Content Gap Analysis: 5 Ways to Find Them & Fix Them

When it comes to content creation, gaps are inevitable. You can be the best writer out there, but that doesn’t stop the world from continuously evolving.

Information becomes outdated.

Keywords fluctuate over time.

Customers shift interests.

It’s not your fault. But if you want to stay ahead of the game, it IS your responsibility to find and fix any content gaps that arise.

Why are content gaps a big deal?

Content gaps are basically missed opportunities. When customers can’t find what they’re looking for on your page, you can bet their next step will be in the direction of your competition.

The trick is learning how to identify content gaps and knowing what to do when you find them.

What Are Content Gaps?

Content gaps are topics not currently on your website that your target audience is looking for.

Your audience is always on the lookout for new information. And with content gaps so common, you would think that companies would pay closer attention to them. However, a 2021 study shows that 46% of companies with unsuccessful content marketing strategies don’t analyze their content once it’s been published.

Your industry may have thousands of topics your target audience is searching for that you have yet to cover.

For example, say you’re an SEO agency that has dozens of blog posts on advanced SEO techniques. However, you notice readers are bouncing from your pages quickly and far too often.

You might wonder if your content is engaging enough.

A quick content gap analysis can shed some light on the problem. Maybe your target readers are looking for basic SEO techniques while you only offer advanced information beyond their interest or ability to understand.

If you want to make sure your readers stay engaged, it’s important that the content they’re reading is current and useful for their needs.

5 Methods for Finding Content Gaps

You’ve learned what content gaps are, why they’re important, and what you should be looking for.

Now let’s look at how to find and fix them using content gap analysis.

1. Run a Content Gap Analysis Using an SEO Tool Like Ubersuggest

If you’re worried about spending hours poring through data, manually analyzing every piece of content you’ve ever posted, I have some good news for you.

Free and paid online tools like Ubersuggest will do this job for you.

Ubersuggest offers a number of features that let you dig into your website’s data to quickly find problem areas.

Use it to generate reports for keywords, browse top-performing content and even analyze your competitor’s site.

The process for using my tool is simple.

First, visit the Ubersuggest homepage.
Next, enter the domain name or keyword you want a report on.
Click “View all” or select the appropriate filters at the top of the report.

Entering the domain name on Ubersuggest.
Finally, click Export at the top of the report to store the information elsewhere.

How to Fix Keyword Content Gaps

Once you have found stronger keywords for your posts, you can fill the content gaps in several ways.

Include the new keywords in your upcoming content. Don’t just sprinkle them haphazardly. Instead, incorporate keywords organically, in ways that increase the quality of your content.

Update old content with missing keywords. This often entails reworking sentences and even whole sections in order to maintain quality content for your audience.

As a preventative measure, you may want to alter your current keyword optimization strategy as well. Make a habit out of searching for keyword content gaps in your articles to remain at the top of the search results in your field.

2. Audit Your Customer Journey and Identify Content Missing from the Funnel

Not all content gaps are as easy to fix as keyword content gaps. The trick here is to dive deeper into your customer journey to figure out what your target readers need at each stage of their buying process.

Not every customer visits your website ready to make a purchase. Some are just curious, while others are comparing your products with the competition.

For the best results, you want to create content for each of these stages.

You need posts that make users aware of your products and services. You also need posts that provide valuable industry insights that address customer pain points and solve problems.

Even USA.gov took this approach to figure out what content they were missing. With the help of a specific customer audit process called journey mapping, USA.gov created detailed customer personas which were given behavior lines similar to their actual customers. From there, they were able to identify problem areas, confusing web pages, customer pain points and more.

Let’s use my site as an example. New website visitors wondering what my companies are all about can find everything they need to know with one click.

You’ll also need content for users to compare options between your product and the competition. This can be as simple (and powerful) as a “vs” article. You can offer comparison points for well-known competitors.

Buy Me a Coffee does this well with an attractive comparison page featuring their top competitor, Patreon. Notice how they highlight features that are exclusive to their brand.

How to Fix Content Gaps

Content gaps are the easiest type of gap to find and fix. Once you’ve mapped your customer journey, you’ll have a better idea of which stages in the buying process you need to add to your existing content.

Create helpful tutorials and interesting industry articles. Write about the products and services you offer. Take what you have to offer and compare it to the competition.

3. Manually Search Competitor Websites to Identify Content Gaps

It’s not always clear what your content is missing. Thankfully you can always take a peek at what the competition is up to!

It can be hard to figure out what’s missing from your content on your own.

That’s where you can get help from the competition!

It’s quite simple.

Identify what your competitors are doing right and then replicate it. Remember, the goal isn’t to create an exact copy. Rather, your aim is to find keyword, topic, and content gaps that your competition fills.

You can do this manually by visiting competitor websites and noting what is missing from your own site.

For example, you may visit another SEO agency’s page and see they’re covering Google’s most recent algorithm update, but you haven’t yet.

How to Find and Fix Content Gaps Through Manual Competitor Research

First, make a list of your top competitors. If you aren’t sure who they are, Google some of the most important keywords you target and see who else is ranking for them. You can also use SEO tools to help you find competitors.
Next, visit each competitor’s page and make a list of topics your website is missing.
Finally, brainstorm with your team about how to create a page on the same topic in a different or better way.

Be careful, though.

While competitors can provide inspiration for new content ideas, avoid copying exactly what they do. You want to look for new perspectives they failed to cover. A competitor may be getting great results with a particular keyword, but it doesn’t mean you should always create similar content. Think critically about whether what your competitor is doing is even applicable to your website and audience.

4. Use Google Search Console

Did you know you can use the Google Search Console to perform a content gap analysis?

I’ll show you how.

First, log into Search Console and click “Search Results” on the left side of the page.

Next, click the “+ New” next to “Search type” and “Date range” (which you can modify).

When the box pops up, click “Page.”

Enter the URLs for your top-performing pages, one at a time.

When the results populate, see what keywords you’re ranking for on that page.

Go to the page on your website or in your CMS and search for all of your top keywords from Search Console (either top clicks or impressions).

Finally, go to the post on your website and make sure the content is related to your top-performing keywords. Odds are, some of the keywords you rank for will not actually be covered on the page.

Once you identify the keywords you’re ranking for that are not covered on the page, create content that does by either creating a new post or adding a section to your existing one.

5. Perform a Self Content Audit

When was the last time you poked around your own website to find gaps in your content?

Using SEO tools and checking out the competition can be effective, but sometimes it’s easier to perform an audit on your own content instead.

Self content audits are a solid practice to perform on a regular basis, as it develops your eye for identifying gaps faster. This can help you find problem areas in your current approach and improve the creation process for future content.

Not only that, by running a content audit, you’ll occasionally discover broken links, outdated images, and even grammatical errors that can then also be fixed before they give visitors a negative experience.

For instance, you can start by updating old reviews on your page. Studies show 79 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as they believe in personal recommendations, so updating outdated reviews can increase customer trust in your website.

An important thing to keep in mind here is that self content audits aren’t the type of thing that you only do once. A regular cadence is key here to keep your content fresh. How often you do it will vary based on how much content you have and your industry, but 6 months is a good starting point.

Conclusion: Content Gaps

By utilizing SEO tools, like Ubersuggest, to find keyword and topic gaps in your content, your pages will see more traffic than ever before. Examine your keyword strategy with Google Search Console to figure out where you can close the gap.

Use content gap analysis on competitor pages or on your own site to discover what you can change.

Content gaps are secret opportunities that, when fixed, lead to valuable material that attracts new audiences and the potential revenue your business can earn.

Using these methods, you should be able to generate plenty of new content ideas and drive more traffic to your website.

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Content Gap Analysis: 5 Ways to Find Them & Fix Them