ToolHub

Word Frequency Counter

Keyword density and word counts for any text

Paste some text above to see word frequency and keyword density.

Overview

What this tool does

Paste any text and see how often each word appears, ranked from most to least frequent, with keyword density percentages and a visual bar chart. Filter out common words, ignore case, and set a minimum word length to focus on what matters. Everything runs in your browser.

The basics

What is keyword density?

Keyword density is how often a specific word appears as a percentage of the total words counted. If "coffee" appears 8 times in a 400-word article, its density is about 2%. Writers and SEOs track density to confirm a target keyword appears naturally — present enough to signal the topic, but not so much that it reads as spam.

SEO guidance

What's a healthy density?

There's no magic number, and modern search engines focus on meaning and context far more than raw counts. As a rough guide:

  • 1-2% for a primary keyword usually feels natural
  • Supporting and related terms matter as much as the exact keyword
  • Above 3-4% starts to look like keyword stuffing, which can hurt rankings
  • Write for readers first — if it reads naturally, the density is usually fine

Density is a sanity check, not a target

Don't write to hit a density number. Use this tool the other way around: write naturally, then check that your main keyword shows up and that you're not accidentally overusing one word.

Getting useful results

The filters explained

Ignore common words

Words like "the", "and", "of", and "a" dominate every English text but carry no topical meaning. Filtering them out reveals your actual content keywords. On by default for that reason.

Ignore case

Merges "Coffee", "coffee", and "COFFEE" into one count. Turn it off when capitalization matters — for example, to count a proper noun separately from a common word.

Minimum word length

Hides very short words (set it to 3 or 4 to skip "a", "to", "of"). Useful for focusing on substantial words even without the stopword filter.

Who needs this

Common uses

  • SEO writers checking keyword presence and density
  • Editors spotting overused words and crutch phrases
  • Students and authors analyzing vocabulary variety
  • Translators and linguists studying word distribution
  • Content marketers confirming a piece is on-topic

Behind the scenes

Privacy and how it runs

Runs in your browser

Your text is analyzed locally and never sent anywhere, so it's safe for unpublished drafts and confidential documents.

Common questions

How do I find the most common words in a text?

Paste the text and the tool ranks every word by frequency. Turn on "ignore common words" to skip filler and surface the meaningful keywords at the top.

What keyword density should I aim for?

Around 1-2% for your primary keyword feels natural. There's no official target, and writing for readers beats chasing a number. Use the tool to avoid both under-using and over-stuffing a keyword.

Does repeating a keyword help SEO?

Up to a point — your keyword should appear enough to signal the topic. But excessive repetition (keyword stuffing) is penalized. Related terms and natural phrasing matter more than raw repetition.

Can I analyze very long text?

Yes. The tool handles long articles and shows the top results ranked by frequency. For very large texts it displays the top 200 unique words to keep the view readable.

Does it count phrases, not just single words?

This tool counts individual words. Single-word frequency is the most common analysis and the basis of keyword density. For multi-word phrase analysis you'd need a dedicated n-gram tool.

Related tools

Quick steps

1

Paste your text

Drop in an article, essay, or any text. The analysis updates instantly as you type or paste.

2

Adjust the filters

Ignore case to merge 'The' and 'the', hide common words to focus on keywords, and set a minimum word length.

3

Read the chart

Words are ranked by frequency with bars and density percentages. Copy the full table for a report.

Frequently asked questions

What is keyword density?

The percentage of times a word appears relative to the total counted words. If 'coffee' appears 8 times in a 400-word article, its density is about 2%. SEO writers track density to make sure a target keyword appears naturally without overstuffing.

What's a good keyword density for SEO?

There's no magic number, but 1-2% for a primary keyword is a common, natural-feeling range. Modern search engines focus on relevance and context rather than raw density, so write for readers first. Densities above 3-4% can look like keyword stuffing.

Why should I ignore common words?

Words like 'the', 'and', 'of', and 'a' are always the most frequent in any English text, but they're not meaningful for analysis. Filtering them out reveals the actual content keywords. The 'ignore common words' option does this.

What does 'ignore case' do?

It treats 'Coffee', 'coffee', and 'COFFEE' as the same word and combines their counts. Turn it off if capitalization matters for your analysis, for example to count proper nouns separately.

Is this useful for writers?

Yes. Word frequency reveals overused words and crutch phrases, helping you vary your vocabulary. It also confirms your key themes come through. Editors and students use it to tighten and analyze writing.

Does my text get uploaded?

No. All analysis happens in your browser. Your text is never sent to a server, which matters for unpublished drafts and confidential documents.