Keyword density is the number of times your target keyword appears divided by total words on the page, times 100. If "Ottawa plumber" appears 10 times in a 500-word page, that's 2% density. The formula is: (Keyword Count ÷ Total Words) × 100. Most SEO tools calculate this automatically, but you can verify manually by searching the page source (Ctrl+F) for exact matches. Some tools count variations or stemmed versions separately—"plumber" versus "plumbers"—so check what your tool includes. Phrase match is usually what matters: "Ottawa plumber" as a unit, not just scattered instances of those words. The 2–3% range used to be gospel in 2010, but Google's algorithm hasn't cared about raw density since at least Hummingbird in 2013. Modern search is semantic. Google understands synonyms, context, and related entities, so obsessing over hitting exactly 2.5% is pointless and risky. We've seen pages with 0.8% density outrank pages at 3% because they covered the topic comprehensively with natural language. What matters now is topical coverage and search intent. Your keyword should appear in the title, H1, first 100 words, and naturally throughout body copy. Beyond that, focus on related terms and answering the user's full question. If you're writing about "how to unclog a drain," you'll naturally mention tools, methods, and common mistakes without artificially stuffing "unclog drain" ten times. At Ottawa SEO, we don't track density as a target metric anymore. We check it only to catch accidental over-optimization—anything above 4% raises a red flag for keyword stuffing. If a page reads awkwardly or repeats the same phrase too often, that's a UX problem first and an SEO problem second. Real penalty risk starts around 5–6% with obvious manipulation patterns. Use density as a sanity check, not a target. Write for humans, use your primary keyword where it makes sense, and cover the topic thoroughly. That approach has consistently outperformed formulaic density targets since 2015.