Content gap analysis
A content gap analysis compares what your website currently covers against what your buyers search for and what competitors already publish, in order to identify the pages you are missing rather than the pages you should rewrite.
In practice
It is the counterpart to a content inventory, and the two get confused. An inventory catalogues what you have: every URL, its purpose, its traffic, its last update. A gap analysis is about what is absent. You need the inventory first, because you cannot identify what is missing from a set you have not listed, but the inventory alone will never tell you about the page you never wrote.
Gaps come in three kinds and it is worth separating them, because each has a different fix. A topic gap is a subject you do not cover at all. An intent gap is a subject you cover in the wrong form, such as answering a buying question with a blog essay when the searcher wanted a specification or a price. A depth gap is a page that exists and is too thin to compete with what already ranks. Most companies assume they have topic gaps and actually have depth gaps.
The cheapest version of this analysis needs no tooling at all. Ask your sales team for the last ten questions a prospect asked them before signing. Search each one. Note whether you have a page that answers it and where that page ranks. Questions your own salespeople answer weekly, with no corresponding page on your site, are the highest-confidence gaps you will ever find, because you already know a buyer with money asked them.
The competitive version adds a second pass: list the four or five companies that show up when you search your main commercial terms, and note what they publish that you do not. The useful output is not a list of their pages to copy. It is the pattern underneath, such as noticing that every competitor has a page per product line or per certification and you have one combined page.
The step that gets skipped is deciding what not to fill. A gap is only worth closing if the people searching for it could plausibly buy from you. Terms that attract students, job seekers or your customers' customers will produce traffic and no quote requests, and a gap analysis that ranks purely by search volume will send you straight at them. Judge each gap on who is searching, not how many.
For the wider assessment this sits inside, see website audit, and our SEO services page for how we run it.
Common questions
What is a content gap analysis?
A comparison between what your website covers and what your buyers search for and competitors publish, done to find pages you are missing. It is forward-looking, where a content inventory catalogues what already exists.
How is a content gap analysis different from a content inventory?
An inventory lists what you have: every URL, its purpose, its performance. A gap analysis identifies what is absent. You run the inventory first because you cannot spot what is missing from a set you have not catalogued.
How do I run a content gap analysis without tools?
Ask your sales team for the last ten questions prospects asked before signing, search each one, and note whether you have a page that answers it. Questions your salespeople answer weekly with no page behind them are the highest-confidence gaps available.
What are the three types of content gap?
Topic gaps, where you do not cover the subject at all. Intent gaps, where you cover it in the wrong form, such as answering a pricing question with an essay. Depth gaps, where the page exists but is too thin to compete. Most companies assume topic gaps and actually have depth gaps.
Should we fill every content gap we find?
No. A gap is worth closing only if the people searching for it could plausibly buy from you. Ranking gaps by search volume alone points you at terms that attract students, job seekers and your customers' customers, which produces traffic and no quote requests.