A content gap analysis is a pivotal form of market research, uncovering untapped opportunities and refining content marketing strategies.

However, what precisely entails a content gap analysis? How is it conducted? And, perhaps most crucially, why is it imperative to incorporate it into your approach?

Exploring Content Gap Analysis: Bridging the Website Content Divide

Content gap analysis delves into identifying and resolving absent or underperforming website content, aligning it with competitor benchmarks and market standards.

This process enriches your content strategy by spotlighting improvement areas that cater to your audience’s needs and elevate SEO visibility.

Mastering Content Gap Analysis: Top Tools for Success

Consider leveraging Semrush, Ahrefs, and Google Search Console to excel in content gap analysis.

Semrush unveils competitor content strategies, offering valuable insights.

Ahrefs’ Content Gap feature uncovers promising keyword prospects.

Google Search Console aids in identifying potential content weaknesses or gaps in topics.

Semrush

Semrush stands out as the most user-friendly and intuitive tool. Its simplicity makes it effortless to use, offering automatic suggestions for websites to compare with yours based on shared keywords—an excellent starting point for beginners venturing into their first analysis.

Ahrefs

Another formidable SEO tool, Ahrefs, reveals competitors’ rankings and identifies content gaps. Depending on the plan, there’s a limit to the displayed results, which remains a constraint. Yet, regardless of the chosen strategy, Ahrefs emphasizes top improvement opportunities—highlighting changes that yield the most significant impact.

Google Search Console

For those seeking targeted enhancements without access to paid tools, Google Search Console emerges as a valuable option. The platform furnishes a wealth of data regarding your site’s performance, enabling insights into organic keywords that drive traffic. Leveraging this information allows for potential improvements to existing content.

How to do an SEO gap analysis

Performing an SEO gap analysis is straightforward. Input your URL and that of your competitors, then initiate the analysis—simple as that.

However, the challenge lies in selecting the right competitors and interpreting the findings. Leveraging tools like Semrush and Ahrefs can automate this process or aid in identifying close competitors in the SERPs.

This methodology works well for e-commerce sites and businesses following similar models. But in industries lacking a defined “norm,” such an analysis might yield fewer actionable results. For instance, I encountered limited effectiveness when conducting a content gap analysis for a brand strategy agency striving for distinct positioning within its market.

While there might be instances where there are better approaches than a gap analysis for your business, it is often exceedingly beneficial.

Here’s a detailed breakdown to extract maximum value from content or keyword gap analysis:

Site Level

Assessing gaps across the entirety of a site refines content strategies, unraveling competitor rankings and organic traffic opportunities. Use your preferred keyword gap tool, enter your site alongside competitors, and conduct domain-level analysis. Scrutinize untapped, weak, and absent keywords, sorting them based on volume, difficulty, etc., to pinpoint lucrative opportunities.

Managing extensive keyword lists becomes manageable by utilizing clustering tools for grouping similar opportunities or exporting a CSV file and manually filtering patterns. This large-scale analysis aids in formulating longer-term plans spanning 6-12 months.

Category Level

Employ URL path analysis to bolster specific website sections, such as categories and subcategories. Running the analysis at the prefix or path level allows for comparison against competitor subsections covering similar products or services. Explore potential subcategories or informational content supporting products offered by competitors.

Conducting a focused gap analysis for subsections or specific product/service categories aids in strategic strengthening.

Page Level

For enhancing particular pages, compare them with higher-performing counterparts. This swift comparison reveals missing relevant keywords, enabling a streamlined optimization plan. If access to paid tools is limited, leverage Google Search Console to evaluate page-ranking keywords and focus on enhancing underperforming ones.

Identifying themes for detailed coverage or untapped content areas provides insights for content improvements.

Beware of the gaps

They hold crucial opportunities and valuable traffic. Employ gap analysis smartly to craft content that surpasses existing rankings and showcases your expertise and authority.

If you’re still finding things difficult and confusing, consider exploring our monthly SEO packages, where our experts can lend you a hand.