What Word Frequency Analysis Is For
A frequency table answers one simple question: which words does this text lean on? Writers use it in three ways. First, to spot overused words. If a single content word fills a short draft, the writing reads repetitive even when every sentence is correct. Second, to check keyword density in an SEO draft. The table shows whether a target word is present, absent, or repeated so often that it looks stuffed. Third, to judge vocabulary variety. A long tail of words used only once signals range, while a short list dominated by a few words signals a narrow draft. Run the table before your final proofread and the edit becomes concrete: replace, cut, or vary the words at the top.
Why Case Folding and Stop Words Matter
Two small settings decide whether a frequency count is honest. Case folding merges capitalised and lowercase forms, so "The" and "the" count as one word. Without it, the true count of a word splits across its forms and the table understates the words that open sentences. Punctuation stripping does the same job for marks: without it, "word," and "word" count as two different words. Stop word filtering handles the opposite problem. Words such as the, and, of, and to appear in every English text and always top an unfiltered table, pushing the words that carry the topic out of view. Hiding them reveals what the text is actually about. This counter folds case and strips punctuation by default, and the stop word filter is on by default. Each can be switched off when the job needs raw counts, for example when case carries meaning in code or data. Note that this counter counts single words only. Phrase counts across two or three word groups are a separate analysis.
How to Read the Table
The table is sorted by count, highest first, with ties broken alphabetically so the order is stable every time you run it. The Count column shows raw occurrences. The Density column shows each word's share of the total words in the text, as a percentage, so count divided by total words times 100. Density always uses the full text, even when stop words are hidden from the table, because density describes the draft as written. The Top word share above the table is simply the density of the first row. When the table shows more than 100 distinct words, only the top 100 are listed, with a note saying how many more exist.
Practical Tips for Drafts
- Watch the 3 to 4 percent line. A content word above 3 to 4 percent of a draft usually deserves a synonym pass or a cut. Ordinary words in very short texts cross this line naturally, so use it as a prompt to re-read, not as a rule.
- Compare before and after an edit. Run the table, edit the top-heavy words, then run it again. If the top word share fell and the unique word count rose, the edit worked.
- Density alone does not rank a page. For SEO drafts, a target word should be present and natural, not forced. Relevance, coverage of the topic, and quality matter more than hitting a percentage.
- Short texts give noisy tables. A 50 word note will show high densities for ordinary words. The table is most useful on drafts of a few hundred words or more.
- Pair it with a word count. Frequency shows repetition, but not length. Check the draft in our word counter when you also need total words, reading time, and speaking time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is word frequency?
Word frequency is how many times each word appears in a text. A frequency table ranks words from most to least used, so you can see at a glance which words dominate a draft and which appear only once.
Does the counter ignore common words like 'the'?
Only when the stop word filter is on. With it on, common words such as the, and, of, and to are hidden from the table so meaningful words stand out. Turn it off to see every word, including the common ones. Totals and density always use the full text.