Đoàn Lê Minh Anh
What topics are driving traffic to your competitors that your website hasn’t covered? Ahrefs Content Gap helps answer that question by comparing keywords other websites rank for with your own keyword profile. It’s a useful starting point for uncovering content gaps instead of choosing topics based on guesswork alone.
In this article, you’ll learn how to set up a report, filter and assess keywords, and turn the data into an actionable content plan. The result isn’t just a long list of keywords, but a set of opportunities that fit your business goals, website capabilities, and customers’ search needs.
What is Ahrefs Content Gap, and what are its benefits?
Content Gap is Ahrefs’ keyword gap analysis feature. It compares your website’s ranking performance with one or more competitor websites, then shows terms for which competitors rank but you don’t. Depending on how you configure it, the report can also reveal keywords where your website ranks lower than your competitors.
For example, an accounting software company might find that competitors appear in search results for queries about preparing tax reports, accounting software for small businesses, or invoice management processes. If the website doesn’t yet have content that meets these needs, that’s a signal to consider covering the topics—not proof that you should immediately write a separate article for every keyword.
The main value of Ahrefs Content Gap is that it shortens the research process. Instead of starting with a broad topic and guessing what customers might search for, businesses can use actual ranking data to build an initial list of ideas. The report can also reveal how competitors organize their content, which topics they cover well, and which search queries are worth investigating further.
Prepare before running a report
The quality of the results depends heavily on your choice of comparison websites. Before opening the report, define your business scope, target audience, and the type of page you want to analyze. If your website sells multiple product lines, you could focus on a specific category or directory rather than comparing entire domains.
- Choose the right search competitors: Prioritize websites competing for the same products, services, or search needs. A direct business competitor isn’t necessarily an SEO competitor; a news site or industry blog may also hold important rankings.
- Prepare several competitors: Choose around three to five websites with relevant content. Comparing multiple sources reduces the influence of niche topics or business models that aren’t a close match.
- Choose an appropriate scope: In Ahrefs, you can compare domains, subdomains, URL prefixes, or specific URLs. Use the same type of scope for each website so the results are easier to interpret.
- Check the market and language: Make sure the report targets the country, region, and market your business wants to reach. A useful keyword in another market may not reflect demand in Vietnam.
If your website is new and has few rankings, the report may return a large number of keywords or overly broad results. In that case, choose competitors closely aligned with a specific service and limit the analysis to the relevant directory. For larger websites, divide research by product group, audience, or topic to make the data easier to manage.
How to use Content Gap to find competitor keywords
In Ahrefs, open Site Explorer and enter your website’s domain or URL scope. Find the Content Gap report under the organic keyword analysis tools. The menu name or interface may change between versions, but the core process remains the same: enter your website, add competitor websites, and select the scope for comparison.
- Enter the website you want to analyze: Decide whether you’re reviewing the entire website or a specific section. If you want to assess the same category, avoid comparing one of your product pages with a competitor’s entire domain.
- Add competitors: Enter the domains or URLs of the websites you selected. If your competitors differ too much, run separate analyses to avoid mixing unrelated topic groups.
- Set keyword conditions: The report usually lets you specify how many competitors must rank for a keyword while your website has no ranking. To prioritize topics covered by several competitors, increase the number of required competitors; to broaden your ideas, lower the threshold and review the results more carefully.
- Run the report and review the results: Check the keywords, each website’s rankings, estimated search volume, and other available metrics. Sort or filter by data relevant to your goals, but don’t treat any single metric as the final basis for a decision.
- Save and export the data: Flag ideas worth considering or export the table for classification. Record the ranking website, corresponding URL, and key metrics to make content assessment easier.
When setting the conditions, don’t assume that every keyword a competitor ranks for represents a gap you need to fill. A query may not fit your products, may fall outside your service area, or may have a different search intent. The report is a tool for discovering opportunities; deciding whether to pursue them requires combining the data with customer insight and business strategy.
Filter and prioritize content opportunities
Once you have the list, the most important task is to turn raw data into actionable opportunities. Ahrefs Content Gap can produce a large number of results with overlapping intent or an overly broad scope. Group keywords by topic and search intent before deciding whether to write an article, create a service page, or improve an existing page.
Assess relevance and search intent
Read each query as a customer would, then determine whether they want to learn, compare options, or buy a product. Informational keywords often suit how-to articles or FAQ pages; comparison queries may call for comparison pages; and transactional keywords usually need clear product or service pages. Open the competitor pages that rank to check which content formats Google favors.
Consider competitiveness and business value
Estimated search volume helps indicate the scale of demand, but it doesn’t guarantee actual traffic. Consider keyword difficulty, the quality and depth of pages currently ranking, your website’s current authority, and your ability to create better content. A keyword with moderate search volume that closely relates to your core service may be a better priority than a broad, high-volume topic with little potential to convert.
You can score each opportunity against criteria such as revenue relevance, search-intent fit, competitiveness, resources required, and potential to link to existing pages. Then sort them into three groups: act soon, research further, and not a fit. This simple approach helps your team focus instead of chasing keyword volume.
Turn a keyword list into a content plan
Once you’ve selected an opportunity, identify the right page before assigning the writing task. If your website already has a page that closely addresses the topic, updating and expanding it may be more effective than creating a new URL. If the query reflects a distinct need that your website doesn’t yet address, create new content with a clear goal and format.
- Group keywords with the same intent: One comprehensive article may cover several variations. Creating a separate page for every closely related cluster can result in repetitive content and pages competing with one another.
- Define the content structure: Use customer questions, search results, and gaps in competitors’ content to build an outline. Don’t copy competitors’ titles or presentation.
- Connect content to the customer journey: Add calls to action, relevant product information, and internal links to related pages. Useful content should help readers take the next step, not just attract traffic.
- Set tracking metrics: Track keyword rankings, organic traffic, engagement, and conversions after publication. Evaluate performance over a period that reflects the level of competition and how quickly your website is updated.
LilyTech can help businesses combine keyword research with website architecture, content strategy, and conversion goals. During implementation, the team responsible should record why a topic was selected, its keyword group, the intended landing page, and who will maintain it. This process turns report data into specific tasks instead of leaving it in a spreadsheet.
Conclusion: Find content gaps strategically
Ahrefs Content Gap helps businesses discover queries that competitors rank for but their own websites haven’t targeted. To turn those findings into results, choose the right competitors, set an appropriate comparison scope, assess search intent, and prioritize opportunities based on their relevance to customers. Treat each keyword as a hypothesis to validate, not as a requirement to write an article.
If you need to build a keyword research process and content plan aligned with your growth goals, contact LilyTech for advice. Our team can help you assess gaps on your website, set priorities, and recommend an approach that fits your business resources.
