What keyword density tells you, and what it doesn't
Keyword density is the share of a page's words taken up by a particular word or phrase. In the early days of search, engines leaned heavily on how often a word appeared, so people stuffed pages with keywords. That stopped working long ago. Modern search engines understand synonyms, topics and whether a page actually answers the question.
So why check it? Because it's a quick way to catch two real problems:
- Under-use: the page never clearly says what it's about. A plumbing page that never says "plumber" or names your city is missing an easy signal.
- Over-use: one phrase repeated so often the copy sounds robotic, which puts off readers and can look like keyword stuffing.
How to use the results
- Check your top 2- and 3-word phrases. They should describe what you sell and where, such as "water heater repair" or "family dentist Austin".
- Make sure your main keyword appears in the page title, the main heading and early in the text, once each, naturally.
- Use related words customers use: prices, problems, neighborhoods, brands you work with. That's what makes a page genuinely helpful.
- Compare against a competitor that ranks well to see which topics they cover that you don't.
Next, check how your page title and description look in search with the SERP preview tool.