How to find topics your competitors already own

A content gap analysis helps you uncover content opportunities based on evidence rather than assumptions. The core idea is simple, your competitors rank for topics and keywords that you don’t currently cover well, or don’t cover at all. When you identify these gaps, you can build a content plan that targets proven demand, and expand into topics that already drive traffic in your niche.

Where the best gap insights come from

Your own data should always be your starting point. Search Console shows what Google already associates with your site, including queries where you get impressions but rank too low to earn clicks. From there, you compare that footprint against competitor topics to find gaps worth prioritizing.

Good sources for content gap insights include,

• Google Search Console, for queries you appear for but underperform on

• Existing landing pages and blog content, to spot thin coverage or missing intent

• Competitor pages that rank consistently, especially those dominating topic clusters

• SERP patterns, such as “how-to”, “pricing”, “comparison”, “best”, and “near me” intents

How to turn gaps into a simple, repeatable plan

Once you have your gap list, the key is to organize it into something actionable. The fastest results usually come from improving content that already exists, then expanding high-performing pages, and only after that building entirely new pages where you have no coverage.

A practical way to prioritize content gaps is,

• Quick wins, pages that rank on page 2 and only need better completeness or structure

• Expansions, strong pages that need additional sections, FAQs, or deeper subtopic coverage

• New pages, missing topics that deserve a dedicated page because intent is unique

• Competitive takeovers, topics where competitors rank with weak content you can beat