Imagine you are putting a bed together. You get all the parts of the bed in one place, get all your tools, and prepare for the task ahead of you.
You then start looking for instructions on how to go about the job. The bed’s manual has no meaningful information, and neither does the packaging.
You are now at a loss, and all you can do is make a random guess of what to do next.
This is precisely how your readers feel when they search the internet for information they can’t find.
It is frustrating, tiring, and annoying. But for the savvy marketer, it also represents an unbridled opportunity.
Want to analyze SEO content gaps like a pro? First, conduct an audit of your website’s content. Take inventory of all your pages and blog posts and determine whether they meet user intent and cover essential industry keywords.
Look for any gaps in topic coverage or opportunities to improve existing content.
Next, research your competitors’ content strategies. See what topics they are covering and how they are approaching them.
Use this information to identify any gaps in your content and develop new ideas for articles or pages that will give you a competitive edge.
In this post, you will understand what content gaps are, how to identify them, and how to fix them to boost your SEO.
Keep reading to find out how to improve your SEO rank by filling content gaps.
What Are Content Gaps?
Content gaps are informational gaps in a given area. These are topics that your target audience is interested in but which are not adequately covered on your site or even by your competition.
Content gaps can be divided into two: topic gaps and media gaps.
Topic gaps are areas that generate plenty of user interest, but information regarding them is scarce. This is what most content marketers refer to when talking of content gaps.
On the other hand, media gaps are a scarcity of content in a given form. For example, research shows that most internet users prefer to learn a skill through tutorials rather than written text.
So, if your content revolves mainly around teaching skills, you might want to transform most of your articles into videos.
Moving forward, you might also want to focus more on creating valuable videos than producing articles.
Likewise, if you are making content for a primarily visual niche, you will be better off using images to express your points.
So if you run an interior design business, using plenty of your images in your content will enhance communication with your audience, which could translate to a better ranking on search engines.
Why is a Content Gap Analysis Important?
Fixing content gaps on your site can drastically improve your search engine results.
And since data shows that 88% of Google users only click on search results from the 1st SERP, you sure want your content to be on that first page.
Google has consistently emphasized the critical role that quality content plays in its ranking arithmetic. It is even in the company’s mission statement!
By filling content gaps, your content will be useful, translating to a better SERP rank.
Not only that but fixing your content gaps gives you an edge over your competitors.
If you are at the top of SERPs, your visibility will be exceedingly high, leading to better revenue for your business.
Another benefit of analyzing and fixing content gaps is that it reduces bounce rates.
Take the teaching example. If you primarily offer C++ lessons, we know through data analysis that your target audience would prefer to learn this programming language from a video rather than an article.
So if a visitor to your site can’t find a video on a given C++ aspect, you can expect that they will quickly leave your site and go elsewhere searching for the video.
This is precisely what you want to avoid. And SEO content gap analysis is the right place to begin.
How To Analyze Content Gaps and Fix Them
This post will take a two-pronged approach to content gap analysis and how to fix it.
The first will be a content gap analysis of your content, followed by a content gap analysis of your competitors.
Auditing Your Content
Auditing your content is a critical part of SEO content gap analysis. Here, your primary concern is finding out why your content may be underperforming and then fixing the issues you find.
Some of the content gaps that plague most websites are:
- Dated content
- Irrelevant content
- Shallow content
- Overly complex content
You may also find that you are missing out on emerging topics your audience would like to read about.
Another common content gap problem is poor keyword use or entirely missing out on keywords that could help boost your SEO.
The best thing about performing a content audit on your site is that you can use tools rather than going through every article manually.
This is by far more accurate and time-saving than the manual option.
Some of the best tools for auditing your content include Semrush, Ahref, and Google Search Console.
You want to start by performing a keyword content gap audit to find out whether improving your keyword use can positively impact your SEO.
If you find out that you are missing out on some keywords, be sure to include them in your upcoming content. You could also update your old content to include the new, in-demand keywords.
You should also evaluate your customer journey and seal any content gaps. For this to work well, you must have excellent site architecture and a good grasp of your customers’ needs.
Start by asking yourself, why do people visit my website? Are they looking for information, do they want to know about my company, or do they want to purchase my products?
The customer journey can be divided into four distinct stages: the awareness stage, the consideration stage, the decision stage, and the success stage.
In the awareness stage, customers seek information about a product or around a given topic. They may want to make a purchase down the road, but for now, they are merely curious about the product or topic.
You can provide value for customers in the awareness stage by creating highly informative and relevant content around given topics.
You might also want to revamp your site’s About Page to promote customer loyalty to your brand.
The next stage is the consideration stage. Here, customers want to make a purchase, but they are unsure of what purchases to make. They are still comparing products and seeking further information to help them decide.
You can seal content gaps for readers in this stage by creating reviews, comparing your products to those of your competitors, or making ‘best of’ posts.
In the third stage, customers will be buying your product. This is where your sales and landing pages come into play. You must ensure that these pages are in their best shape to avoid losing customers ready to make a purchase.
The final stage is the success stage. This is where you show customers appreciation for purchasing your product while reassuring them that they made the right choice.
Consider also using customer feedback to improve your content and fill any gaps. You can get helpful feedback through reviews, polls, and surveys.
If you can address any of your customers’ concerns through your content, you will see an improvement in your SEO.
Researching the Competition
The second step in SEO content gaps best practices analysis is researching the competition.
There are two ways to do this: comparing your content to that of your known competitors or scouring the internet to find content gaps in a specific area.
The first method aims to determine why your competition’s content is performing better than your own.
This will include performing keyword analysis to know the keywords they may be ranking for but which are missing from your content.
The Semrush keyword gap tool can come in real handy for this task. It allows you to add up to five competitors for keyword analysis.
It would be best if you also looked for topics that they have covered but which are missing from your content. Then get to work creating better content on the same topics.
Additionally, you might want to analyze your competition’s customer funnel.
For instance, do they send their readers to their contact page or direct them to the sales page? Is this working for them? If so, then you might want to have the same approach.
You can also conduct a manual analysis if you don’t know your competitors. Start by searching for the keywords you want to rank for on Google.
Then make a list of the top ten websites on the 1st SERP. Read through each article about your given keyword, and identify any existing gaps.
For instance, the content may be complex or use dated examples for illustration. You can quickly fill these gaps as you create new content, automatically leading to better performance for your content.
It’s Time To Do a Content Gap Analysis
Content gap analysis can be a potent tool for SEO purposes. You can use the insight gained from this analysis to create practical, timely, and concise content for your target audience. Ultimately, this will lead to better performance on search engines.
Not only that, but identifying content gaps also keeps you from losing potential customers at any stage of the conversion funnel. Follow the tips shared in this post to improve your site’s performance and revenue generation.