Keyword Gap Analysis: What It Is & How to Do It

What Is a Keyword Gap Analysis?

A keyword spread investigation involves comparing your website’s keyword rankings with your competitors’. And identifying the applicable keywords they fertile for that you don’t.

This process besides helps you uncover keywords they're outperforming you for.

A keyword spread investigation is important successful gathering a broad SEO strategy. Because it helps you place opportunities you mightiness beryllium missing retired on. And travel up with caller contented ideas.

For example, you tin usage the Keyword Gap instrumentality to find keywords aggregate competitors fertile for that you don’t.

By creating (or updating) contented targeting these keywords, your website tin summation much visibility successful hunt motor results. Which could pb to accrued integrated postulation to your website.

Keyword Gap Analysis vs. Content Gap Analysis

Keyword and contented spread analyses screen immoderate akin steps. But the main quality is that a keyword spread investigation identifies keywords, portion a contented spread investigation uncovers contented topics.

Plus, a contented spread investigation often takes the full lawsuit travel into account. And helps you capable the gaps successful your contented that whitethorn oregon whitethorn not beryllium evident based connected keywords your assemblage is searching for.

For example, let’s accidental you’re a plumbing institution successful Boston. 

You bash a keyword spread investigation and find a batch of keywords that your competitors are ranking for but you aren’t. Such as:

• “plumbing institution successful boston”
• “plumbing services boston”
• “emergency plumbing boston”

But you besides bash a contented spread investigation based connected the symptom points your customers look astatine antithetic stages of the lawsuit journey. And uncover a batch of topics you could screen connected your website to resoluteness them.

That includes topics like:

• How overmuch does a plumber complaint to hole a leak?
• Does location security screen plumbing?
• Do you extremity a plumber?

Further reading: Content Gap Analysis: 4 Steps to Earn More Traffic and Trust

Why Perform a Keyword Gap Analysis?

Performing a keyword spread investigation and implementing what you learned from it tin amended your hunt rankings and boost your website’s organic traffic.

This is captious for remaining competitory wrong your niche. Otherwise, prospective customers volition beryllium much apt to observe 1 of your competitors alternatively of you.

Plus, discovering keywords you’re not ranking for that your competitors are tin beryllium utile for your paid campaigns.

Especially if you announcement that galore of those keywords person commercialized oregon transactional intent. This means that users are looking to bash their last probe earlier buying thing oregon are acceptable to implicit an enactment similar a purchase.

And a bully keyword spread investigation volition assistance you refine your content plan.

Next, we’ll locomotion you done however to bash a keyword spread analysis. And what to bash with the results erstwhile you’re done.

How to Do a Keyword Gap Analysis

Here are the steps to find caller ranking opportunities done a keyword spread analysis.

1. Select Competitors for Your Analysis

Selecting the close competitors for your investigation ensures you’ll get results that are applicable to your business.

If you people keywords based connected companies that aren’t successful your circumstantial niche, you mightiness not spot immoderate integrated postulation improvements. And if you do, that summation apt won’t pb to a commercialized enactment from visitors.

So, however tin you find the close competitors? 

Start by considering who your commercialized contention is. 

These are the companies you apt already cognize astir that straight vie with you based connected having precise akin products oregon services. They whitethorn adjacent beryllium successful a akin geographic region.

But you tin besides find competitors by looking into which brands vie with you from an integrated hunt perspective. 

Do this with the Organic Research tool.

Enter your domain into the tool. And click “Search.”

On the study that appears, click “Competitors.”

You’ll present spot a database of your apical integrated competitors, however galore keywords you person successful communal with each, and more.

To find a broader database of competitors you vie against crossed each acquisition channels (not conscionable integrated search), usage Market Explorer.

Open the tool, prime "Find Competitors," take your desired location, and participate your domain. 

Then, click "Research a market."

You’ll spot an “Overview” study similar this:

Go to the “All Domains” tab to spot a database of competing domains. With insights connected however overmuch postulation they’re driving crossed antithetic channels.

Look astatine the apical competitors and prime ones that you haven’t yet identified.

By the end, you should person a bully database of competitors.

2. Find Your Keyword Gaps

Once you prime the competitors for your analysis, spell to the Keyword Gap tool.

Enter your domain and up to 4 competitors’ domains. Then, prime your determination and click “Compare.”

You’ll past spot a study showing however your keywords overlap with your competitors’ keywords. And your apical opportunities.

Scroll down to spot a array that lists each the competitors. And however their keyword profiles intersect with yours.

We’ll spell implicit however to usage this array next. 

3. Analyze Your Keyword Gaps

Now that the Keyword Gap instrumentality has provided accusation astir however your rankings comparison to your competitors’ rankings, let’s reappraisal however to analyse the results effectively.

Click connected the “Missing” tab.

You’ll spot a database of keywords that each of the analyzed competitors fertile for but you don’t.

Start going done the database to find keyword opportunities.

To further constrictive your results, effort the filters.

Use the “Position” filter to absorption connected keywords wherever your competitors fertile successful the apical 10 results. Which tin uncover high-impact opportunities. 

Or, let’s accidental your domain isn’t well-known and hasn’t built overmuch authorization yet. It mightiness beryllium a bully thought to filter for lone keywords with a comparatively debased keyword difficulty score.

You tin bash this by clicking the “KD” drop-down menu, mounting a manual scope from 0 to 49, and selecting “Apply.”

You’ll present spot lone missing keywords with trouble scores of 49 oregon lower.

Next, research this database to measure immoderate much circumstantial keywords.

You’ll privation to see each keyword’s hunt intent and monthly hunt measurement to find which keywords you privation to absorption connected and however to usage them passim your site.

4. Select and Save Relevant Keywords

The adjacent measurement is to usage Keyword Gap to prevention the keywords you privation to adhd to your contented plan.

In the database of “Missing” keywords with trouble scores betwixt 0 and 49, prime the ones that are astir applicable to your institution by checking the container adjacent to each.

Then, click connected the “+ Add to keyword list” fastener to prevention them.

Name your database successful a mode that’ll beryllium casual for you and your squad members to find and recognize later. For example, “Project Management.”

Next, click the checkmark to make a database that you tin aboriginal unfastened successful Keyword Strategy Builder.

You tin besides export these keywords to further analyse them offline oregon stock them with your team.

Click the "Export" fastener and take the format you prefer: Excel, CSV, oregon CSV Semicolon.

Repeat this process for the keyword database filtered to amusement lone presumption your competitors person a top-10 ranking for. 

Then, bash the aforesaid for the “Weak” and “Untapped” tabs. 

The “Weak” tab shows keywords your competitors are outperforming you for. Meaning, your contented targeting those presumption apt needs improvement.

And the “Untapped” tab shows presumption astatine slightest 1 rival is ranking for but you aren’t. These tin beryllium large opportunities for you to adhd thing caller to your tract and pull much visitors.

Make definite to adhd each caller word to the aforesaid list.

By now, you’ve saved rather a batch of keywords to unfastened successful Keyword Strategy Builder. Which you tin usage to radical keywords astir akin topics.

5. Group Keywords

Next, you’ll privation to radical your presumption into topic clusters (thematically related pages that person a main pillar leafage and related subpages) and keyword clusters (collections of keywords that stock the aforesaid intent). 

This allows you to make pages that physique your topical authority. And that each incorporated aggregate hunt terms. To amended your SEO potential.

Here’s how:

Go to Keyword Strategy Builder. 

In the “Keyword lists” section, take the database you created earlier.

Once the database is open, click the "Cluster this list" enactment from the apical of the dashboard.

The instrumentality automatically organizes your keywords into pillar pages and subpages nether each pillar page.

Click connected the grey arrow beside immoderate pillar leafage oregon subpage to spot its keyword clump (on the left) arsenic good arsenic articles that already fertile good successful the hunt results for those presumption (on the right). 

Keep an oculus retired for the "high ranking potential" tag. These correspond pages focused connected keyword clusters that person precocious hunt measurement and debased keyword difficulty—which tin thrust the astir postulation for the slightest effort.

Use these keyword topics to make caller content. Or, optimize existing contented that already includes them (but isn’t ranking well).

6. Create New Content and Optimize Old Content

You’re present equipped with caller keywords and leafage ideas, which you tin usage to make caller contented and update existing pieces. To boost your show successful hunt results and summation integrated postulation to your website.

Use SEO Writing Assistant successful your contented penning process to guarantee your contented is optimized.

To entree SEO Writing Assistant from Keyword Strategy Builder, click connected “Write content” adjacent to the taxable you privation to constitute about.

Choose whether you privation to optimize your contented for desktop oregon mobile (labeled arsenic “Phone”).

Then, click “Send keywords” to nonstop the keyword clump to the SEO Writing Assistant.

Start penning your caller contented successful the substance editor.

On the right, you’ll announcement a graph standing your nonfiction successful 4 categories: 

• Readability
• SEO
• Originality
• Tone of voice

By clicking connected each of these categories, you’ll get a database of recommendations to amended your content.

For example, click connected “SEO.”

And scroll down to spot a database of recommendations.

Implement these recommendations to marque the astir retired of your article.

If you’re not unsure which portion of the nonfiction suggestions notation to, click connected “Highlight Issues.” And prime “SEO.”

This volition item the information of the nonfiction that needs betterment from an SEO perspective.

Once you’ve implemented suggestions and the contented is ready, people it connected your website.

7. Monitor Your Ranking Changes

It’s important to show your show successful hunt results. To spot whether the improvements you made are having an impact. And to troubleshoot imaginable problems that mightiness arise.

You tin easy way your content’s show with Position Tracking.

Go backmost to the topics you created successful Keyword Strategy Builder.

Choose the pillar pages oregon subpages you utilized erstwhile creating and updating content. And click connected “Send keywords.”

Choose the ellipse adjacent to “Position Tracking” and click “Apply.”

Next, take the due project. And click “Send keywords.”

You’re present tracking these keywords. And you’ll beryllium capable to spot however your website progresses successful hunt results implicit time.

In Position Tracking, click the “Overview” tab and scroll down to “Rankings Overview” to spot however your contented is performing.

Here, you tin spot your pages’ positions successful hunt results for each keyword you’re tracking.

Don’t hide to support adding keywords you make contented for. So you tin enactment connected apical of however you’re performing for each your people terms.

Find Keyword Opportunities You’re Missing Out On

When done right, a keyword spread investigation tin assistance you importantly amended your rankings successful hunt results and summation integrated postulation to your site.

Ready to get started?

Try Keyword Gap contiguous to statesman exploring invaluable keyword opportunities for your website.