Home / Free tools / Keyword density checker
Free tool

Keyword density checker. Free, no signup.

See the most used words and phrases on a page or in your text, with density, readability and overuse warnings.

01What it does

Count the words on a page and see what it repeats.

The keyword density checker reads the main text of any public page and lists the words and phrases it uses most, with how many times each appears and what share of the text it makes up. It also counts the words, the unique words and the sentences, and estimates the reading time.

Use it for two jobs. First, to confirm the page is clearly about its main topic: the phrase you want to rank for should show up among the top phrases, ideally in the title and the H1 as well. Second, to catch repetition: a word that fills more than about 4 percent of the text usually reads as stuffed to people and adds nothing for search engines.

Only the main content is counted. Menus, headers and footers are left out, so the numbers describe what a reader actually reads, not the site's navigation.

  • Word counts

    Total words, unique words, words per sentence and reading time.

  • Lexical density

    The share of words that carry meaning rather than words like the, and, of.

  • Top words and phrases

    Single words, two-word and three-word phrases, up to 20 of each, with count and density.

  • Title and H1 match

    Phrases that also appear in the page title or H1 are tagged, so you see whether the main topic lines up.

  • Repetition warning

    Words above 4 percent density are flagged as repeated a lot.

phrase lengths: one, two and three words
3
top phrases per list
20
density that is flagged as repetition
4%

02How to use it

Check keyword density in four steps.

  1. Paste the page address

    Use the full address of a public page, for example https://northgate-plumbing.example/boiler-repair. One page per check.

  2. Read the counts

    Look at words, unique words, lexical density and words per sentence to judge length and readability before you look at single keywords.

  3. Find your main phrase

    Look in the two-word and three-word lists for the phrase the page should rank for. Check that it is tagged in title and in H1.

  4. Fix repetition and gaps

    If a word is flagged as repeated a lot, use synonyms or rewrite the sentence. If your main phrase is missing, the page may not be clearly about it.

03How it works

How the keyword density checker works.

  1. Stage 1

    Fetch

    The page is loaded by our crawler, respecting robots.txt.

  2. Stage 2

    Extract

    Only the main text is kept; menus and footers are dropped.

  3. Stage 3

    Count

    Words, sentences and one-, two- and three-word phrases are counted.

  4. Stage 4

    Compare

    Phrases are matched against the title and the H1, and high densities are flagged.

The tool fetches the page with our own crawler, the way a search engine would, and respects the site's robots.txt. It extracts the main content and ignores navigation, headers, footers and other repeated blocks, then splits that text into words and sentences.

Phrases are counted as runs of one, two or three consecutive words. Phrases that start or end with a common stop word are skipped, so you see meaningful phrases like boiler repair rather than of the. A phrase must appear at least twice to be listed.

Density is the number of words the phrase accounts for divided by the total words, in percent. A two-word phrase used 5 times in a 500-word page covers 10 words, which is 2 percent. Reading time assumes about 230 words a minute.

04Reading the results

How to read the result.

FieldWhat it means
WordsThe number of words in the main content. Thin pages with very few words often struggle to rank for competitive searches.
Unique wordsHow many different words are used. A low number compared with total words points to repetition.
Lexical densityThe share of words that carry meaning. Very low values often mean padded text.
Reading timeEstimated minutes to read the main text.
Words per sentenceAverage sentence length. Around 15 to 20 words reads easily for most people.
Repeated a lotSingle words above 4 percent density. Usually a sign the text repeats itself.
Single wordsThe most used meaningful words, with count and density.
Two-word and three-word phrasesThe most used phrases. Your target keyword is usually one of these.
In title and in H1 tagsThe phrase also appears in the page title or the main heading, which shows the topic is consistent.
Times and DensityHow often the phrase appears, and the share of the text it covers in percent.

05Who it is for

Who uses a keyword density checker.

Writer

Check a draft before publishing

Confirm the topic phrase is present and that no word is repeated so often the text sounds forced.

Business owner

Review a service page

See whether your boiler repair page actually talks about boiler repair, and in the words your customers use.

SEO specialist

Compare with a competitor

Run your page and a ranking competitor's page and compare the phrases each one covers.

Editor

Spot padded content

Low lexical density and many repeated words point to text that can be cut without losing anything.

06Tips

Tips for using keyword density well.

  • There is no magic number

    Write for the reader. Density is a check for repetition, not a target to hit.

  • Cover the topic, not one phrase

    Related words and phrases matter more than repeating the main keyword.

  • Keep title, H1 and text aligned

    The main phrase should appear naturally in all three.

  • Use synonyms

    When a word is flagged, vary it. Readers notice the same word five times in a paragraph.

  • Compare against ranking pages

    Check what phrases the top pages for your keyword use that yours does not.

  • Recheck after editing

    Run the page again after changes; repeat checks within a few minutes may show the same cached result.

07Good to know

What this tool does not do.

09FAQ

Questions about the keyword density checker.

What is a good keyword density?

There is no magic number. Write naturally; over 3 to 4 percent usually reads as repetition.

Which text is counted?

The main content of the page, without menus, headers and footers.

What is lexical density?

The share of words that carry meaning, not words like the, and, of.

Does Google count keywords?

Google reads topics, not counts. Density is a check for repetition.

How is density calculated?

The words a phrase covers divided by the total words, in percent. A two-word phrase used 5 times in 500 words is 2 percent.

Why is my keyword missing from the lists?

It may appear fewer than two times, or the page text may not be readable from its HTML. Both are worth checking.

What do the in title and in H1 tags mean?

The phrase also appears in the page title or the main heading.

Why does the tool say the page could not be read?

The site may block automated visitors, the page may need JavaScript, or its robots.txt may disallow crawlers.

Can I check a text instead of a page?

This tool reads published pages. To check a draft for machine-like writing, use the AI content checker.

Want every result, not just the top 10? Create a free account: 1,000 credits every month, full results on every free tool, no card.

23free SEO tools