--- title: "Keyword density: How many times should a keyword appear?" description: "Gain a clear understanding of ‘keyword density’ in SEO. Discover how to calculate it, and how it impacts your website’s visibility." url: "https://www.mickyweis.com/en/keyword-density/" source: "https://www.mickyweis.com/en/keyword-density/" published: "2020-07-16T10:16:32+00:00" --- ![brevkasse marketing top 5](https://www.mickyweis.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/brevkasse-marketing-top-5.png) Keyword density is basically a fancier term for how often a given keyword appears in a text compared to the total number of words. Still a bit confused? **Just look at the example below.** Assume your main focus keyword in a text is “cheap bags.” Your text is 1,000 words long. You mention the keyword “cheap bags” 15 times in the text. Your keyword density for “cheap bags” is 1.5%. The calculation of your keyword density is very simple. Just do the following: 15 (number of times you mentioned your keyword) ÷ 1,000 (total number of words in your text) = 1.5% (keyword density) ## **Why is keyword density important?** There has been much debate about whether keyword density is important or not. Most agree, however, that you should never engage in keyword stuffing. In the “old days,” you could just write your keyword 10,000 times on a page to rank on Google. Today, that is frowned upon—so don’t try it! Instead, you should mention your target keywords a natural number of times in your text. A common rule of thumb is to aim for a keyword density of about 1.5% to 3%. However, this is highly debated, so my best advice is not to focus too much on keyword density while writing. Write your texts as naturally as possible, and you will usually stay within an acceptable range automatically.   ![Micky Weis](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%2072%2072'%3E%3C/svg%3E) ### Micky Weis Freelance fractional CMO · 17 years in digital marketing · Copenhagen Micky Weis er en af Danmarks mest erfarne digitale marketingeksperter med næsten 17 års erfaring. Han arbejder som fractional CMO og specialiserer sig i SEO, organisk vækst, AI i marketing, affiliate og kommerciel strategi. Han har arbejdet med brands som Hummel, Matas, Tattoodo og Firtal, og driver i dag sin egen praksis, Weisio, fra København. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickyweis/) [Get in touch](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/external-cmo/) ## Got a comment? Commenting requires a login right now. If you have a question about this, send it over and I will reply directly. [Get in touch](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/external-cmo/) [Log in](https://www.mickyweis.com/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mickyweis.com%2Fen%2Fkeyword-density%2F%23kommentarer) ## Read next [![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20758%20429'%3E%3C/svg%3E)](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/entity-based-seo/) SEO ## [Entity-based SEO: The future of search engine optimization explained](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/entity-based-seo/) Where you could previously achieve strong rankings in search engines primarily by focusing on keywords and backlinks, Google’s algorithms have… 11 Mar 2026 · 10 min [![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20758%20429'%3E%3C/svg%3E)](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/linkbuilding/) Marketing ## [The Ultimate Link Building Guide: Boost Your SEO with Powerful Links](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/linkbuilding/) Welcome Back! Link Building – something you’ve probably come across before? Or maybe just “backlinks“? Link building is one of… 2 Mar 2026 · 18 min [![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20758%20429'%3E%3C/svg%3E)](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/what-is-seo/) Online marketing ## [Ultimate guide: What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization for everyone](https://www.mickyweis.com/en/what-is-seo/) No visitors? I know the feeling! It’s frustrating not to get traffic to your website! Want a bigger share of… 20 Feb 2026 · 27 min Usually replies within 24 hours ## Want me to look at yours? Tell me what you are sitting with. You get an honest answer — including if the answer is that you do not need me. - ✓ **No pitch**You get an answer, not a sales meeting. - ✓ **No lock-in**Month to month, if we go ahead. - ✓ **Straight to me**No account manager in between. [Follow along on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickyweis/)