counts words
Text is lowercased, and a word is a run of letters and numbers. Apostrophes and hyphens inside a word are kept, so "don't" and "e-commerce" each count as one word, while other punctuation is ignored. The focus keyword is matched as an exact sequence of words, so "shopify seo" does not match "seo for shopify" or "shopify's seo". Plurals count separately, so check "seo service" and "seo services" one at a time if both matter. Only the letters a to z are recognized, so text with accented or non-Latin letters will not count accurately.
Keyword Density Formula, With a Worked Example
The formula this checker uses is:
Keyword density = (keyword uses x words in the keyword) / total words x 100
Multiplying by the number of words in the keyword measures how much of the text the phrase takes up. Example numbers, not targets: an 800-word article uses "shopify seo" 6 times. The phrase has 2 words, so it takes up 12 of the 800 words, and the density is 12 / 800 x 100 = 1.5%. A single word such as "collections" used 10 times in the same article has a density of 10 / 800 x 100 = 1.25%.
Some checkers skip the multiplication and divide the count by the total words, which would put "shopify seo" at 0.75% in the same article. Others remove common words from the total before dividing, or read the whole page including menus. That is why the same text can show different densities in different tools. This checker always divides by the full word count, including common words, even when they are hidden from the tables. Compare drafts in one tool only.
What Is a Good Keyword Density?
There is no ideal keyword density, and Google has said it does not work to a target percentage. What Google does publish is a spam policy against keyword stuffing: filling a page with keywords in a way that reads unnaturally or out of context. Density is useful as a warning light, not as a goal.
As a rough editorial check, our writers treat a main phrase at around 1% of a long page as present without being forced, but the read-aloud test always wins. If a sentence sounds odd because of the keyword, rewrite it, whatever the number says. Short texts swing widely: one use of a two-word phrase in a 150-word product description is already 1.33%, so do not chase a number there.
How Important Is Keyword Density for SEO?
Keyword density matters far less than whether the page answers the search. Search engines read synonyms, related terms and context, so a page that covers the topic fully, uses the language searchers use and matches the intent of the query does better than one that repeats a phrase.
An SEO keyword density checker is still useful for three jobs: confirming the target phrase actually appears (writers drift to synonyms and sometimes never use it), catching accidental repetition before it reaches readers, and seeing what a page is about from its most repeated phrases. Use our search intent tool to confirm the page type fits the keyword before you tune the wording.
Reading the Word and Phrase Tables
The phrase tables are the most useful part of any keyword phrase density checker. Read the top five two- and three-word phrases and ask whether they describe the topic you are targeting. If a page meant to rank for "linen dresses" shows "free shipping" and "size guide" at the top of the two-word table, the boilerplate is louder than the topic.
- Topic phrase missing from the top 15: the page may be about something next to your topic. Add sections that cover the topic directly rather than inserting the phrase.
- One phrase far ahead of everything else: check for stuffing, especially in headings, image captions and repeated calls to action.
- Brand name at the top: normal on an About page, a problem on a category or guide page, where it crowds out descriptive language.
- Related terms present: phrases a reader would expect on the topic (sizes, fabric and fit for clothing; contacts, pipeline and integrations for a CRM) show that the page covers the subject.
Where the Keyword Appears Matters More Than How Often
Placement tells search engines and readers what a page is about faster than repetition does. The checker covers one placement, the first 100 words. Check the others yourself:
| Placement | Why it matters | Checked by this tool? |
|---|---|---|
| Title tag | A strong signal of the page topic, and the headline in search results | No |
| H1 | Confirms the topic to readers as soon as the page loads | No |
| First 100 words | Shows the page gets to the point | Yes |
| At least one H2 | Structures the page around the topic | No |
| URL slug | Short, readable and descriptive | No |
| Image alt text | Describes images for screen readers and image search; use the keyword only where it describes the image | No |
| Meta description | Not a ranking factor, but words that match the search can appear in bold and help the click | No |
Keyword Stuffing: Signs and Fixes
Keyword stuffing is repeating a keyword more than reads naturally in the hope of ranking for it. The signs are easy to spot, both in the checker and in the copy:
- The same exact phrase in nearly every sentence or every heading.
- Lists of cities, product names or keyword variants with no sentences around them.
- Awkward grammar built around the keyword, such as "best shopify seo agency usa near me".
- Keywords hidden in alt text, footers or text colored to match the background.
To fix it, replace repeats with pronouns, synonyms and the specific names of things, cut sentences that exist only to hold the keyword, and merge thin location or variant pages into one page that covers them properly. Then rerun the text and check that the topic phrase still appears in the title, the H1 and the opening.
Checking Product Descriptions and Category Copy
Ecommerce copy is short, so density numbers swing with every edit. For product descriptions, use the checker to confirm the product type and its key attributes appear at least once, in the words shoppers search, rather than to hit a percentage. For category pages, check that the category name and its close variants appear in the intro, and that brand or boilerplate phrases do not dominate the tables. Our guide to product description SEO covers the rest.
The same approach works as an article keyword density checker for blog posts: paste the draft before it goes to an editor, scan the phrase tables for accidental repetition, and confirm the focus phrase appears in the first 100 words.
A Five-Minute Draft Check With the Keyword Density Checker
Use this routine on any draft before it is published. It takes a few minutes and catches the most common wording problems.
- Paste the body copy only, without the menu, footer or related-post links, and enter the focus keyword.
- Check the first 100 words result. If it says No, rewrite the opening so it says plainly what the page covers.
- Read the uses and density together. Zero uses means the writer drifted to synonyms; a density that stands far above every other phrase means repetition.
- Scan the three-word table. Repeated three-word phrases are usually copied sentences, repeated calls to action or template text.
- Switch Ignore common words to No once. Phrases such as "you can" or "in order to" at the top of the tables point to padding you can cut.
- Edit, paste again and compare. The results update as you type, so you can fix and recheck in the same window.
When the Words Are Not the Problem
If a page has the right words in the right places and still does not rank, the cause is usually depth, intent, internal links or authority, not density. Our content optimization service reviews underperforming pages against what ranks and rewrites them, while our content marketing and SEO services cover new pages and the technical side. If you want to know which pages are worth fixing first, request a free audit.
See all our free SEO and marketing tools, including the keyword clustering tool for deciding which page each keyword belongs on.