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Keyword Density Checker — Word Count + 1/2/3-Word Density

Paste your content and this free Keyword Density Checker shows word count, sentence count, target keyword density, 1/2/3-word phrase frequency, and LSI keyword suggestions in 10+ languages.

Your Content
Density Report

Paste your content on the left and click Analyze.

Detailed density table will appear here.

Related keyword (LSI) suggestions will appear here.

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The Right Way to Use Keyword Density in 2026

By Sukhen Tanchangya • Founder, SERPsKit • 7 min read

Every few years someone declares keyword density dead. Every few years someone else writes an article saying you need to hit exactly 2.4% keyword density to rank. Both of them are wrong, and the truth sits in a quiet middle that almost nobody talks about.

Keyword density is not a ranking factor. Google has said this directly, multiple times. But keyword density is still useful, just not for the reason most bloggers think.

What Keyword Density Actually Tells You

When you check density on a page, you are not measuring "how well it ranks." You are measuring whether your topic actually matches what is on the page. If you set out to write an article about cold brew coffee but your top keyword is "machine" and "cold brew coffee" only appears twice in 2,000 words, you have a problem. Not a ranking problem. A topic problem. Your article wandered off.

Density tells you the truth your draft does not always reveal: what your article is really about, in the eyes of a machine reading it word by word.

The Range That Matters

For a target keyword, aim for 0.5% to 2.5% density. Below 0.5% the keyword does not appear often enough for the page to read as being about that topic. Above 2.5% you are flirting with what humans (and Google) experience as keyword stuffing.

That is a wide range on purpose. Within it, exact density does not matter. A 1.2% density and a 2.1% density both work fine. What matters is that the keyword feels naturally placed — in the title, the first paragraph, at least one heading, and sprinkled through the body where it makes sense.

Why N-grams Matter More Than Single Words

Most density tools focus on single words. That is the least useful number. The interesting data is in 2-word and 3-word phrases, because that is where Google's understanding of your topic actually lives.

If your single-word density is high for "coffee" but your 2-word phrase "cold brew" barely appears, your article is technically about coffee but not specifically about cold brew. Single-word density misled you. The 2-word and 3-word view exposed the gap.

This tool surfaces all three. Look at the 1-word data for confirmation. Look at the 2-word data for topic relevance. Look at the 3-word data for the specific phrasings you may want to add or trim.

The Stopword Filter

If you do not filter stopwords, the top results are always going to be "the", "a", "and", "of". Useless. Every language has its own list of words that occur so frequently they tell you nothing about your content. This tool ships with stopword lists for English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Bangla, Hindi, and Arabic. Pick the language matching your text and the noise disappears.

The LSI Question

"LSI keywords" is a term SEO tools love and Google has explicitly said is not a thing. There is no actual Latent Semantic Indexing happening in Google's algorithm. But the underlying idea — that comprehensive content covers related concepts, not just the main keyword — is real and matters for ranking.

The LSI tab in this tool is not magical Google insight. It is just the related phrases your text already contains. If you wrote a thorough article on cold brew, you should naturally have used phrases like "coffee grounds", "steeping time", "filter coffee", "iced coffee", "concentrate ratio". Seeing those phrases listed confirms your article has topical depth. Not seeing them suggests gaps.

How I Use This Tool

My workflow is simple. After I finish a draft, I paste it in, type the target keyword, and analyze. I check three things in order. First, the target keyword density — is it between 0.5% and 2.5%? If yes, move on. If no, adjust. Second, the top 2-word phrases — do they reflect my topic? If "cold brew" is at the top, I am on track. If random unrelated phrases dominate, my article wandered. Third, the LSI tab — am I missing obvious related concepts I should have covered?

This whole check takes about 90 seconds. The results have saved me from publishing topic-confused articles dozens of times.

One Last Thing

Density is a check, not a target. Do not write to hit a number. Write to answer the reader's question fully and clearly. Then check density at the end to make sure your topic actually came through. The check should confirm what you already wrote, not dictate how you wrote it.

Want help fixing thin or off-topic content on your blog?

I help bloggers and small business owners audit underperforming pages, identify topic gaps, and rewrite for both readers and search engines using density and LSI insights.

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Keyword Density Checker – FAQs

Common questions about keyword density, n-gram analysis, and using this checker.

What is keyword density?

Keyword density is the percentage of times a keyword or phrase appears in your content compared to the total word count. If your target keyword appears 10 times in a 1,000-word article, the density is 1.0%.

What is the ideal keyword density?

Aim for 0.5% to 2.5% for your main target keyword. Below 0.5% the keyword may not appear often enough; above 2.5% you risk keyword stuffing penalties. Within that range, exact density does not matter — natural placement does.

Is keyword density a ranking factor?

Not directly — Google has said this multiple times. But density is still a useful diagnostic. It tells you whether your content is actually about the topic you intended, which indirectly affects how well Google can match your page to relevant queries.

Why does this tool show 1, 2, and 3-word phrases separately?

Because each n-gram tells you something different. 1-word density shows individual term frequency. 2-word phrases reveal whether your specific topic is well covered. 3-word phrases highlight your most distinctive language patterns. Together they give a much fuller picture than single words alone.

What are stopwords?

Stopwords are extremely common words like "the", "a", "and", "of" that appear in almost any text. Without filtering them out, they dominate the top of any density analysis. Each language has its own stopword list — pick the right one in the language dropdown.

What does the tool consider keyword stuffing?

The tool flags densities above 2.5% as a warning and above 4% as risky. These are guidelines, not hard rules. Some niches naturally have higher density (a 500-word recipe page can have 5% density for "chicken" without it feeling unnatural). Use judgment.

What are LSI keywords?

"LSI" (Latent Semantic Indexing) is a term SEO tools use to describe related phrases that appear naturally when you cover a topic thoroughly. Google does not actually use LSI, but the underlying idea — that good content uses related vocabulary — is real. The LSI tab shows you the related phrases already in your text.

Can I check non-English content?

Yes. The tool supports stopword filtering for English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Bangla, Hindi, and Arabic. For other languages, pick "No stopwords filter" and analyze raw word frequency.

Does the tool strip HTML?

Yes. If you paste HTML, the tool strips all tags and analyzes only the visible text. Script and style blocks are removed entirely so they do not pollute the word count.

How do I improve a low keyword density?

Add the keyword naturally in places that make sense: title tag, first paragraph, at least one H2 or H3, image alt text, and 2 to 4 places in the body where it fits the sentence. Do not force it. If you have to twist a sentence to add the keyword, the sentence is wrong, not the keyword.