Keyword density measures how frequently a target keyword appears relative to total word count. The formula is straightforward: divide the number of times your keyword appears by the total number of words on the page, then multiply by 100 to get a percentage. For instance, a 1,000-word article where "Ottawa web design" appears 20 times has a 2% keyword density. If you're targeting a phrase like "SEO services Toronto" that contains three words, count each complete phrase occurrence, not individual word matches. The industry stopped obsessing over specific density targets around 2011-2013 when Google's algorithms got better at understanding context and semantic relationships. Before Panda and Hummingbird, you'd see recommendations for 2-5% density. That thinking is obsolete and can actually trigger over-optimization penalties. What matters now is natural usage that serves the reader. We typically see well-ranking pages at 0.5-2% for primary keywords, but that's an observation, not a target. Force-fitting keywords to hit a number makes content read awkwardly and Google's NLP models detect it immediately. At Ottawa SEO, we focus on these practices instead: - Use the primary keyword in title, H1, and first 100 words naturally - Include it in 1-2 subheadings where it fits the topic flow - Prioritize semantic variations and related terms over repetition - Let keyword frequency emerge from thorough topic coverage The exceptions are commercial pages like service pages or product descriptions, where you might intentionally use the target term more frequently because users expect that repetition. A page selling "kitchen cabinets Ottawa" should mention that phrase enough times to be clear about the offering, which might push density toward 2-3%. Bottom line: calculate keyword density if you're curious or auditing a spam-heavy legacy page, but don't write to a density target. If your content comprehensively answers the search intent and uses the keyword where it naturally belongs, the math takes care of itself.