Keyword Density
Keyword density is how often one word or phrase appears on a page, shown as a percentage of all the words on that page. In a 2011 Google video, Google's Matt Cutts said there's no ideal number. The first mention or two can help, then the benefit fades, and heavy repetition starts to look like keyword stuffing.
Source: Google Webmasters video (now on Google Search Central's YouTube channel), Matt Cutts, What is the ideal keyword density of a page? (August 19, 2011), checked October 29, 2026
What Keyword Density means for your business
We don't count it. Google's SEO starter guide says repeating the same words over and over, even in variations, wears readers out, and that keyword stuffing breaks its spam policies. The same guide says varying your words gives a page more chances to show up, because you end up using more of the words people search with.
What we'd check is simpler. Does the phrase a buyer would type appear where it counts: the page title, a heading, and the sentence that answers their question? After that, we'd write the way you'd explain it on the phone. Cutts gave the same test in the video. Read the page out loud, or have someone else read it, and fix anything that sounds stiff.
If an SEO plugin keeps telling you to fit your keyword in more often, we think rewriting the page around the buyer's question does more good, and it's work we do.
Last reviewed October 29, 2026. All terms
How AI answers it today
On October 29, 2026, Google's AI Overview cited SEO tool blogs, Yoast and YouTube, and passed along a target range from writers and plugins while saying density isn't a ranking factor. ChatGPT offered a common percentage guideline, noted Google gives none, and cited nothing.
Our run through ChatGPT and Google's AI Overview, October 29, 2026. A sample, not what every buyer sees.
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