Content Gap Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide

What Is a Content Gap Analysis?

A contented spread investigation is the signifier of uncovering applicable topics you haven’t covered oregon could screen amended to amended your hunt results.

It tin see uncovering presumption your competitors fertile for that you don’t. Or identifying topics you request to adhd to your contented strategy to code each stages of the customer’s journey.

Performing a contented spread investigation tin besides mean evaluating contented you’ve already published to find opportunities to amended it. 

For example, you could update an existing portion to code further lawsuit symptom points oregon see adept insights to supply a unsocial and invaluable constituent of view.

Why Perform a Content Gap Analysis?

Doing a contented spread investigation tin assistance you amended your content’s performance. 

Here’s what it tin do:

• Boost visibility: Discovering caller topics and improving your existing contented provides you with much opportunities to fertile successful hunt results
• Acquire competitors' traffic: Covering topics amended than your competitors tin divert their postulation to your site
• Be much efficient: Performing a contented spread investigation tin beryllium a faster mode of generating ideas compared to doing keyword and taxable probe from scratch
• Improve concern results: Creating high-quality content connected topics your assemblage cares astir tin pb to much conversions

How to Do an SEO Content Gap Analysis

Learn however to bash a contented spread investigation by pursuing these workflows:

1. Find Competitors’ Keywords

Performing a keyword spread analysis to find presumption competitors fertile for that you don’t helps you capable contented gaps astatine the tract level—meaning you tin find topics you haven’t covered astatine all.

Use Semrush’s Keyword Gap tool to find these keywords quickly.

Add your domain and the domains of up to 4 competitors, past click “Compare” to tally the analysis.

In immoderate cases, the instrumentality mightiness instrumentality tens of thousands of imaginable keyword opportunities.

Applying antithetic filters is simply a bully mode to constrictive down the list.

Let’s accidental you privation to absorption lone connected your competitors’ apical keywords that are casual to fertile for. Because your domain is caller and has small authority.

Select the “Position” filter, hover implicit “Competitors,” and click “Top 20.” 

Then, spell to the “KD” (keyword difficulty) filter and prime “Very easy” (this volition amusement lone presumption that are precise casual to fertile for successful the apical 10 results).

After applying the filters, scroll down to the keyword database and prime “Missing” to spot the keywords each your competitors fertile for that you don’t.

Click “Untapped” to show keywords that astatine slightest 1 rival ranks for but you don’t.

The adjacent measurement is picking the keywords that champion align with your brand, product, and audience.

2. Research What Your Audience Wants

Researching communal desires and symptom points helps you place contented gaps that are highly applicable to your audience. 

Here are a mates of ideas for however to observe what your assemblage cares about:

• Use social listening to recognize your audience’s interests and symptom points
• Conduct an online survey connected a circumstantial topic—such arsenic favourite merchandise features—and stock a nexus to it connected your website
• Use postulation analytics tools to recognize the webpages that are fashionable among circumstantial assemblage segments

Once you’ve uncovered immoderate wide concepts, usage Semrush’s Topic Research instrumentality to get circumstantial contented ideas.

Open the tool, participate your topic, and click “Get contented ideas.”

You’ll spot galore ideas you tin usage to physique contented around. 

Click “Show more” connected immoderate subtopic paper to spot headlines and related questions.

This volition springiness you a bully thought of however others person covered the subtopic. And let you to see what whitethorn beryllium missing from their content.

3. Find Your Underperforming Content

Finding low-performing contented tin assistance you spot existing pages with gaps you tin fill.

For example, you tin usage Google Search Console (GSC) to find pages that utilized to get a batch of visits but nary longer do. That mediocre show indicates those pieces present incorporate gaps that person made them little invaluable to your audience.

To start, unfastened GSC and click “Search results” successful the left-hand menu.

Click “More” > “Compare.” Then prime a period—we urge selecting astatine slightest 3 months of information to regularisation retired impermanent dips successful performance.

Then, scroll down to the array and click “Pages.” This volition show your apical pages and the changes successful clicks and impressions for each implicit your chosen period.

Find pages with a notable alteration successful clicks. Then, comparison them to competitors’ top-ranking contented for the aforesaid superior keywords to place contented gaps.

Another method is to find pages that fertile little than your competitors’ pages successful hunt results.

To find these keywords, spell backmost to the Keyword Gap tool.

This time, we’ll look astatine “Weak” keywords. These are the queries wherever you fertile little than immoderate of your specified competitors.

It’s a bully thought to prioritize keywords wherever your tract ranks connected the 2nd oregon 3rd leafage (positions 11-30.) Because filling contented gaps of those pages could springiness you the champion accidental of ranking connected the archetypal leafage of hunt results.

4. Analyze SERPs

Analyzing the search motor results pages (SERPs) for each the keywords you’re targeting (or program to target) helps you capable contented gaps some connected your website and connected idiosyncratic pages.

In different words, you should bash a SERP investigation for topics your website hasn’t covered astatine all. As good arsenic topics you’ve covered but not good capable to thrust affirmative results.

Let’s accidental you privation to make a blog station astir “healthy vegan meal ideas” to capable a contented spread connected your website.

So, you hunt for that keyword to spot what's presently ranking:

Next, survey the contented to recognize the search intent (the crushed users hunt a fixed query). 

This volition springiness you a consciousness of what users are apt to find astir useful. And assistance you place gaps successful what’s presently ranking arsenic good arsenic gaps successful your ain content. 

Some communal gaps you mightiness spot include:

• Recency: Content that's nary longer close oregon applicable is simply a important gap. If the people day is much than 2 years old, it’s apt to beryllium outdated.
• Readability: Content should beryllium engaging and casual to read. Clear, well-structured, and easy digestible contented is amended for users and hunt engines.
• Expertise: Expertise is simply a portion of Google’s Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) model for contented quality. Audiences worth erstwhile experts make oregon pass content. So, see however you tin incorporated adept position successful your content
• Experience: Google’s E-E-A-T model besides mentions the value of incorporating first-hand experience. For example, if you person a reappraisal site, you should really effort the products you're reviewing.
• Thoroughness: Content that isn’t thorough misses indispensable subtopics oregon doesn’t supply capable accusation astir them. Filling these gaps tin acceptable your contented isolated arsenic a adjuvant resource.

For example, the existent apical results successful the supra SERP person 30-33 ideas. Maybe you could stock 50 ideas, connection much detail, oregon stock adept proposal from a nutritionist.

If you request to analyse galore keywords astatine once, usage Semrush’s Keyword Overview instrumentality to analyse them successful bulk. A paid program lets you analyse up to 100 queries astatine once.

The study volition springiness you a high-level overview of metrics specified arsenic hunt measurement and KD.

Then, you tin click connected each word to spell to a much elaborate report. And spot what ranks astatine the apical of the SERP by scrolling down to the “SERP Analysis”section.

Fill Content Gaps and Track the Results

The extremity of each contented spread investigation is to amended your site’s performance. 

Organic hunt rankings are a large mode to support tabs connected performance, truthful marque definite to way rankings for each leafage you make and improve.

Use Semrush’s Position Tracking instrumentality to show your regular rankings. 

You’ll spot immoderate important visibility drops connected your dashboard, truthful you tin analyse the issues immediately.

For adjacent much insights, adhd your competitors to the study and show their rankings alongside yours.

This station was updated successful 2025. Excerpts from the archetypal nonfiction by Marilyn Wilkinson whitethorn remain.