Organic search traffic can help to bring a steady stream of high quality traffic to your website day after day. But the only way you can continue to expand your reach is to lean in to the topics your audience are actively looking for.
Identifying content gaps on your website is one way to achieve this. It starts by taking stock of what you currently have on your site and then getting to grips with what your customers are looking for.
You might think you have a grasp on what your customers understand about your business, but this is often far from the truth. Bridging the gap between what you think your customers want to know and what they actually want to know can be challenging, but not impossible.
In this article, we will break down the steps required to identify gaps in your online content. We will then look at how you can fill in these gaps with engaging content that converts.
Step one: take stock
The first step is to look at what you currently have on your website. A content audit is always a great place to start. Perhaps you have articles which could be fleshed out or updated? Or perhaps you have information missing on your services pages? Look at the following sections of your website and ask yourself if everything looks complete:
- Services pages – if you have recently expanded your services, is this reflected in your sitemap?
- Product pages – is everything up-to-date and optimised?
- Case studies – have you published fresh case studies recently?
Step two: revisit your keyword research
Keyword research is not something you can do once and then check it off your list. It’s something that should be treated as an ongoing task. Why? Search intent and search phrases may adapt and evolve over time. Reviewing your keyword research could be the simplest way to reveal content gaps. Keywords that may have offered low search volumes a year ago could now be more popular.
In the B2B sector, you should look for new product brand keywords, changing terminology or new technology. These all have the potential to reveal new keywords and content ideas.
Step three: discover how you appear in search
We’ve written before about the importance of setting up Google Search Console correctly. You can use the Search Queries function to discover how your site appears in search. Even if people don’t click through to your website, you can see which searches your site appears in.
You may discover search terms that are relevant to your business that warrant a landing page. This is your chance to create something that ranks and converts.
Step four: check the competition
Sometimes the easiest way to figure out what you are missing is to see what your competitors are doing. Copying content is obviously a big no-no, so try to put a new spin on things. Taking inspiration from your competitors and then creating something more extensive is actually a very popular content strategy.
Step five: ask your customers
You don’t have to ask directly to get the answers to your questions, your customers might already be telling you what content you are missing. Look through support emails and ask sales staff to share with you the most common customer questions. There are usually a few questions which come up time and time again.
Perhaps you’ve already answered these questions on your website but your customers are struggling to find them. Identifying and filing content gaps is about more than just creating new content, sometimes it’s about adjusting the content that is already there.
Don’t be afraid to try new things
Some of the best content ideas are revealed when you dare to try new things. Be brave, bold and innovative with your content strategy and try to give your audience something of value. Not everything will work, but if you land on something that connects with your audience, this could translate into more traffic and more conversions for months and years to come.
Creating fresh content
We’ve shared a number of articles in the past to help you create the best possible content. Discover these resources below:
First up, let’s take a look at what goes in to create website copy that users AND Google will love.
Using longtail keywords are part of your content strategy can also be hugely beneficial. We share how to do that here.
If you’re not sure how to complete a content audit, we share some tips here.
Building trust is an essential part of the customer journey, and the words you choose on your website matter. Learn how to build trust in the customer journey here.
Want to drive more conversions? We share our tips for lead conversion strategies that actually work.
And finally, we share the content strategies that get results.