Performing a Content Gap Analysis
Content gap analysis helps identifying topics, keywords, or angles your website is missing - but your competitors are covering successfully. It helps you discover blind spots in your strategy, fill holes in your topical coverage, and align more closely with what your audience expects to find.
This process goes beyond keyword discovery. It connects what your target audience wants to learn with what your website is currently offering. When executed properly, a content gap analysis directly supports ranking improvements, topic authority, and user satisfaction.
Why Content Gaps Matter in SEO
Search engines reward comprehensive coverage of topics. If you're missing key subtopics or failing to address related questions, your content may appear incomplete - even if it ranks for one or two core keywords.
Content gaps can exist in several forms:
- Keywords your competitors rank for, but you don’t
- Subtopics your articles don’t address
- Intent mismatches between your content and user expectations
- Entire categories your site has ignored but your niche covers deeply
By identifying and resolving these gaps, you improve not only visibility, but also internal linking, topical authority, and user retention across sessions.
Step 1: Choose the Right Pages or Topics to Analyze
Start with a focused set of topics where you want to grow or improve rankings. Good starting points include:
- A primary service or product category
- A content cluster you’ve already started
- A high-intent commercial topic that performs poorly
- A competitor's area of strength
For example, if you're building out a topic cluster on technical SEO, your seed page might be a pillar like technical-seo-guide. You’ll compare it against competing guides to find what they cover that you don’t.
Step 2: Identify Your Competitors for That Topic
Your competitors may vary by keyword. Use the SERP itself to determine who ranks for your core terms. These are the URLs you're directly competing with, even if they’re not your traditional business competitors.
You can use tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Ubersuggest to enter your domain and view keyword gaps against a specific competitor. Alternatively, use Google Search to compare URLs that rank on page 1 for your chosen keyword.
Focus on competitors with similar intent and format. If you’re analyzing an educational guide, compare it against other guides - not ecommerce pages or forums.
Step 3: Run a Keyword Gap Report
Most SEO tools allow you to compare keyword profiles between domains or URLs. This helps you see which keywords:
- Your competitor ranks for, and you do not
- You both rank for, but they outrank you significantly
- You rank for, but they don’t (less relevant for gaps)
Filter out branded terms and focus on non-branded, topical queries. Look for keywords with:
- Moderate to high volume
- Commercial or informational intent
- Relevance to your audience
- Matching content formats
For example, if your competitor ranks for structured data examples and you don’t cover that in your Structured Data article, that’s a content gap worth closing.
Step 4: Analyze Content-Level Gaps
Beyond keywords, look at how your competitor’s content is structured. Ask:
- Do they include use cases or examples you’re missing?
- Are there sections or subtopics they cover that your page skips?
- Are they targeting different formats—video, checklist, visual guides?
- Do they offer a clearer content journey via internal links?
For example, a competitor's article on local SEO might contain a detailed section on NAP consistency that your guide lacks. Linking from your main page to a dedicated article like Importance of NAP Consistency & How to Maintain It could help you close that gap while expanding internal coverage.
Step 5: Map Opportunities to Existing or New Content
Once you have a list of keywords and content angles, categorize them:
| Gap Type | Action Needed |
|---|---|
| Missing keyword/topic | Create a new article |
| Thin or outdated info | Update and expand existing content |
| Weak internal coverage | Add contextual internal links |
| Format mismatch | Adjust structure or create supplementary content |
Build these opportunities into your content calendar. Prioritize based on potential traffic, keyword difficulty, and strategic alignment with business goals.
Step 6: Review Internal Coverage Across the Cluster
Some content gaps aren’t at the article level- they’re structural. A well-built topic cluster should internally link related pieces and fully address the breadth of a subject. If your cluster on SEO reporting lacks coverage on Explaining SEO Results to Clients or SEO Dashboards, those become clear structural gaps.
Tools like Screaming Frog or Sitebulb can help visualize your internal linking and URL depth to confirm if key content is siloed, unreachable, or poorly connected.
Step 7: Track and Re-Evaluate
After implementing updates or publishing new content, monitor performance in Google Search Console:
- Are new queries being triggered?
- Has your coverage of related terms expanded?
- Are impressions and clicks increasing across the cluster?
Content gap analysis is not a one-time task. Repeating it quarterly ensures you remain competitive, especially as new search behaviors, competitor strategies, and SERP features emerge.