Keyword density stopped being a meaningful ranking factor around 2013 when Google rolled out Hummingbird and began understanding semantic relationships instead of just counting word repetition. Obsessing over whether your keyword appears exactly 7 times or 12 times in a 500-word article is a waste of time. What actually matters is topical coverage and natural language patterns. Google's algorithms now evaluate whether you've addressed the core query intent and related subtopics that users expect to see. If you're writing about "Ottawa home insurance," you should naturally mention premiums, coverage types, deductibles, and local providers without forcing the exact phrase into every paragraph. RankBrain and BERT analyze context, not just keyword frequency. That said, you still need to use your primary keyword strategically. Include it in your title tag, H1, first 100 words, and a few subheadings where it makes sense. Use close variants and synonyms throughout ("home insurance Ottawa," "house insurance," "property coverage"). This signals topical relevance without triggering over-optimization penalties that come from keyword stuffing. The real risk is under-optimization, not over-optimization. We see pages ranking on page 2 or 3 that never mention their target keyword in the body text at all, relying entirely on backlink anchor text. That's leaving easy wins on the table. Conversely, cramming your keyword into every sentence makes content unreadable and can trigger quality filters. At Ottawa SEO, we aim for natural inclusion that passes the read-aloud test. If a paragraph sounds awkward or repetitive when spoken, rewrite it. We track keyword presence in key locations (title, H1, first paragraph, at least one H2) but never count instances or calculate percentages. Focus on comprehensive topic coverage, clear structure, and writing for humans first. The keyword frequency will take care of itself when you're genuinely answering the query in depth.