Are you missing out on valuable traffic, better rankings, and potential customers?
A content gap analysis could be your secret weapon! It’s like having a roadmap showing you exactly what your audience is searching for but not finding on your site. If your competitors are getting traffic that should be yours, they’re likely covering topics you haven’t.
Instead of guessing what to write next, imagine knowing precisely what your audience wants. That’s the power of a content gap analysis. Stop brainstorming from scratch and start creating targeted content that drives conversion through advanced keyword research and competitor analysis tools. 🛠️
This guide will show you exactly what a content gap analysis is, why it’s crucial, and the top five tools to do it right in 2025
Get ready to uncover hidden opportunities and supercharge your content! ⚡
What Is a Content Gap?
First, let’s define a content gap, so we know what we’re dealing with.
In short, a content gap is anything missing from your content that your audience is searching for but not finding. This can include:
- Uncovered topics: Important subjects your competitors rank for, but you don’t.
- Missing keywords: Search terms people are using, but your content doesn’t target.
- Outdated information: Older content that no longer aligns with current trends or search intent.
- Shallow coverage: Content that lacks depth, missing key subtopics or details.
What Is Content Gap Analysis & Why Does It Matter?
Content gap analysis is the process of identifying missing or underperforming content on your site compared to what your audience is searching for, and what your competitors are already ranking for. It pinpoints valuable topics, trending keywords, and insights you haven’t covered, keeping your content relevant and competitive.
If you’re not doing content gap analysis, you might be losing out on potential visitors, leads, and even sales. If your competitors are answering your audience’s questions and you’re not, guess who gets the traffic? They do!😡
So, why do a content gap analysis? Here’s the simple truth:
- Get Found More Easily: Discover new topics and improve existing content, so you show up in more search results.
- Attract Your Competitors’ Audience: If you cover topics better, their audience might just become your audience.
- Stop Wasting Time: You’ll have a clear plan of exactly what content to create next.
- See Better Results: Great content leads to more engagement and, ultimately, more conversions.
Performing this analysis at least once a year ensures you stay ahead of changing trends, audience needs, and industry updates.
How To Do Content Gap Analysis in 5 Easy Steps
Keyword difficulty is important for planning content, managing resources, and improving your competitive strategy. Here’s a breakdown of why it matters and how it affects your SEO success:
1. Perform a Content Audit To Create a Basis
Before analyzing your competitors, start by evaluating your own content. This is super important because it shows you what topics you’ve already covered, which keywords you’re ranking for, and where you might need to make some improvements.
As you go through your content, make sure you’ve got something for each stage of your marketing funnel:
- Awareness: This is where you want to attract new visitors and answer general questions about your industry.
- Consideration: Here, you’ll want to provide in-depth guides, comparisons, or case studies to help potential customers weigh their options.
- Decision: At this stage, you need convincing landing pages, detailed product info, or testimonials that encourage people to take action.
If you find that you’re missing content in any of these areas, that’s a clear sign of a content gap that needs to be filled.
The Search Atlas Site Auditor is a powerful tool that can save you from doing this manually. It’ll crawl through your website and give you a full list of your URLs, along with how each page is performing.
After that, you’ll be able to analyze your content further and improve your strategy.
2. Discover Competitors’ Keywords To Find Opportunities
Looking for golden content opportunities? A great way is to identify keywords your competitors rank for, but you don’t. This is a key part of any content gap analysis, and it’s easier than you might think!
Tools like Keyword Gap are designed for exactly this. It lets you see what your audience is searching for and finding on your competitors’ sites, not yours. These are the opportunities you can use to create content and improve your own rankings.
Here’s how to use it: Just enter the web addresses of up to six competitors. Search Atlas will then organize the keyword data into these helpful categories:
- Keyword Gap: Keywords all competitors rank for, but the primary site doesn’t.
- Keywords in Common: Keywords you and your competitors both rank for.
- Keyword Opportunities: Keywords your competitors rank for, but you don’t (or rank poorly for). This is your goldmine!
- Unique Keywords: Keywords that only you rank for.
- All Keywords: A complete list of all keywords for everyone.
This detailed breakdown shows you exactly where your content is missing the mark and which topics to prioritize. You can even refine your search by location, focusing on specific countries or regions, using the tool’s settings.
3. Explore Topical Dominance To Understand Your Options
When analyzing content gaps, you’ll typically find two types: page-level gaps and domain-level gaps.
- Page-level gaps happen when you and a competitor cover the same topic, but they rank for more keywords. This often means their content is more in-depth, better structured, or optimized more effectively.
- Domain-level gaps occur when competitors have entire content areas you haven’t covered at all. These gaps represent missed opportunities to expand your authority and capture new traffic.
This is where Topical Dominance, a unique tool in Search Atlas, comes in. Instead of just looking at keyword rankings, it helps you see how websites compare in terms of overall authority on a specific topic.
The Search Atlas team was the first to calculate Google’s “hidden ranking factor,” which suggests that strong topical coverage correlates with better rankings.
Topical Dominance measures a domain’s authority or the domain power within a given subject, whether it’s a specific topic (e.g., “Super Bowl Kickoff”), a broader topic (e.g., “Elections”), or a knowledge domain (e.g., “Politics”).
For each of these types, you can compare several factors, including:
- Average ranking position
- Keyword coverage
- Search volume
- Ranking URLs
You can use this tool for an in-depth analysis of up to 6 competitors.
4. Compare the Quality of Your Content to Your Competitors
Curious why your content isn’t ranking higher? A great way to figure that out is to compare your content to what’s already ranking at the top of the search results. This comparison shows you what’s working and where your content might be falling short.
This comparison helps you find those all-important content gaps:
- Missing Information: Are your competitors providing facts, figures, or insights that you’re not? If so, that could be why they’re ranking higher.
- Outdated Information: Are your competitors’ pages more current or up-to-date with the latest trends? Google likes fresh content.
- Wrong Keyword Intent: Does your content really answer what people are searching for? If not, your competitors might be doing a better job of meeting user needs.
Finding these gaps helps you improve your content to match and beat what’s already ranking well. And that means a better chance of climbing those search results!
That’s where a tool like Scholar comes in. It’s not your average comparison tool, as it gives you the following benefits:
- Semantic Grading: SCHOLAR doesn’t just tell you if your content is good—it evaluates it like Google does, assessing key factors such as Content Clarity, Factuality, Human Effort, and Contextual Flow. This gives you a nuanced understanding of how Google might perceive your content, helping you see exactly where your content can improve.
- Competitor Benchmarking: SCHOLAR analyzes your competitors’ content using the same criteria. This lets you see exactly where you stand and why they might be outranking you.
- Clear Action Steps: The tool provides specific, easy-to-understand recommendations. It doesn’t just point out problems; it tells you how to fix them, whether it’s adding missing information, making it easier to read, or better matching what users are searching for.
4. Find Your Underperforming Content To Refresh Your Site
Content gap analysis and content pruning work together seamlessly. First, a content gap analysis identifies areas where your content is lacking compared to your competitors and what your audience is searching for.
Then, content pruning steps in to refine your existing content. One of the most common SEO mistakes people make is skipping this process entirely.
This refinement process involves removing outdated or irrelevant pages and improving those that are underperforming. By doing this, you ensure that all remaining content is focused, up-to-date, and precisely aligned with both user intent and SEO best practices.
In essence, content pruning closes the gaps identified by your content gap analysis. The result is a stronger, more effective website that better meets user needs and improves overall performance.
You typically have to do this manually. However, Search Atlas gives you a dedicated tool.
The Page Pruning Tool lets you identify low-performing content and see which pages may need to be merged, updated, or deleted.
5. Look Into Media Gaps To Improve Engagement
Now let’s talk about media gaps and why they matter for keeping your audience engaged.
You know how everyone has their own preferences when it comes to consuming content, right? Some people love reading articles, while others are all about videos, whether GIFs or embedded YouTube videos, or podcasts. Well, media gaps happen when your content doesn’t have enough variety to cater to all those different tastes.
Let’s say your audience is really into video content, but your site is mostly filled with long-form articles. That’s a media gap, and it means you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to connect with your audience in the way they prefer.
The key is to mix things up and offer a diverse range of content types. We’re talking text, images, videos, audio, everything. By giving your audience options, you’re making your content more accessible and engaging for everyone.
Plus, this approach doesn’t just benefit your audience, it’s great for your site’s performance too. When you have a variety of content types, you’re casting a wider net and attracting a broader audience. It’s a win-win!
Top 5 Content Gap Analysis Tools
Here are some tools that can level up your content strategy. Use them to pinpoint what’s not working, improve performance, and improve your SEO.
1. Search Atlas
Search Atlas is an all-in-one SEO platform that provides a range of tools to help you analyze your competitors, identify keyword gaps, and optimize your content. It has some unique features, like Scholar and Topical Dominance, that help you see how good your content is and where it could be better
Using these tools, you can get a sense of how Google views your content, which helps you adjust your approach and improve your search engine rankings.
Overall, Search Atlas is a comprehensive solution for anyone looking to improve their SEO performance. Its unique features and in-depth analysis capabilities make it a valuable asset for content creators, marketers, and website owners alike.
Popular Features
- Keyword Gap Analysis: This tool identifies areas where your content lacks compared to competitors, enabling targeted improvements.
- Scholar: A semantic grader that evaluates your content through multiple lenses, providing insights into how Google perceives your material.
- Content Velocity: Tracks the frequency and recency of your content publishing, helping maintain relevance and freshness.
- Topical Dominance: Assesses your authority on specific topics, guiding you to strengthen areas where your expertise is lacking.
- Site Audit: Conducts comprehensive analyses of your website to identify technical issues affecting SEO performance.
- Site Explorer: Offers detailed insights into your website’s structure and performance metrics, facilitating informed optimization decisions.
Limitations
- Search Atlas has a steep learning curve due to the number of tools it provides, but there are onboarding calls and tutorials available to help.
- For larger websites, configuring OTTO settings requires initial setup, but once optimized, it delivers significantly better long-term results.
Pricing
| Starter plan | Growth plan | Pro plan | |
| Price | $99/month | $199/month | $399/month |
| Free OTTO activation | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| User seats | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| GSC Site Projects | 5 | 15 | Unlimited |
| Competitor Research Credit | 2,000 | 200,000 | 500,000 |
| Keyword Research Lookups | 500 | 2,000 | 5,000 |
Reviews
- G2: 4.8/5 (91)
- Capterra: 4.9/5 (63)
2. Ahrefs
The Ahrefs SEO toolset offers a Content Gap feature to analyze competitor performance. It compares your site to others, revealing keywords your competitors rank for but you don’t.
By identifying these gaps, you can target new keywords, optimize existing content, and create fresh material to improve your rankings. This helps refine your content strategy by highlighting missed opportunities for better SEO performance.
You can see how Ahrefs compares to Search Atlas in detail.
Popular Features
- Site Explorer: Helps you analyze your website’s backlinks, traffic, and top pages, offering insights into where improvements can be made.
- Keywords Explorer: Helps you discover keyword opportunities and assess their potential for ranking, which can guide content creation.
- Content Explorer: Allows you to find top-performing content in your niche, giving you ideas for content gaps and trends to target.
- Content Gap Tool: Helps identify keywords competitors rank for that you don’t, uncovering content opportunities.
- Site Audit: Identifies technical SEO issues that may hinder your content’s performance in search rankings.
- Rank Tracker: Tracks keyword rankings over time, helping you assess whether content gap strategies are working.
Limitations
- Some reviews note that Ahrefs’ pricing may be higher compared to other SEO tools.
- Some users report that Ahrefs’ interface can be complex for beginners, requiring a learning curve.
Pricing
- Free (AWT): $0 – 5000 crawl credits
- Starter: $29/month – 5,000 crawl credits and access to Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, and Site Audit
- Lite: $129/month – 5 projects, 6 months of historical data, 750 tracked keywords, 100,000 crawl credits
- Standard: $249/month – 20 projects, 2 years of historical data, 2,000 tracked keywords, 500,000 crawl credits
- Advanced: $449/month – 50 projects, 5 years of historical data, 5,000 tracked keywords, 1,500,000 crawl credits
Reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 (548)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (572)
3. Semrush
Semrush’s Content Gap tool enables users to identify keywords competitors rank for that their site doesn’t. By entering your domain and up to five competitors, you can see which keywords they rank for that you don’t.
This analysis helps uncover valuable topics you may have missed, providing insights into content gaps that could improve your rankings. The tool highlights potential areas for new content or content optimization to target specific keywords effectively.
Popular Features
- Organic Research: Analyze competitors’ organic search rankings and position changes to strengthen your SEO strategy.
- Content Gap Tool: Compares your website against competitors to identify keywords they rank for that you don’t.
- Keyword Overview: Provides a comprehensive report on any keyword, including search volume, intent, and difficulty.
- Keyword Magic Tool: Offers an extensive database of keywords, helping you find the most relevant ones for your strategy.
- Topic Research: Generates content ideas based on popular topics in your industry, aiding in content planning.
- SERP Gap Analyzer: Analyzes your website’s topical depth using Natural Language Processing to find content gaps.
- Keyword Strategy Builder: Helps you create a keyword strategy by analyzing keyword variations and clusters
Limitations
- Some users report that Semrush’s interface can be complex for beginners, requiring a learning curve.
- Some feedback suggests that Semrush’s keyword research features may not be as detailed as some competitors.
Pricing
- Free Trial: Available for Pro and Guru
- Free: $0, unlimited time – 10 keyword searches per day, up to 10 domains per day, track 10 keywords, crawl up to 100 URLs, monitor local listings
- Pro: $139.95/month – 5 projects, 500 tracked keywords, 10,000 results per report
- Guru: $249.95/month – 15 projects, 1,500 tracked keywords, 30,000 results per report, access to historical data, content marketing platform, Looker Studio Integration
- Business: $449.95/month – 40 projects, 5,000 tracked keywords, 50,000 results per report, access to API and extended limits.
Semrush reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 (2,375)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (2,272)
4. BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is a content research platform that enables users to analyze content performance across various platforms. By examining the engagement metrics of articles and social media posts, BuzzSumo helps identify successful content strategies and potential gaps in your own content offerings.
This analysis allows for the discovery of topics that resonate with audiences, informing content creation and optimization efforts.
Popular Features
- Content Analyzer: Analyzes billions of articles to identify high-performing content and uncover gaps in your own content strategy.
- Competitor Analysis: Allows you to enter any domain to see its top content, inspiring your own content planning.
- Content Trends: Provides insights into content trends over time, helping you identify emerging topics and potential content gaps.
- Content Insights: Offers data on which social networks, content types, and publication days yield the best results, aiding in content optimization.
- Content Research: Scans engagement metrics of billions of articles and social posts to provide meaningful content insights.
- Content Alerts: Notifies you when new content matching your specified keywords is published, keeping you updated on industry developments.
Limitations
- Some reviews mention that the tool’s data accuracy may vary, which could lead to misinterpretations.
- A portion of users feel the interface isn’t intuitive, making it difficult for newcomers to navigate.
Pricing
- Content Creation: $199/month – 1 user, unlimited searches, 2 alerts, includes Content Analyzer, Trending Feeds, and Question Analyzer.
- PR & Comms: $299/month – 5 users, unlimited searches, 5 alerts, everything in Content Creation plus Media Database & Outreach, Coverage Reports, and Slack Integration.
- Suite: $499/month – 10 users, unlimited searches, 10 alerts, everything in PR & Comms plus YouTube Analyzer, Advanced Chrome Extension, and Article Uploads.
- Enterprise: $999/month – 30 users, unlimited searches, 50 alerts, everything in Suite plus RSS Feed, Granular Location Search, and Early Access to New Features.
Reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 (103)
- Capterra: 4.5 5 (146)
5. MarketMuse
MarketMuse is a content research platform that analyzes your website and competitors to identify content gaps. By examining existing content, it highlights areas lacking comprehensive coverage, enabling you to create or optimize content that better aligns with user intent.
This approach enhances your site’s topical authority and improves search engine rankings. MarketMuse’s data-driven insights assist in developing a content strategy that addresses these gaps effectively.
Popular Features
- Competitive Content Analysis: Use a heatmap to assess content depth and spot gaps, gaining a strategic edge.
- Content Clusters: Evaluate topic clusters quickly, with insights on ranking difficulty and quality.
- Content Planning: Automate competitive research, SERP analysis, and topic selection, enabling faster decision-making.
- Content Brief Generator: Content brief software that analyzes numerous pages and create content instead of duplicating competitors.
- Gap Finding: Compare your content with the top 20 ranking pages to discover missing elements and key details.
- Optimization: Get tailored recommendations to improve even strong content, boosting expertise for both users and search engines.
Limitations
- Some note that the absence of an AI writer limits content creation speed and Some mention that without an AI writer, content creation speed and automation are limited.
- Certain reviews highlight that MarketMuse’s lack of CMS integration complicates full content management.
Pricing
- Free: $0/month – 1 user, 10 queries/month, no tracked topics, no content briefs, access to Topic Navigator, Keywords, SERP x-ray, SERP Heatmap, and Site Heatmap.
- Optimize: $99/month – 1 user, 100 tracked topics, 5 Content Briefs/month, 1 Content Strategy Document/month, 100 queries/month, Article Briefs and research tools.
- Research: $249/month – 3 users, 1000 tracked topics, 10 Content Briefs/month, 3 Content Strategy Documents/month, unlimited queries, and full research tool access.
- Strategy: $499/month – 5 users, 10K tracked topics, 20 Content Briefs/month, 5 Content Strategy Documents/month, all 9 brief types, unlimited queries, and full platform access.
Reviews
- G2: 4.6/5 (214)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (28)
Unlock Your SEO Potential: Master Content Gap Analysis with Search Atlas
Content gap analysis is crucial in today’s SEO, helping you identify areas where your content may be falling short.
Modern AI tools, like Search Atlas Scholar, give you a unique view of how Google evaluates content, while features like Topical Dominance help you stay ahead by targeting niche areas your competitors might miss.
These tools give you a clear edge in content creation and optimization, so why not dive in and see the difference for yourself? Sign up for a 7-day FREE trial today and start boosting your SEO strategy!
