Your Guide to a Content Gap Analysis Template

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Having a solid content gap analysis template is a great way to keep your findings organized, but the real magic is in the strategy it helps you build. It’s your roadmap for figuring out exactly what your audience is searching for—and pinpointing where your competitors are eating your lunch.

Why Content Gaps Are Your Biggest SEO Opportunity

Too many marketers treat a content gap analysis like just another box to check on their SEO to-do list. That’s a huge mistake. This isn't just a routine task; it’s a strategic deep-dive to find hidden traffic sources, build real authority, and connect with your audience in a way your competition hasn't bothered to.

Think of it like being an SEO detective. You’re not just scanning for a few missing keywords. You’re looking for entire conversations where your brand should be a key player but is currently a ghost. This process is what transforms your content strategy from a guessing game into a data-backed plan for a hostile takeover.

Find Out What Your Customers Really Need

At its heart, a content gap analysis shows you all the questions your potential customers are asking that you’re completely ignoring. Every single one of those unanswered questions is a lost chance to build trust and prove you know what you're talking about.

For instance, a small e-commerce brand selling eco-friendly cleaning supplies might find a massive cluster of keywords around "DIY non-toxic laundry detergent."

This isn't just a keyword gap; it's a potential product line gap. If they create content answering those questions, they don't just win organic traffic. They also validate real demand for a new product, which can directly boost the bottom line.

Outsmart Bigger, Better-Funded Competitors

You don't need a Fortune 500 budget to go toe-to-toe with the giants in your industry. A smarter strategy almost always beats a bigger one.

A startup SaaS company, for example, will probably find that its main competitors own the rankings for huge, high-difficulty terms like "project management software." Good luck with that.

But a proper content gap analysis might uncover dozens of less competitive, long-tail keywords like "how to manage remote creative teams" or "agile workflow for small marketing agencies." By creating knockout, in-depth content around these specific pain points, the smaller company can start to outflank the established players and pull in a super-qualified audience. Once you create these pieces, it's crucial to understand what is content optimization to ensure they actually perform and meet searcher intent.

A content gap isn't just a missing article on your blog. It's a disconnect between what your brand talks about and what your customer cares about. Closing that gap is how you go from being just another vendor to becoming a go-to resource.

Build a Content Foundation That Lasts

Finding these gaps does way more than just give you a list of new blog post ideas. It helps you build a stronger, more connected content ecosystem.

As you start filling in the gaps, you automatically create new opportunities for internal linking, which boosts the SEO authority across your entire website.

This process also helps you spot trends before they go mainstream. If you want to dive deeper into high-level strategy, you can find more great reads over on Contentide's blog for content strategy insights. By consistently keeping an eye on what your audience and competitors are focused on, your content plan stays sharp, relevant, and miles ahead of the curve.

Setting Up for a Successful Analysis

A great analysis is built on a solid foundation. You can think of this initial stage as your pre-flight checklist; getting these first steps right ensures the data you gather is accurate, relevant, and actually usable.

If you rush this setup, you’ll end up with a messy, unfocused analysis that wastes time and delivers weak results.

Before you even touch a content gap analysis template, you need to assemble your toolkit. The good news? You don’t need a huge budget. Some of the most powerful tools are free.

Google Search Console: This one is non-negotiable. It shows you exactly what keywords your site currently ranks for, giving you a clear baseline of your existing content performance.

Google Keyword Planner: While it’s built for paid ads, it's a fantastic free resource for digging up keyword ideas and getting a general feel for search volume.

Paid SEO Suites (Ahrefs, Semrush): These are the powerhouses. Tools like Ahrefs' "Content Gap" or Semrush's "Keyword Gap" automate a ton of the heavy lifting. They compare your domain against competitors to instantly surface keyword opportunities you're missing.

Identify Your True SEO Competitors

Here's one of the most common mistakes I see: assuming your direct business competitors are your only SEO competitors. They often aren't.

Your true SEO rivals are any website, blog, or publication that consistently ranks for the keywords you want to rank for. It doesn't matter if they sell the same product or service.

Let’s say you sell project management software. Your business competitors are other software companies. But your SEO competitors might include:

Productivity blogs

Business publications like Forbes or Inc.

Industry news sites

All of these are competing for your audience's attention in the search results. Make sure your template has a dedicated spot to list these domains, not just your direct business rivals.

Define Your Strategic Goals

An analysis without a clear goal is just data collection. You have to know what you're actually trying to achieve, because that objective will shape how you interpret the data and prioritize your next steps.

Your goal isn’t just to "find gaps." It’s to find gaps that directly contribute to a business objective. Without this focus, you'll end up with a list of keywords, not a strategy.

Get specific. A vague goal like "increase traffic" isn't good enough. Aim for something more focused:

Boost Top-of-Funnel Traffic: Prioritize high-volume, informational keywords to attract new audiences.

Capture More Qualified Leads: Focus on mid-funnel keywords that signal purchase intent, like comparisons ("A vs. B") or "best of" lists.

Support a New Product Launch: Find all the keywords related to the problems your new product solves.

Strengthen Topical Authority: Group related keywords into clusters to build deep credibility on a specific subject.

This whole process has evolved way beyond simple keyword lists. A modern analysis now looks at both domain-level and page-level gaps. The game has even shifted to a concept called 'Topical Dominance,' which measures a site's authority across an entire subject, not just a handful of keywords. In fact, research shows domains with high topical dominance have up to a 35% better average ranking position than competitors with scattered coverage.

Knowing your goals ahead of time transforms your content gap analysis template from a simple spreadsheet into a powerful strategic roadmap. This clarity is also crucial before you start a broader review of your existing assets. You can learn more about that process in our guide on how to use a content audit template to inventory and evaluate what you've already published.

How to Use The Content Gap Analysis Template

This is where the rubber meets the road. You’ve got your goals mapped out and your competitors in your sights, so now it’s time to put our downloadable content gap analysis template to work. We’re going to walk through this process, column by column, so it feels less like a chore and more like a treasure hunt.

At first glance, it might seem like a lot. But once you break it down into a few clear stages, you’ll see it’s a straightforward path from raw data to a powerful, actionable content roadmap.

This simple infographic gives you a bird's-eye view of the core phases before we get into the nitty-gritty of the template itself.

As you can see, a solid analysis always starts with the foundational work we just covered: choosing the right tools, zeroing in on competitors, and defining what success looks like. Now, let's get our hands dirty.

Inventory Your Current Content

The very first tab in the template is all about getting your own house in order. You can’t find the gaps in your strategy until you know what you’ve already built. This step is a simple inventory of your existing content.

All you need to do is pull a list of your website's URLs and the primary keywords they rank for. You can grab this data directly from Google Search Console or your go-to SEO tool like Ahrefs or Semrush. The goal here is just to get a clean snapshot of your current keyword footprint.

Taking this inventory does two critical things:

It stops keyword cannibalization in its tracks. This ensures you don't waste time and resources creating new content that just ends up competing with pages you already have.

It flags easy-win update opportunities. You'll spot pages that are already ranking but could be beefed up to target even more keywords (we call this a page-level gap).

Pulling Competitor Keyword Data

Now for the fun part. Fire up your SEO tool and navigate to its keyword gap or content gap feature. Drop your domain in one field and pop your top two or three competitors into the others.

The tool will spit out a massive list of keywords that one or more of your competitors are ranking for. Don’t panic at the volume—we’re about to sift through this mountain of data to find pure gold.

Export that entire list as a CSV file. We'll dump this raw data directly into the "Competitor Data" tab of the template. This is the raw material we'll use to mine for all our insights.

Finding The High-Value Opportunities

This is where the magic happens inside your content gap analysis template. We need to filter through potentially thousands of keywords to find the ones your competitors rank for, but you don't. A simple spreadsheet formula or filter can do this in seconds.

In your sheet, you'll see columns for each competitor's ranking position alongside one for yours. The key is to filter for keywords where your competitors have a ranking (say, in the top 20) and your ranking column is either blank or shows a big fat zero.

A content gap isn't just a keyword you don't rank for. It's an entire conversation your audience is having that your brand is completely absent from. Your template is the tool that helps you listen in and find your opening.

This one filter will shrink your list dramatically, leaving you with a much more focused, manageable set of potential content gaps. This is your list of clear-cut opportunities where your rivals have a foothold and you have none.

Prioritizing Your Content Roadmap

Okay, so you have a list of keywords you’re missing out on. Now what? You can't just create a hundred new blog posts—that’s a recipe for burnout, not results. We need to prioritize, and that's exactly what the scoring columns in the template are for.

Using a simple scoring system helps you objectively decide where to focus your resources for the biggest impact. It turns a messy list of possibilities into a clean, actionable plan.

We’ll use three key metrics to score each keyword opportunity:

Search Volume: Higher volume often means more traffic potential, but it can also signal tougher competition.

Relevance: How tightly does this keyword align with your products, services, and the problems your audience needs to solve?

Business Potential: Does this keyword attract people who are just browsing, or does it bring in users who are likely to become customers?

For each keyword, assign a score from 1 to 5 for both Relevance and Business Potential. A simple formula in the template then combines these scores with the search volume to generate a final "Opportunity Score." Sort your list by this score, and your highest priorities will float right to the top. This part of the process is a masterclass in how to choose keywords that actually drive business forward.

Following this scoring method transforms your content calendar from guesswork into a data-backed strategy. You'll have a clear, prioritized list of topics proven to be valuable to your audience—topics your competition currently owns.

And it works. Companies that systematically use a process like this have reported organic traffic increases between 20% to 50% within just six months. Having a structured template also helps teams align on goals, which 68% of marketers say directly improves their focus and the quality of their output. You can dive deeper into these findings and the power of a good content gap analysis template.

To help you navigate our template, here’s a quick breakdown of what each section does.

Template Section Breakdown

This table summarizes the key tabs within our downloadable template, explaining what each one is for and what data goes where.

Template Tab/Section	Purpose	Key Data Points
Your Content Inventory	To create a baseline of what you currently rank for and avoid cannibalization.	Your URLs, Top Ranking Keywords, Current Position
Competitor Data Dump	A place to import the raw, unfiltered keyword data from your SEO tool.	All competitor keywords, Their ranking positions, Search Volume
Filtered Gap Analysis	The main workspace where you identify and filter for true content gaps.	Keywords competitors rank for but you don't, Competitor Positions
Prioritization & Roadmap	To score and rank opportunities, turning your list into a strategic content plan.	Relevance Score, Business Potential Score, Final Opportunity Score

Each tab builds on the last, guiding you from a massive dataset to a prioritized, high-impact content strategy ready for execution.

Uncovering the Different Flavors of Content Gaps

A real content gap analysis goes way beyond just pulling a list of keywords your competitors rank for. While that's a solid start, the real magic happens when you start to see the different kinds of gaps in your strategy. These are often where the biggest wins are hiding in plain sight.

Your content gap analysis template is your treasure map for spotting these, but you have to know what you’re looking for. Let’s dig into the nuanced gaps that can take your content plan from pretty good to totally dominant.

The Classic Keyword Gap

This is the bread and butter of content gap analysis and usually the first thing people tackle. A keyword gap is simply a search term your competitors are ranking for, but you aren't. These are the low-hanging fruit you’ll find right away when you start filtering in your template.

Maybe your competitor is sitting pretty at #3 for "how to automate client onboarding," a phrase that's driving a ton of traffic, while your site is nowhere in sight. That's your cue. It’s a direct signal to create a piece of content targeting that exact phrase. If you want to get really granular on this, our deep dive on keyword gap analysis breaks down the whole process.

The Overlooked Topic Gap

A topic gap is a much bigger fish to fry than a single keyword. This is when your competitors have built out an entire cluster of content around a subject, cementing their authority, while you’ve barely even mentioned it.

Think of it this way: a keyword gap is a missing brick, but a topic gap is a missing wall.

Let’s say you sell email marketing software. Your analysis shows a competitor has multiple articles, a webinar, and a downloadable guide all about "email list segmentation strategies." They don't just own one keyword; they own the entire conversation. That’s a massive topic gap you need to fill, likely with a pillar page and supporting cluster content, just to get in the game.

The Underrated Format Gap

Sometimes, the gap isn't about what you're saying but how you're saying it. A format gap pops up when your audience is looking for information in a specific format you don't offer. Your competitors could be winning simply because they're matching user intent with more engaging or useful content types.

Are you still just writing blog posts while your competition is crushing it with interactive quizzes, video tutorials, or detailed case studies? That’s a format gap, and it can be just as damaging as a keyword gap.

Keep an eye out for these common format gaps:

Video Content: A competitor has a killer YouTube series that simplifies complex topics in your niche.

Interactive Tools: Another site offers a free calculator or template that’s a magnet for backlinks and leads.

Podcasts: They host an industry podcast, building a loyal following and positioning themselves as thought leaders.

Your template will help you spot these when you analyze the top-ranking URLs for your target keywords. If you consistently see YouTube videos, interactive landing pages, or PDF downloads outranking standard blog posts, that’s a neon sign pointing to a format gap you need to address.

The Critical Funnel Gap

Finally, we have the funnel gap. This happens when you’re missing content that supports users at a specific stage of their buyer's journey. A complete content strategy needs to guide people from the moment they realize they have a problem all the way to the point they’re ready to buy.

If all your content is top-of-funnel (think: "what is content marketing?"), you're leaving money on the table. You're completely missing the folks who are ready to make a decision and are searching for bottom-of-funnel terms (like: "Outrank vs competitor pricing").

Use your analysis to bucket keyword opportunities by their place in the funnel:

Top of Funnel (Awareness): High-volume, informational keywords (e.g., "how to," "what is").

Middle of Funnel (Consideration): Comparison keywords, "best of" lists, and solution-focused terms (e.g., "best project management tools").

Bottom of Funnel (Decision): Branded searches, pricing queries, and validation content (e.g., "Outrank case studies").

A solid analysis can spit out an overwhelming number of keywords—it's not wild for tools to show over 100,000 keywords that competitors rank for and you don't. By filtering this data through the lens of these different gap types, you can zero in on high-volume, low-competition terms that statistically have a 30-40% higher chance of hitting page one. Filling these different gaps ensures your entire content engine is firing on all cylinders.

Turning Your Findings Into an Action Plan

An analysis is only as good as the action it inspires. You've just spent hours using the content gap analysis template to dig up data, sift through opportunities, and cherry-pick your targets. Now comes the fun part: turning that spreadsheet into an actual, high-impact content roadmap.

This is where the rubber meets the road. A prioritized list of keywords is just potential energy. The real magic happens when you transform it into pillar pages, detailed content briefs, and a publishing schedule that drives real results.

Group Keywords Into Topic Clusters

Instead of just chasing individual keywords, it’s time to think bigger. Today, the most effective SEO strategies are built around topic clusters. This is all about grouping related keywords from your analysis around a single, high-level theme.

Let's say your analysis flagged these individual keyword gaps:

"how to write a content brief"

"content brief template for freelancers"

"what to include in a content brief"

"AI content brief generator"

These shouldn't be four separate, competing blog posts. That’s an old-school approach. Instead, they all belong to one powerful topic cluster. Your action plan should earmark one main keyword for a massive "pillar page" and then use the others to guide sections within that page or as supporting "cluster content" articles that link back to it.

This strategy builds your topical authority way faster than just publishing scattered, disconnected articles.

Decide When to Update vs Create New Content

Not every gap you find needs a brand-new page from scratch. Your template likely pointed out keywords where you already have a page that’s just not cutting it. This brings you to the classic "update vs. create" crossroads.

Here's a simple way to think about it:

Update an existing page if: The page is already ranking (even if it's on page 2 or 3) for related terms, it has some backlinks pointing to it, and its core topic is a dead-on match for the new keywords. Refreshing existing content has been shown to boost traffic while slashing production costs by over 80%.

Create a new page if: You have zero content on the topic, the keyword represents a totally new subject for your site, or the current page is so old or off-target that a simple refresh won't be enough to save it.

For instance, if you have a post on "SEO competitor analysis" and find a gap for "technical SEO competitor audit," that’s a perfect candidate for an update. You can learn more about building a strong foundation in our guide on how to do SEO competitor analysis.

Craft Detailed and Effective Content Briefs

Once you’ve made the call—update or create—the next move is to build a world-class content brief. Just tossing a keyword and a word count at a writer is a recipe for generic content that will never see the first page of Google.

A solid brief is your blueprint for success. It takes all the juicy insights from your analysis and translates them into crystal-clear instructions.

Your content briefs should always include:

Primary and Secondary Keywords: List the main target keyword along with all the related cluster keywords you found.

Search Intent: Be explicit about what the user wants. Are they looking for a quick definition, a step-by-step guide, or a product comparison?

Key Topics and Subheadings: Outline the must-have sections for the article, pulling ideas directly from the top-ranking competitor pages.

Internal Linking Opportunities: Provide a list of relevant pages on your own site that you should link to from this new content.

Competitor URLs: Give your writer links to the top 3-5 ranking articles. This lets them see what’s already winning and figure out how to beat it.

This level of detail ensures the final piece of content is engineered to fill the gap you found and outmaneuver the competition from day one. All your hard work culminates here, creating a clear roadmap your whole team can rally behind.

Got Questions About Content Gap Analysis?

Even with the best template in hand, it's totally normal to hit a few snags. Let's walk through some of the most common questions I hear, the ones that tend to trip people up when they're in the middle of the process.

Most people get stuck on one of two things: who to actually analyze, or what on earth to do with the mountain of data they’ve just uncovered.

How Many Competitors Should I Actually Analyze?

This is a classic. It’s so tempting to plug five, ten, or even more competitors into your favorite SEO tool, thinking more data is always better. Trust me, it's not. That approach almost always creates a noisy, overwhelming dataset that’s impossible to make sense of.

My advice? Start small and be strategic.

Pick 2-3 of your true SEO competitors. These are the sites that consistently show up for the keywords you desperately want to rank for—they might not even be your biggest business rivals.

When you analyze a smaller, more relevant group, you get a much cleaner signal. You’ll end up with a high-quality list of keyword gaps without having to sift through thousands of irrelevant terms from a company that only partially overlaps with what you do.

You can always run another analysis later if you want to explore a different corner of the market. But for your main strategic push, keep it tight.

What If I Have Way Too Many Keywords?

So, you did the thing. You ran the analysis, and now your tool is proudly showing you a list of 50,000 keyword gaps. What now? Staring at a spreadsheet that large is enough to make anyone want to just close their laptop and walk away.

Don't panic. This is where aggressive filtering becomes your best friend.

Your very first step is to be ruthless. Chop that list down to size. You can use these filters right inside your SEO tool or in your spreadsheet:

Keyword Difficulty (KD): Immediately filter for the low-hanging fruit. I like to set a maximum KD of 30 as a starting point.

Search Volume: Get rid of the ultra-niche terms that won’t move the needle. Filter for keywords with a minimum monthly search volume of at least 20.

Exclude Branded Terms: This one’s a no-brainer. Make sure you filter out any keywords that include your competitors' brand names.

These simple filters can easily shrink your list by 90% or more. Suddenly, you're left with a much more manageable and high-potential set of keywords to actually work with. Remember, the goal isn't to find every possible gap—it's to find the best ones.

Ready to stop guessing and start ranking? Outrank provides the AI-powered tools you need to conduct a smarter content gap analysis, generate SEO-optimized articles, and publish content that drives real organic traffic. Get started and build your content roadmap with Outrank today.