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

What Is a Keyword Gap Analysis?

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

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

And a keyword spread investigation plays an important relation 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 Keyword Gap to find keywords that 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.

And 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.

Let’s accidental you’re a plumbing institution successful Boston. You bash a keyword spread investigation and find a batch of keywords you’re missing that your competitors are ranking for, specified 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 to usage successful your paid campaigns.

Especially if you announcement that galore of those keywords person commercialized oregon transactional intent. This means that they’re 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

Let’s spot however you tin 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.

How tin you find the close competitors? 

Start by considering who your commercialized competitors are. 

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. 

You tin bash this with Organic Research.

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.

You should person a bully database of options present that you’ve considered some your integrated hunt and commercialized competitors. 

2. Find Your Keyword Gaps

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

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, your apical opportunities, and a elaborate table.

3. Analyze Your Keyword Gaps

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

Scroll down to the “All details for:” conception and marque definite it’s acceptable to your domain. Then, you tin commencement exploring keyword differences.

At the apical of the table, you’ll spot respective filtering options.

Click connected the “Missing” tab.

You’ll present 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.

It’s besides a bully thought to use a filter to constrictive your results adjacent more.

Let’s accidental your domain isn’t well-known and hasn’t built overmuch authorization yet. Filtering for lone keywords that person a comparatively debased keyword trouble people is simply a bully idea.

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 lone spot missing keywords that person trouble scores of 49 oregon lower.

Next, you tin 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 successful the process 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 aboriginal on. For example, “Effective Teamwork.”

Next, click the checkmark to make a database successful Keyword Manager.

Don’t hide to cheque different tabs successful the Keyword Gap instrumentality to adhd to the database arsenic well.

Selecting the “Weak” tab volition amusement you keywords your competitors are outperforming you for. And choosing “Untapped” shows you the keywords you’re not ranking for, but astatine slightest 1 of your competitors is.

By now, you’ve saved rather a batch of keywords to Keyword Manager. Which you tin usage to make clusters that radical similar keywords.

5. Create Keyword Clusters

Keyword clustering is the process of grouping keywords based connected their hunt intent for a fixed topic. Which allows you to make contented that incorporates each of those related presumption to maximize your SEO potential.

Go to Keyword Manager.

In the “Keyword lists” section, take the database you privation to make clusters for.

Once the array opens up, click connected the “Clusters” tab.

To automatically make clusters, click connected “Cluster this list.”

The instrumentality volition past make clusters based connected akin keywords included successful your list.

Click connected the caret adjacent to a clump to spot which keywords it includes. On the close side, you’ll besides get a database of articles that already fertile good successful the hunt results for those hunt terms.

You tin leverage these clusters by creating caller contented oregon optimizing existing contented that already mentions those keywords (but doesn’t fertile for them).

6. Create New Content and Optimize Old Content

You’re present equipped with caller keywords and contented 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.

You tin usage SEO Writing Assistant successful your contented penning process to guarantee your contented is optimized.

To entree SEO Writing Assistant from Keyword Manager, 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, you tin 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 the show of your contented with Position Tracking.

Go backmost to the keyword clusters you created successful Keyword Manager.

Choose each the keyword clusters you utilized erstwhile creating and updating content. And click connected “Send keywords.”

In the pop-up, take “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.

Click connected “Go to Position Tracking” to commencement exploring your content’s performance.

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 to support an close way of your website’s rankings.

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.