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What Is Keyword Density and How It Affects SEO

Keyword density shows what percentage of the text is occupied by key phrases and whether it meets the requirements of search engines. Tracking this metric helps you create SEO-friendly articles that rank well and are easily read.

In this article, I’ll explain how to calculate the density, what limits it should be kept within, and what services to use to determine it.

An example of calculating keyword density

Keyword density is calculated using the following formula:

keyword-density

Imagine that in an article of 200 words, the key phrase “eco-friendly cars” appears 8 times. Then:

Keyword density = (8 / 200) × 100 = 4%.

Optimal keyword density

There is no specific percentage or universal solution for all projects. There are only general recommendations and limits that you should not go beyond.

1. The optimal keyword density depends on the subject matter of the text, its length, and the requirements of search engines. SEO experts recommend keeping this indicator within 1–3%.

For every 100 words of text, there should be 1–3 repetitions of the key phrase. Let’s talk about the number of characters in which the text is usually measured. It is advisable to use an average of 3–6 repetitions of the same keyword per 1,000 characters (i.e. 150–200 words).

The numbers are very conditional, but you can still use them as a guide.

2. Search engines are becoming increasingly sophisticated and look at the overall quality of the content.

3. Ensure that you have enough keywords in the text for optimal ranking. If there are less than 1% of such words, it is unlikely that you will be able to get to the top for your target query. The robots will consider the page irrelevant and rank others.

Example. The author wrote an article on “eco-friendly cars” with the following keyword density:

Key phrase

Number of occurrences

Total number of words

Density (%)

Waste management

6

200

3

Renewable sources of energy

5

200

2.5

Waste sorting

4

200

2

Environmental initiatives

3

200

1.5

Ecological cars

2

200

1

The phrase “ecological cars” has a density of 1%. This is not enough to get to the top of the target query. The article will be ranked for the query waste disposal, which does not meet the author’s expectations.

Make sure that the keywords you use are the most used ones compared to others – so that the article is relevant to the topic and relevant to search engines.

4. Don’t overload the text with keys. Suppose you significantly exceed the percentage of occurrences. In that case, you risk running into Google Panda. This filter rejects websites for over-optimizing text, non-unique content, lack of semantic content, and focus on search robots only.

Google advises avoiding a lot of unnecessary keywords designed for search engines that annoy users.

To learn how to check and correct keyword density, read the article about textual relevance.

Metrics related to keyword density

To effectively control keyword density and ensure content relevance, also keep track of

  1. Keyword overuse.
  2. Keyword stuffing.
  3. LSI keywords.
  4. TF-IDF.

Let’s take a closer look at each of the indicators.

Keyword overuse

A phenomenon when certain words or phrases are repeated excessively, creating a feeling of artificiality and making it difficult to read. This often happens if the author uses the same expressions unnecessarily.

Example. Buying a new car is very easy. Our new car has the latest features. A new car from us is the perfect choice. You will be satisfied with the new car.

Problem: The repeated phrase “new car” makes the text monotonous and difficult to read.

Keyword stuffing

General excessive use of different variations of keywords or phrases in the text. It reduces the quality of information and negatively affects SEO.

Example. Our online store offers a large selection of cars. In our online store, you will find a variety of cars to suit every taste. If you are looking for cars, our online store has everything you need. Choose from our wide range of cars and get discounts!

Problem: The text is full of different variations of keywords (“cars”, “online store”, “car selection”), which makes it less natural and less readable.

The main difference between cloying and over-spam is that in the first case, the text is full of certain words or phrases (not necessarily keywords), while in the second case, the text is difficult to read because of the keywords.

LSI keywords

Using LSI words is a good way to reduce high text density. They are synonyms for the keywords, as well as terms and phrases related to the topic. They complement the text and make the content more natural for perception.

Example 1: The main keyword is “car”. LSI keywords:

  • engine;
  • fuel
  • vehicle
  • car service;
  • car price.

Example 2: The main keyword is “keyword density”. LSI keywords:

  • keyword frequency;
  • optimal density;
  • keyword analysis;
  • SEO text optimization;
  • keys in the content.

TF-IDF (Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency)

This method helps to determine the importance of a keyword in the text in comparison with other articles on the topic. The “database” for TF-IDF analysis is usually text from competitors’ pages that rank high on Google.

Here’s how to use the TF-IDF method for your article:

1. Collect competitors’ texts for analysis. Let’s say there are five of them.

2. Calculate the Term Frequency (TF), which determines the frequency of the term in the text:

tf

Example. If the term “ecological car” appears ten times in the text and the total number of words is 200, its TF = 10 / 200 = 0.05.

3. Calculate the Inverse Document Frequency (IDF), which measures the importance of a term in a collection of documents:

idf

Example. For a term appearing in three of the five documents, IDF = log ( 3 / 5 ) + 1 ≈ 1.2.

4. Calculate the TF-IDF using the above numbers:

tf-idf

Example. TF-IDF = 0.05 × 1.22 = 0.061.

If the TF-IDF for most keywords on competitors’ pages is between 0.05 and 0.1, a value of 0.061 indicates that the keyword is important.

TF-IDF can vary in a wide range: from very low values (0.001) to high values (10 or more). It all depends on the frequency of the term in the document and its use in competitors’ articles.

So that you don’t have to calculate logarithms manually, I’m sharing services that automate the process:

Services for determining keyword density

To quickly determine the keyword density in your text and analyze it for spam, use online services. Here are the most popular and convenient ones.

Serpstat text analytics

The service provides a detailed analysis of the text: determining the keyword density, competitor analysis, and recommendations for improving the text.

Serpstat analyzes the occurrence of important keys in the Title, H1, and text on the page: whether there is spam, how many queries, what keys competitors use, and whether the word is relevant to the analyzed topic.

1. To get started, add the collected semantics to the tool and cluster it:

4-serpstat

2. Based on the resulting cluster and the page linked to it, analyze the key phrases:

5-serpstat

Only one page is linked to the cluster because the queries are quite specific. The service finds it by itself.

6-serpstat

The cost of the service depends on the chosen package:

  1. Individual – $60/month. Suitable for small businesses and individual use.
  2. Team – $120/month. For teams and small agencies.
  3. Agency – $492/month. For large companies with high data requirements.

In addition to the text analytics tool, the package includes a set of functions for SEO optimization:

  • keyword analysis
  • position monitoring;
  • competitor analysis;
  • website audit;
  • link analysis, etc.

Smallseotools

A free and easy-to-use tool for checking keyword density. I will tell you how to use Smallseotools.

1. Select the Word Counter tool:

7-smartseotools

2. Get the results in a convenient table with keyword usage statistics:

8-smartseotools

The service provides information about two- and three-word keywords, which is necessary for analysis.

Wordcounter

A free basic tool for counting words and checking keyword density on a page.

9-wordcounter

Wordcounter contains information about two- and three-word keywords.

Neuralwriter

A powerful content improvement tool that analyzes keyword density and helps you improve your text to meet SEO standards. Neuralwriter’s counter interface helps you determine the percentage of density and keywords with one, two, and three words.

10-neutral-writer

The tools of this service, including word count, headline generator, text uniqueness analysis, and paraphrasing, are free to use. No registration is required.

SEOquake

A popular browser plugin that allows you to quickly check pages for spam and analyze keyword density. It is a convenient tool for analyzing competitors’ texts: you do not need to copy the text – just click on the plugin icon on the desired page.

It is useful that SEOquake:

  1. Indicates in which meta tags the words were used: T – title, D – description, or H – header.
  2. Displays the content of the meta tags.
  3. Provides information about the analyzed page with its title and description.

11-seoquake

It also contains a filter that allows you to select only certain keywords or phrases of interest. For example, if you sort by the word “density”, you will see all combinations of keywords with this word:

12-seoquake

The service helps to create a keyword cloud – where each word or phrase from a page is displayed in different sizes, depending on the frequency of its use:

13-seoquake

The service is free but requires registration.

There are many tools for analyzing and improving text. It is important to search for keywords and all their word forms. After all, search engines take into account their word forms, synonyms, and context in addition to the exact occurrences of the keywords in the text.

How to create content with optimal keyword density

  1. The main rule is to create content for people. The text should be informative, expert, and easy to read.
  2. There is no exact and universal percentage of keyword occurrences for any text.
  3. Combine both short-tail and long-tail keyword usage in the text. A long-tail keyword refers to a search query used in the text along with additional words. For example, the query “wholesale women's dresses” is a short-tail keyword, while “wholesale womens dresses with decorative elements” is a long-tail keyword.
  4. Strike a happy medium: avoid both an excess of keywords in the text and an insufficient number of them. Do not overuse a large number of direct hits.
  5. If the density is too high, remove repetitive queries and replace them with synonyms and word forms. This way, you will increase the relevance and value of the text without spamming. To find synonyms, you can use Serpstat’s “Related keywords” feature:

serpstat-related-keywords

  1. The best way to organically adjust the density index is to increase the volume of content in general. If a keyword appears 30 times in a 2,000-word document, it will look more natural than a keyword that appears 10 times in a 300-word text.
  2. Avoid unnatural constructions, like “Women’s dresses cheap prices” instead of “Women’s dresses at cheap prices.”
  3. To achieve a harmonious combination of keywords in the text, it is important to place them
  • in the headings (H1, H2) and subheadings to increase their visibility;
  • in the first paragraph of the text for a quick signal to search engines;
  • in the body of the article – evenly to ensure natural reading;
  • in the final paragraph to summarize the topic.

To remember

  1. Keyword density is an important aspect of SEO optimization, but you shouldn’t focus on it alone. It is one of the many factors that affect the success of a text in search engines.
  2. Take into account concepts such as LSI keywords, text nausea, over-spamming, and TF-IDF to create quality content.
  3. Use available tools to check texts online and make sure they remain useful and understandable for readers:
  • text analyzer from Serpstat;
  • Istio;
  • Smallseotools;
  • Simple-SEO-tools;
  • Wordcounter;
  • Hyperhost;
  • Neuralwriter;
  • SEOquake plugin.
  1. There are no universal formulas. SEO practitioners recommend keeping the keyword density at 1–3%.
  2. Organically adjust your keyword density, increase the volume of content in general, combine different types of keywords, and avoid unnatural constructions.

FAQ & How to

How to calculate keyword density?

Keyword Density (KD) = (Number of occurrences / Total number of words) × 100.

  1. Number of keyword occurrences or keyword frequency: 8.
  2. Total number of words in the text: 200.

Keyword Density = (8 / 200) × 100 = 4%.

What keyword density is acceptable for a 1,000-word text?

Many SEO experts agree that the indicator should be kept within 1–3%.

The formula for calculating keyword density:

KD = (Number of occurrences / Total number of words) × 100.

To determine the number of times a keyword phrase is used per 1,000 words at a density of 1–3%:

Number of keywords = (CPC × Number of words) / 100.

With a text of 1,000 words:

Density 3%: (3 × 1,000) / 100 = 30.

Thus, for 1,000 words, there should be 10–30 key phrases.

The effectiveness depends on the quality of the content and how well the keywords are integrated into the text.

How many times should keywords appear per 1,000 characters?

On average, 1,000 characters equals 150–200 words, so the number of keywords should be around 4-6, if you stick to a 1–3% density.

Keyword density (KD) = (Number of occurrences / Total number of words) × 100.

KD = (6 / 200) × 100 = 3%.

What tools are available to determine the keyword density?

  • Serpstat
  • Smallseotools
  • Wordcounter
  • SEOquake
  • Neuralwriter
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