What Is Content Gap Analysis?
“A content gap analysis is the process of finding holes in your existing content.
It involves identifying missing content pieces that could and should align with the various stages of your target audience’s buyer’s journey.”
Search Engine Journal
Basically, content gap analysis a strategy to generate useful new content by figuring out what types of content are missing from your website and from the top search results for certain topics.
This strategy can also help you stand out among competitors by covering industry topics that haven’t been covered yet! In addition, this strategy is very helpful for identifying valuable new keywords to rank for.
Content topics usually have Gaps in the following areas:
- Recentness: Is the content fresh with new research and fully up to date?
- Comprehensiveness: Does the content do a thorough job of covering the topic?
- Readability: Is the content formatted in an easily digestible manner?
- Value: Does the content provide new insights to the reader?
Why is Content Gap Analysis Important?
Content Gap Analysis is important because it helps websites establish themselves as authorities! This is done in one of two ways, either by:
1. Providing useful content on previously uncovered topics
2. Providing more useful content by elevating the content in a significant way
Content Gap Analysis on Search Results
Let’s say you are a lawn care business and you want to create new content in the niche of hedge care.
The easiest place to get information on Content Gaps for topics is the topic’s search engine results!
When you Google hedge care you may discover that there is no easy-to-read information on the topic, but rather all of the articles are catered to garden experts and landscapers.
Now that you have uncovered a content gap in readability you can create content that is more catered to beginners and everyday people that want to fix their hedges!
Since there was a gap in this type of content it is highly likely that the keywords are less competitive for this topic, so you can also gear your content towards these less competitive keywords! In this case, maybe “Beginner Hedge Maintenance” or “Hedge Care 101”.
By simply analyzing the current content on the #1 search page a great new content idea is born!
Overall Website Content Gap Analysis
Your website may have gaps in content that users need in order to fully understand and trust your website.
One way to think about this is by considering any gaps in the user or customer journey that leads a person to use your website.
Imagine the path a user would take to get to your website and to use it in the intended way. Are you missing any content components to help the happen optimally?
For example, it is common for e-commerce websites to be heavily focused on the sales pages for their products. However, they may be missing review content which will instill trust in users to buy the products that they are selling. This would be an important website content gap to fill!
Another way to identify content gaps on your website is to compare your website to competitors!
You want to make sure that you are addressing all of the important topics that competitors address so that you are up to par with the standards for your type of website.
Take Aways:
Content Gap Analysis is a strategy for discovering new content ideas based on identifying what is missing from top search results or what is missing from your website. This type of analysis provides valuable insights that can help your content and website be more successful!
Read More About Content Marketing Here: Content Creation for Boring Niches
