Keyword Gap Analysis Template

What is a Keyword Gap Analysis Template and Why is it Important?

Keyword gap analysis is a process of comparing your website’s performance with that of your competitors to find high-quality keywords to target. It’s also known as a content gap analysis or competitor keyword analysis.

Competitors who rank higher than you get more visibility, traffic, and ultimately more leads and conversions. With a solid SEO strategy that includes a keyword gap analysis, you can have a competitive edge.

A keyword gap analysis template provides a worksheet to help you analyze all the relevant data from a single location and optimize your findings.

This way, you’ll be able to discover untapped niches from where you can get targeted traffic that will lead to better conversion rates.

Other reasons you should use a keyword gap analysis template include:

• Formulate a high-quality list of target keywords, to create new content/improve existing low-ranking content.
• Create a comprehensive competitor keyword analysis report, with a well-organized structure and details.
• Help you identify new keyword optimization strategies that are already working out well for your competitors.
• Help you identify keyword gaps in paid content so you can combine paid and organic search strategies.

These are just some of the many benefits of using a keyword gap analysis template. The biggest of which is that it makes your job easier.

What’s Included in a Keyword Gap Analysis Template?

Our keyword gap analysis template can help you analyze your keyword data in greater detail than you would with applications like Google Analytics. It also makes things easier for you.

It includes a master spreadsheet with the following items:

• Keyword volume to help you sort the keywords based on how popular they are. Keywords with an extremely high monthly search volume are typically more difficult to rank for.
• A column with a list of organic keywords you can filter through. This helps you analyze the short-tail and long-tail keywords you’re targeting and identify gaps in Google searches that you can fill.
• A CPC column to track your keywords for paid searches. This is useful is you intend to run paid search advertising campaigns.
• A funnel stage column to help you sort keywords that target customers at different stages of their buying journey.

You can bring data from different sources and explore them side-by-side using this template for better insights. This template provides you with an easy way to compare and shortlist keywords to target.

How to Perform an In-Depth Keyword Gap Analysis

Performing a keyword gap analysis can be daunting especially since there are lots of moving parts. However, with a keyword gap analysis template, you can easily keep track of all your keyword data, competitor information, and more.

To make the most of our free template, you’ll need to know your competitors, how to get their data, how to perform keyword research, etc.

Here’s some handy information you’ll need going in.

1. Create a List of Competitors

First, you’ll need a list of at least three of your competitors. You can include your direct competitors, i.e. the ones who provide the same product as you,  or SEO competitors, i.e. those who rank for the same keywords you’re targeting.

Here’s how to find your competitors if you don’t already know who they are.

• Find industry competitors from social media forums, by interviewing your customers, etc.
• Conduct a simple Google search for a few of your target keywords and take note of the businesses that rank the highest.
• Use SEO reporting tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to identify the websites that are ranking for certain keywords.
• Hire an SEO expert or agency to do the keyword research and competitor analysis on your behalf.

2. Choose an Appropriate SEO Tool

You’ll need an SEO tool to perform effective competitive keyword analysis. These tools make uncovering keyword opportunities easier. Luckily, numerous SEO tools in the market offer free plans in case you’re operating on a tight budget.

Here’s why you need a keyword gap tool:

• You’ll get instantaneous comparison SEO reports and save time
• Your CPC and SEO teams will know which keywords to prioritize
• The tools help you understand your audience’s interests better
• Some tools help you generate fresh content ideas for your website

3. Get a Keyword List

It’s easy to generate a list of organic keywords using an SEO tool if you decide to get one. You can then compare the keywords that your competitors rank for against your own. Good tools will include details that will help you pick what to target.

Such details include:

• Keyword search volume: This shows the average number of times a word or phrase is searched for in a given period.
• Keyword difficulty: This is a metric to show how much how difficult it would be for your content to rank for a certain keyword.
• Competitive density: In the case of paid search ads, this is the total number of advertisers competing for a specific keyword rated from 0 to 1.

4. Analyze Your Keywords

Once you have your list of keywords you’ll now need to determine which ones you can realistically rank for. To analyze your keywords better and easily filter through the data, it’s best to move your list of keywords into a keyword gap analysis template.

Here’e how to find the best keyword gaps in your list:

• Select keywords that you can easily create content for or use to optimize existing content.
• For high-value keywords, it’s best to avoid those that are highly competitive and difficult to rank for.
• Choose target keywords that are highly relevant to your business or website visitors.
• Check the search volume as this helps you identify keywords your audience searches for the most.

5. Conduct a Page-by-Page Analysis

Analyze your competitors’ top-ranking content to determine what they’re doing right. Then, you can identify what’s missing on your end and try to replicate it.

Here’s how you can use information from your page-based analysis.

• Use it to improve existing content to rank higher
• Optimize for location-based keywords
• Create new content targeting new keywords

6. Create and Optimize Content

This is where you put your keyword gap analysis into action. You should aim to generate high-quality, keyword-optimized content to meet the search intent of your audience.

Some tips to help you optimize your content include:

• Take note of the type of content that is ranking, e.g video or blog content
• Add keywords to headers, meta titles, images, URLs, and text
• Use variations of your primary keyword to avoid keyword stuffing
• Make sure the length and structure of your content match what’s ranking

7. Measure the Results

Finally, you’ll need to track and measure the results to evaluate how your keyword gap analysis has affected your organic search visibility and rankings. This should be an ongoing process for every SEO marketer.

This includes activities like:

• Tracking your key metrics like conversion rates and comparing those to your past performance metrics and those of your competitors.
• Monitor your content formats, headings, and structures to determine which approach produces better results
• Updating your keyword gap analysis worksheet regularly to make the required adjustments based on your current performance.

Who is This Keyword Gap Analysis Template For?

You can consolidate and analyze your keyword data for your company or your clients using our keyword gap analysis template.

This template is useful for:

• Digital marketing managers and their teams trying to find the right keywords to create content that ranks high on SERP and gets more organic traffic.
• Marketing agencies and consultants who want to review their client’s keyword gaps and help them improve their SEO performance.
• Small businesses that need an easy-to-use free template to help them boost their SEO keyword strategy, without investing in costly tools.

How To Use this Free Keyword Gap Analysis Template

Here is how to use our keyword gap analysis template:

• Download the free keyword gap analysis template using one of the call-to-action buttons on this page.
• Import your competitor information and keyword list from your SEO tool, if you’re using one. If not, add your list of keywords manually from your research.
• Compile all your keywords into one list and filter them out for relevance. Sort your data alphabetically to make it easy to remove irrelevant phrases and duplicates.
• Create a keyword group column to group your keyword phrases by relevance, e.g. highly relevant or low priority.

FAQs

Q1. How to do a keyword gap analysis?

Here’s the process you can follow to do a keyword gap analysis:

1. Create a list of your competitors: The first thing is to make a list of 2-3 competitors. They can be either your direct industry competitors or your SEO competitors, i.e. those ranking for the same keywords as you.
2. Choose an appropriate SEO tool: You’ll need an SEO tool to perform in-depth keyword gap analysis. These tools make uncovering keyword opportunities easier, and some are available for affordable rates.
3. Get a keyword list: Generate a list of keywords using an SEO tool or through  Google search. Do this by comparing the keywords that your competitors rank for against your own.
4. Analyze your keywords: Move your list into our free keyword gap analysis template to analyze them and easily sort and filter the data. Then, use the list to determine which keywords can give you the most value.
5. Conduct a page-by-page analysis: Analyze your competitors’ top-ranking ranking articles to determine what they’re doing right. Then, you can identify what’s missing on your end and try to replicate it.
6. Create and optimize content: This is where you put your keyword gap analysis into action. Create high-quality content optimized with the right keywords and that meets the search intent of your audience.
7. Measure the results: This is an ongoing process for every SEO marketer. Here, you’ll need to track and measure the results to evaluate how your keyword gap analysis has affected your organic search rankings.

Q2. What are the 3 main factors that go into choosing a keyword?

Here are three metrics you should consider:

• Keyword search volume: This is the metric that shows the number of times people search for a keyword within a given time period.
• Keyword difficulty: This is a metric to show how difficult it would be for your content to rank for a certain keyword.
• Competitive density: This refers to the total number of advertisers competing for a specific keyword in the case of paid search.

Q3. What are the key points of keyword gap analysis?

Here are some key points to note when conducting your keyword gap analysis:

• Analyze your current SEO performance to know which areas need improvement.
• Set your SEO goal for how you want your website to rank. Think about your current marketing strategy and how you would like to improve it.
• Compare how your content ranks against that of your competitors to find gaps.
• Create a plan to bridge the gaps you’ve identified.

Q4. What is the main objective of a keyword gap analysis?

The primary goal of keyword gap analysis is to find keywords that your competitors are ranking for and you’re not even targeting. The idea is to target keywords that you know have a high potential as your competitors are already ranking for these keywords.

Q5. What are the benefits of content gap analysis? 

Here’s what you can achieve with a successful content gap analysis.

• Stay ahead of your competitors and set yourself apart as an industry leader
• Save time and resources by targeting keywords that are relevant to your audience.
• Create a better user experience by measuring your content performance, and making data-driven changes to your keyword strategy.

Outrank Your Competitors Using Our Free Keyword Gap Analysis Template

Our free keyword gap analysis template helps you keep track of all your keyword information, making it easy to analyze content gaps and improve your rankings.