What in the world is a keyword density checker?!
(For your information, there are affiliate links within this post)
Simply put, a keyword density checker analyzes your blog post or article for your primary keyword dispersion within the body of your writing.
The sole purpose of this dingus is to tell you whether or not your writing has sufficient keyword use to rank for that keyword in search engine algorithms.
If the density of your focus keyword is too low (not used often enough), it may fail to rank high enough (or at all). The result is your article will be far from the first or second page of search engine rankings.
Few people venture beyond the second page of search engine results to satisfy their information needs.
In essence, you are writing for your eyes only!
Enter the keyword density checker.
Now perhaps you are thinking “Well, if I just need to have my focus keyword sprinkled through my article, I’ll just pack them in as much as I can.”
Been there, done that. And it can work for shorter articles. Still, the more you warm to your subject, the less you think about keywords. It’s a natural occurrence. But it can be deadly where ranking your page is concerned.
The other pitfall to this strategy is focus keyword saturation. In an effort to have your focus keyword throughout your article, you use it too much.
BANG! You are penalized by the search engine algorithms for stuffing your site with keywords.
You were just being diligent. Just trying to rank your page so its value would be recognized.
But the search engines saw a scam and decided to slap you down.
Keyword density checkers can help you avoid this, as well as help the flow of your writing feel more natural.
So where can I get these checkers? Are they Expensive?
There are a ton of useful tools on the net…for free! Admittedly, some of them are bare bones or provide functionality “around” the target of your needs. For instance, at SEObook you’ll find their keyword density analyzer tool a great widget to view percentages of one, two, and three word keywords from your article or post.
SEOChat offers a similar keyword density tool.
In a pinch, these widgets are helpful and I would recommend you check them out; however, these tools were not specifically designed to identify your focus keyword density.
What other options exist?
What you need is a keyword density checker that searches for your post’s focus keyword…and nothing else.
If you use WordPress as your content management system (and you SHOULD…OK, OK, I’m biased. I love 
WordPress) then you have several excellent keyword density checker options that not only provided the needed data but integrate with other plug-ins.
The most popular free keyword density checker plug-in on WordPress.org is SEO-Tool – Keyword Density Checker. According to the publisher it sports the capability of:
- Automatic calculation of the keyword density for single keywords and key phrases (2- and 3-words) while writing the content (this is similar to what you see on the Net tools above)
- Meta keywords suggestion depending on the pages/posts content (this is a useful function if you are strapped for keyword ideas or don’t have access to a better tool)
- Language specific stop word lists (see STOP WORDS – I don’t like stop word removal because it inhibits extraction of natural speech key phrases. There are a few schools of thought on this, however)
- Optional filter for stop words
- Update interval for the statistics generation can be changed and switched off
- Generation of statistics for 2- and 3-word phrases can be deactivated
- Definition of the default language and stop word filter status for authors
- Prevent authors and contributors from changing the content language and stop word filter status
There are a few other plug-ins that while not necessarily providing the same level of detail above, can still give you a high level over view of your keyword density. Among them are:
GhostBloggers™ Keyword Density Tool
What’s available if I want to pay for a Keyword Density Checker?
First, I’d like to introduce you to an excellent site optimization tool called WordPress SEO by Yoast. Not only is this tool free, but it will help your page(s) rank by identifying weakness in key areas:
- Checks your image(s) alt tag for your focus keywords
- Post Length (is it long enough)
- Meta data review (have you written it and does it contain your your focus keywords)
- Write meta titles and descriptions for all your categories and tags (further optimizing your post for search engine review)
- Advanced XML site map function (think of this as a map to your site for search engines)
- Breadcrumbs enabled (This allows you to create easy navigation that is great for both users and search engines)
- Social Integration (Facebook implementation and soon Google + as well)
There are many more features that, beyond the keyword density checker, make this an invaluable tool for writing a SEO friendly blog posts. I highly recommend you use this plug-in if you get nothing else from this post.
Now for what I believe is the current jewel in the crown of available plug-ins for scrubbing blog posts and articles.
If you know the Genesis framework for WordPress ( Genesis supports numerous theme/Skins for WordPress) then perhaps you’ve heard of their site Copyblog and the premium line of WordPress plug-ins they develop.
The plug-in we are concerned with here is called Scribe. Not only does it integrate nicely with Yoast (and other SEO plug-ins) but it offers its own suite of kick-ass optimization and post analysis tools.
- Scribe analyzes your content and suggests ways to improve its readability based on SEO best practices
- Assists you in developing internal blog links and back links
- Helps discover other usable keywords as used by readers of your information type
- Keeps you up to date on developing best SEO practices
I can’t begin to tell you how simple Copyblogger has made the process of keeping focus on the prize: page rank and solid reader value. Its even been described as “…made it idiotically simple to use…”
Now I did begin this section on keyword density checkers, you recall, as plug-ins you must pay for use. Scribe is indeed a pay-to-play service. But I can tell you, its an excellent service and I highly recommend its use along with the Yoast tool above.
And if you are wondering, yes, I am using it even now as I write this post. Its checking my title tags, my meta description (which its telling me I need to write still!), and my content score. As soon as I’m done, I’ll give Yoast one last scrub of my post and then run Scribe’s analyzer tool.
What used to take me hours running through HTML code (yeah, I was the keyword density checker!) is now done in minutes if not on the fly while writing. Anyone who writes for a living on the net (and hopes to be seen) needs to use one or more of these tools. Stay competitive, rank your work, and get in front of millions of eyes!
If you have found this keyword density checker survey useful, please follow/friend me now. If not, please leave me a comment and let me know how I can be of better service to you! Thanks!—Dean
About Dean