Paste your content. Get instant word-frequency analysis, keyword density, stuffing detection, and readability metrics. Ranks 1-word, 2-word, and 3-word phrases — and warns when any term crosses the 3% stuffing threshold.
Keyword density was a major ranking factor a decade ago. In 2026, it's not — but it's still a useful diagnostic tool for spotting unnatural writing. The goal isn't to hit a specific percentage; it's to write naturally and verify you haven't unintentionally over-optimized.
Modern Google uses semantic search and topical relevance. Instead of obsessing over keyword density, write the article you'd write for a smart human reader, then check this tool to make sure you haven't inadvertently stuffed any term. If everything is below 3%, you're fine.
Our article on why most people fail at SEO covers the bigger mistakes that hurt rankings. The search intent guide explains why intent matching matters more than keyword frequency in modern SEO.
Keyword density is the percentage of times a specific word or phrase appears relative to the total word count. If "SEO" appears 15 times in 1,000 words, density is 1.5%. Modern Google doesn't reward specific densities, but unusually high density (above 3%) signals keyword stuffing.
There's no magic number. Modern best practice: write naturally, mention your primary keyword in title, first paragraph, and a few times in body where natural. Don't aim for a specific percentage. If density exceeds 3%, you're likely stuffing — and Google can detect it.
Not directly. Google's modern algorithms use semantic search and natural language processing — they understand context, synonyms, topical relevance, not just keyword frequency. However, very high density (keyword stuffing) is penalized as a quality signal violation.
If your target keyword appears zero times in a long article, Google may not understand the topic. Rule of thumb: primary keyword should appear at least once in the title, first paragraph, an H2 heading, and meta description. Beyond that, write naturally.