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Jan 31, 2023
How To Use Content Gap Analysis to Get Ahead of Your Competition
The content marketing space is crowded and only getting more competitive.
So, how do you stand out?
That's where content gap analysis comes in.
Content gap analysis helps you understand your competitors' strategies and find out where they're lacking or failing so you can fill those gaps as part of your content strategy.
In this article, we'll explain what content gap analysis is and how to use it in Ahrefs and SEMrush to get ahead of your competition today!
What is a content gap analysis?
A content gap analysis is an integral part of any content strategy.
By evaluating the existing content topic and identifying gaps or missed opportunities, you ensure that your content provides the best possible experience for your readers.
By looking at the search intent of each piece of content, you can determine if a piece of content needs to be quick and straightforward, a long and informative article, etc. By quantifying the type of content, you can quickly determine which gaps should be filled.
How and why does a content gap analysis work?
Content gap analysis is a method that allows a company to identify the gaps in their content and where they need to create new content. It's a great way to measure your content output and ensure that your audience receives the right information at the right time.
You can use this method to determine which topics your customers want to know more about and how many people are searching for them online.
A content gap analysis will also help you figure out what kinds of searches are driving traffic to your site, then use those search terms as a starting point for creating new content.
How do you find these terms? Read on!
SEO tools: The secret to filling your content gap
Content gap analysis evaluates an existing content topic and determines if any gaps could be filled.
By examining the search intent of each piece of content, you can determine whether to create quick and simple posts, long-form articles, or something more in-depth.
If you choose to hire a digital marketing agency or do it on your own, an audit of the content on your is essential to get a full picture from your content gap analysis results.
For reference, at the beginning of a client'’ relationship with us, we perform an SEO content gap analysis and a website content audit. This process helps us build our content campaign strategy, generating ideas for the topics and keywords we will use.
During the initial audit and content gap analysis, our digital team will provide a report that assesses the following:
- What keywords are your competitors ranking for that you could also be optimizing for?
- What keywords are you ranking for, but your competitors dominate on the first page of Google (or other search engines)?
Here's an overview of a few expert SEO tools you can use to gather this data.
READ MORE:
Ahrefs' Content Gap Tool
Ahrefs’ lets you identify gaps in content for multiple competitors at once, giving you a list of keywords your company should target.
This tool takes all of your competitors' keywords and subtracts the ones that also appear on your website. It then displays a list of new keywords you should target for further optimization.
How to use Arefs' Content Gap Tool
- Log into your Ahrefs account and click the Content Gap button.
2. Choose a URL you want to analyze in the first drop-down menu.
3. Select the date range you want to analyze in the second drop-down menu.
4. Select which competitors you want to compare against in the third drop-down menu (if there are more than 5 competitors, only 5 will show up).
5. Click on Analyze
*Photos from *
SEMRush's Keyword Gap Feature
This tool lets you compare the keyword profiles of up to five competitors side by side as a part of your .
After entering the domains you want to analyze and choosing whether to see results for organic, paid, or both types of keyword rankings, you'll get a report showing you all of the top opportunities across each site and the overlap in common keywords used by all sites.
This data allows you to see where an SEO campaign will impact most.
How to use SEMrush's Keyword Gap Feature
- First, click on the in your campaign dashboard.
- Enter up to five domains, subdomains, or folders. Get a list of standard and unique keywords they rank for within that group.
3. Customize your analysis by choosing different keyword types—organic, , and . Mix the types to see how they intersect and assess your SEO/PPC efforts.
4. Find out which keywords your competitors are targeting. Create a master list of target keywords, helping you stay ahead!
*Photos from *
See how SEO fits into your marketing flywheel. Explore with Watermark Agency.
Understanding your competitors' content strategy and identifying the gaps in your own can be instrumental to creating a successful content marketing plan.
A content gap analysis and audit using Ahrefs and SEMRush work no matter what stage your website is in—whether it's just been launched or has been live for years.
Using your gap analysis, optimize the structure of your website, establish new keyword clusters and boost search rankings—and crush the competition.
Boost visibility, create engagement, increase leads and make more money with Inbound Marketing
Follow our free, easy-to-follow video series designed to show how to attract and convert more leads— and make more money with these tactics.
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