What is keyword density?
Keyword density is the percentage of times a target keyword appears in a text relative to the total word count. Formula: (Keyword Count ÷ Total Words) × 100.
What is the ideal keyword density for SEO?
Most SEO experts recommend a keyword density of 1–2% for your primary keyword. Higher densities risk being flagged as keyword stuffing by Google.
Does keyword density still matter for SEO?
Yes, but less than it did in the early 2010s. Google now uses semantic analysis to understand topic relevance. Natural usage of keywords and related terms is more effective than hitting an exact density target.
Should I include stop words in keyword density calculations?
Common stop words (the, a, and, is, etc.) are typically excluded from keyword density analysis as they appear in all content and provide no SEO signal.