How to Perform Keyword Gap Analysis for SEO

By uncovering these gaps, you can develop a more effective SEO strategy that targets untapped keywords and improves your content.

1. Identify Your Competitors

The first step in a keyword gap analysis is identifying your direct competitors. These are the websites that rank for the same keywords you're targeting and operate in the same niche. If you're unsure who your competitors are, perform a search for the key terms you're targeting and note the websites that appear in the top results.

Competitors can be categorized into two types:

1. Direct Competitors: These websites offer the same products or services and target the same audience.

2. Indirect Competitors: These sites might offer related services or content that overlaps with your target keywords but is not an exact match.

2. Compile a List of Your Target Keywords

Before comparing your performance with your competitors, it’s essential to have a comprehensive list of the keywords you're targeting. You can get this list from your SEO tools like Google Search Console, SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Moz. These tools show the keywords your site is ranking for and their current positions in search results.

Make sure to consider both primary keywords (the most important ones) and secondary keywords (long-tail or more specific search terms). This gives you a broad overview of your current keyword strategy.

3. Use SEO Tools for Keyword Gap Analysis

Once you have your competitor list and your own keyword data, it's time to start the analysis. Use SEO tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Moz to perform a keyword gap analysis. These tools allow you to compare your keyword list with that of your competitors. Here’s how to use these tools:

1. Input your domain and your competitor’s domain: The tool will show which keywords each domain ranks for.

2. Review the overlapping keywords: These are the keywords both you and your competitor rank for. Assess how well you rank for these keywords and whether there are any opportunities to improve.

3. Analyze the unique keywords: These are the keywords that your competitors rank for, but you don’t. These are the gaps that you should target.

4. Identify High-Potential Keyword Gaps

Once you have a list of the keywords your competitors are ranking for, focus on the high-value opportunities. These are the keywords that:

• Have high search volume but low competition

• Are relevant to your business and audience

• Fit naturally into your existing content or offer opportunities for new content creation

Look for long-tail keywords or low-difficulty keywords that you can easily rank for. Additionally, check for keywords with high commercial intent—these indicate a strong likelihood of conversion if targeted correctly.

5. Develop a Plan to Close the Gaps

After identifying keyword gaps, the next step is to build a strategy to close them. Here's how:

1. Optimize Existing Content: If you already have content that can rank for the identified keywords, update it by including the missing terms. This can improve your rankings and help you target a broader set of keywords.

2. Create New Content: If the gap is too large to fill by tweaking existing content, create new blog posts, landing pages, or articles that target the missed keywords.

3. On-Page SEO: Make sure your content is optimized for the identified keywords, including them in the title tags, meta descriptions, headers, and body content. Also, ensure your site is fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate.

6. Monitor and Adjust

SEO is an ongoing process, so monitoring the performance of your new and improved content is essential. Track keyword rankings and traffic using tools like Google Analytics and Search Console. Based on the results, adjust your strategy and continue refining your content.

Conclusion

Performing keyword gap analysis is an effective way to enhance your SEO efforts. By identifying the keywords your competitors are ranking for and finding gaps in your strategy, you can discover untapped opportunities that lead to increased organic traffic and improved rankings.

Regularly conduct keyword gap analysis to stay ahead of the competition and keep your SEO strategy sharp.