Are you interested in conducting an SEO content gap analysis to enhance your website’s content?
If you’re having difficulty discovering engaging blog topics or aiming to elevate your current posts in search rankings, a content gap analysis is an effective strategy to attract traffic from competitors. This approach enables you to address topics that your target audience is actively seeking, allowing you to produce more relevant and valuable blog content.
In this article, we will guide you through the steps to execute an SEO content gap analysis, helping you gain a competitive advantage over other websites.
What is a Content Gap Analysis and Why is it Essential?
A content gap analysis involves identifying the topics that are absent from your website. By comparing your existing content with the interests of your target audience, you can create new content to fill those gaps.
Conducting a content gap analysis can serve as an effective keyword research strategy, uncovering content ideas that you may not have previously considered.
For instance, if you run a cooking website and want to provide the best resources for your visitors, a content gap analysis would entail researching popular cooking topics that people are searching for online to determine if your website adequately covers those subjects.
If your website lacks information on popular topics such as ‘healthy dessert recipes,’ ‘quick dinner ideas,’ or ‘vegetarian cooking,’ these represent content gaps that you should consider addressing with relevant articles.
This analysis helps ensure that your website remains relevant and valuable to your audience.
Additionally, conducting a content gap analysis can enhance the performance of your existing content.
For instance, if you have a post about starting an online store that isn’t ranking well, a keyword gap analysis could be beneficial. You would examine top-ranking posts to identify which sections or key information your article is missing compared to the leaders.
Over time, you may encounter content decay as information becomes outdated and less relevant. It’s essential to update your content to keep it current; otherwise, your competitors could surpass you.
Conducting a content gap analysis is straightforward. Let’s explore how to perform a content gap analysis in just a few simple steps.
- Evaluate Your Competitor’s Content
- Generate Ideas for New Content
- Monitor Underperforming Keywords on Your Website
- Enhance Your Existing Blog Posts to Address Gaps
- Bonus: Create an Effective Blog Post Outline
To effectively conduct a content gap analysis at scale, it’s essential to utilize the right tools and adopt a strategic approach.
1. Evaluate Your Competitors’ Content
The initial step in performing a content gap analysis is to identify the keywords for which your competitors are ranking that you are not.
This data will reveal valuable keyword opportunities for your business and highlight the content formats your competitors are using to achieve their rankings.
Using Semrush, you can identify your primary competitors and the number of keywords you have in common with them.
Locate the ‘Organic Research‘ section under the ‘SEO‘ category in the left sidebar, then click on the ‘Competitors’ tab to view your main competitors.
Scroll down the page to see a list of your top organic competitors.
If websites share a significant number of keywords, Semrush will classify those sites as your competitors.
Next, log into your Semrush account.
In the left panel under Competitive Research, select the Keyword Gap option.
Input the competitors identified in the previous step to discover keywords that your website is not ranking for, but your competitors are.
Next, click the ‘Compare’ button.
You can then filter the keyword list by ‘Missing’ to view all the keyword opportunities available.
This will provide you with initial keywords that can inspire content ideas. Consider the intent behind these keywords and prioritize those marked as ‘T’ for Transactional or ‘C’ for Commercial, allowing you to focus on keywords that drive purchases.
You can also refine this list by adjusting the keyword position filter, which will display only the keywords you are missing that rank within a specific range of Top 10, 20, or 50 for a particular query.
In this example, we filtered for keywords where our competitors rank in the Top 20, but we do not rank at all. Be sure to compile these missing keywords into a list for generating new content ideas later.
If you choose to filter by ‘Weak’ instead of ‘Missing,’ you will receive a list of keywords where your ranking is lower than that of your competitors.
From this list, you can identify blog posts that require enhancements to effectively compete with your primary competitors.
Be sure to click ‘Add to keyword list’ to save all the keywords that are most relevant to your target audience.
Important Note:Semrush is not the only platform offering a content gap analysis tool. We also suggest using Ahrefs to discover the keywords your competitors are ranking for that you may be missing.
2. Generate Ideas for New Content
Utilize the list of your ‘Missing’ keywords to brainstorm blog post ideas. Instead of generating ideas on your own, consider using CanadaCreate’s Blog Post Idea Generator.
This free tool provides over 250 blog post ideas each time you conduct a search.
In the image below, we selected one of our missing keywords and clicked ‘Get Ideas.’
Review the list of blog title suggestions and identify which ones resonate most with your audience.
It’s advisable to compile these ideas in a spreadsheet or a project management tool where you can assign them to your writing team.
Keep these blog post ideas organized and add them to your content calendar to start ranking for keywords that your competitors are already targeting.
3. Monitor Underperforming Website Keywords
Next, review the list of your underperforming keywords and analyze the content on your site that is not generating good results.
A quick Google search of your blog post will provide insight into your current search engine ranking without the need for specialized tools.
Important Note:If you choose to conduct this search manually, remember to open a new incognito window. Using a private browser ensures that Google does not use your browsing history to tailor search results.
However, manually performing these searches can be quite time-consuming. Instead, consider utilizing the Google Search Console.
For a comprehensive guide on using Google Search Console, check out our tutorial on discovering the keywords that lead users to your WordPress site.
In the queries tab, you will find a list of keywords along with their corresponding clicks, impressions, and rankings in search results.
By navigating to the ‘Pages’ tab, you can identify specific blog posts or pages along with their rankings.
Focus specifically on the keywords that align with your list of underperforming keywords identified through SEMrush, as these are the keywords where your main competitors are achieving higher rankings.
If you can improve your ranking above theirs, you can effectively capture their traffic.
A great method to identify underperforming keywords on your website is by using the All in One SEO (AIOSEO) plugin. This plugin is one of the top WordPress SEO tools available, trusted by over 3 million users.
First, you need to install and activate the plugin. For detailed instructions, please refer to our blog post on how to install a WordPress plugin.
With this plugin, you can monitor your keyword rankings directly within WordPress, saving you the hassle of checking Google Search Console manually.
To get started, navigate to All in One SEO » Search Statistics in your WordPress dashboard.
For further details, check out our guide on linking AIOSEO’s Search Statistics feature with Google Search Console.
In the ‘Keyword Rankings’ section, you will find the primary keywords your content is ranking for.
It will also display the keywords that have gained or lost the most positions in Google search results.
Next, scroll down to the ‘Keyword Performance’ table to view all of your website’s highest-performing keywords.
For any content that is dropping in rankings, consider refreshing it, whether through minor edits or a complete rewrite.
Additionally, clicking on any keyword in the table will display the specific content that ranks for that keyword.
You will have access to key metrics such as clicks, average click-through rate (CTR), and more.
We suggest using both methods to compile a thorough list of underperforming blog posts that can be enhanced. Make sure to document this list in a Google Sheet or your preferred project management tool.
4. Enhance Your Current Blog Posts to Address Content Gaps
Next, we will review each blog post and address the gaps to improve its ranking.
Begin by examining each blog post individually and identifying areas for improvement.
Look at the first page of Google results for each of those primary keywords.
Occasionally, you may find a first page filled with strong results. The content is high-quality, and there are not many gaps. In such cases, ensure that your content includes similar headings and aligns with the search intent of users.
If you find that the content on the first page has significant gaps, you can create or update your content to provide a much better resource.
While there’s no guaranteed method to achieve a higher ranking by updating a blog post, we will explore various strategies to enhance your content and identify key elements to examine in your competitors’ articles.
Revise Your Title Tag and Meta Description
An engaging title tag and meta description should capture the attention of searchers and offer a solution to their questions. This can lead to increased click-through rates for your blog, which positively affects your SEO rankings.
With AIOSEO’s TruSEO On-Page Analysis, you can effortlessly incorporate title tags, meta descriptions, and keywords to optimize your on-page SEO effectively.
In your content editor, simply scroll down to the AIOSEO settings section. Here, you can enter your post title and meta description, and it will display the recommended character limits.
Aim to stay within that character count to enhance your post’s visibility and give visitors a clear preview of what to expect.
Enhance the Value for Your Readers
When addressing content gaps, focus on identifying improvement areas that will provide additional value to your readers.
One effective approach is to incorporate relevant keywords, making it easier for more readers to discover your content or related topics to feature in your blog.
Utilize the free CanadaCreate Keyword Generator Tool to discover over 300 relevant keyword ideas that users are actively searching for related to your topic.
Input your primary keyword and click ‘Analyze.’
You will receive an extensive list of keyword suggestions that can be sorted alphabetically, by prepositions, or by questions.
The questions filter is particularly useful for generating headings or frequently asked questions to enhance your blog post. You can also click the ‘Download Spreadsheet’ button to save the keyword list for future article ideas.
Consider using a keyword research tool like LowFruits to uncover low-competition keywords that you can realistically rank for.
With its Keyword Finder, simply enter a seed keyword, and LowFruits will provide thousands of long-tail keyword suggestions by analyzing Google’s autocomplete data.
It will also identify gaps in the search engine results pages (SERPs), highlighting low domain authority sites that rank for that keyword. This information helps you pinpoint areas to optimize your content and surpass your competitors.
Additionally, LowFruits features a Keyword Clustering tool that enables you to discover and target all keywords associated with your niche. Refer to our guide on SEO topic clusters for more information.
Incorporate a FAQ Schema.
One effective strategy to achieve a top position on Google’s first page is to rank in the ‘People Also Ask’ section.
Achieving a ranking in this section can significantly increase traffic to your website and establish your blog as an authoritative source on specific topics.
Additionally, implementing FAQ schema enhances your content’s usefulness for users who prefer a question-and-answer format. If your competitors are not addressing the most critical questions from searchers, your content can gain a competitive edge.
In the blog editor, navigate to the AIOSEO Settings. Then, under the Schema tab, select ‘Generate Schema.’
A Schema Generator pop-up will appear at this point.
Click the ‘+’ icon next to the FAQ section.
Next, input the Questions and Answers relevant to your post. You can click ‘Add Question’ to include additional questions in your schema.
Once you have completed the entries, click ‘Add Schema.’
Utilizing the All in One SEO FAQ Schema generator adds structured markup code to your blog post, allowing Google to easily recognize it as an FAQ section.
For a more comprehensive guide, refer to our article on how to implement FAQ schema in WordPress.
Bonus Tip: Create an Effective Blog Post Outline
Having completed your content gap analysis, it’s crucial to understand how to effectively write blog posts for the keywords you’ve identified.
Creating a solid blog outline not only saves you time but also ensures you produce high-quality content.
An outline guarantees that you cover essential elements, such as relevant keywords and frequently asked questions. Additionally, it helps organize your ideas and maintain a logical flow, making the article more reader-friendly.
The key is to examine the top-ranking content on Google to identify the headings and topics you should include.
For instance, an outline for ‘How to Keep Pests Out of Your Garden’ should detail the various types of pests and the different methods for eliminating them.
For a comprehensive guide, check out our article on how to create a blog post outline.
We hope this article has equipped you with the knowledge to conduct a content gap analysis. You might also find it helpful to explore our recommendations for essential WordPress plugins and tools for business websites, or our guide on easily boosting your blog traffic.
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