As a digital marketer who lives and breathes SEO, I’m constantly looking for tools and techniques that can give websites a competitive edge in search engine rankings. One of my favorite features in Ahrefs—and a somewhat underrated one, I might add—is the Content Gap tool. If you’ve ever wondered how to quickly spot keyword opportunities your competitors are capitalizing on but you’re not, this tool is your secret weapon.
What Is Ahrefs’ Content Gap Tool?
For those unfamiliar, Ahrefs is a powerhouse of an SEO toolset, and the Content Gap feature is specifically designed to identify keywords that your competitors are ranking for but your website isn’t. In other words, it highlights the visibility “gaps” you have in comparison to your competition.
This tool isn’t just for spying—it’s for strategizing. By knowing what content, topics, and keywords are working for others in your niche, you can refine your content strategy and create high-impact pages that fill those voids. And if you’re anything like me, constantly trying to work smarter (not just harder), this approach saves you time, improves traffic quality, and helps achieve tangible SEO gains.
Why You Should Use This Tool
Even though organic search is a long game, laser-focusing your content strategy around proven opportunities shortens that curve. Here's why I personally use the Content Gap tool nearly every week:
- It reveals missed opportunities: It’s incredibly valuable to know what keywords your competitors rank for that you don't even target yet.
- It helps avoid content duplication: Instead of blindly copying what competitors are doing, you can find complementary areas to cover and make your content stand out.
- It supports smarter content planning: Especially useful if you're running a content calendar and need new keyword-focused post ideas.
- It identifies long-tail wins: Many of the hidden gems you'll find are long-tail keywords with lower competition but high intent.
How I Personally Use the Tool
Let me walk you through how I use the Content Gap tool for my own projects, including for SEO Actu. Follow these steps, and you’ll see how intuitive and powerful it can be.
Step 1: Define the Right Competitors
The first move is to identify your real SEO competitors. These aren’t necessarily businesses you compete with in real life—they’re websites that rank for the same keywords you’re targeting. For SEO Actu, I might input sites like Moz.com, SearchEngineJournal.com, or NeilPatel.com, depending on the topic.
I usually plug in 3-5 competitor URLs into Ahrefs’ Content Gap tool, making sure they're more established or high-ranking in the same niche. The more aligned their content is with yours, the better the results will be.
Step 2: Use the Tool in Site Explorer
Navigate to Ahrefs’ Site Explorer and enter your domain. From the left-hand navigation, select “Content Gap” under the Organic Search section.
This is where the magic happens: enter the domains of your SEO competitors into the “Show keywords that the below targets rank for” section, and leave the “But the following target doesn't rank for” field filled with your website’s domain.
Click “Show keywords” and voilà—you’ll see a list of keywords they rank for and you don’t.
Step 3: Filter and Prioritize
Now comes the crucial step—sorting the data. What you’re looking for here is actionable keyword opportunities. I typically use the following filters:
- Keyword Difficulty (KD): Less than 30 if you’re a newer site, under 20 if you’re just starting out.
- Search Volume: Aim for keywords with at least 100+ monthly searches, balancing effort and return.
- Traffic Potential: Focus on terms that have transactional or informational intent, depending on your goals.
Once filtered, take time to review each keyword carefully. Don’t just go for volume—prioritize based on relevance and opportunity. The goal isn't to copy your competitors, but to tap into their data insights and create even better, more targeted content.
Examples of How I Apply This at SEO Actu
Let me give you a real-world example. During a content audit for SEO Actu, I noticed that some competitors rank for "AI SEO tools", "keyword clustering strategies", and "zero-click searches". I hadn’t published in-depth content on those yet. With the help of the Content Gap tool, I planned out three new articles around these keywords—all optimized with long-tail versions and structured data.
Not only did that drive more targeted traffic, but some pages got indexed and ranked within a few days—especially the article on “Google’s SGE impact on CTR,” which appeared on page two within a week simply because it filled an information gap not many sites had covered yet.
Bonus Tip: Use It for E-Commerce Sites Too
This isn’t just for blogs or informational websites. If you run an e-commerce business, this tool can unearth product-related keywords and category-level terms your competitors are ranking for. It’s ideal for finding product comparisons, "best of" keywords, or category modifiers like “cheap,” “best-rated,” or “UK shipping.”
I once helped an online jewelry brand discover high-converting keyword gaps such as "eco-friendly gold rings" and "conflict-free engagement rings UK.” Those keywords were ranking high on competing Shopify and WooCommerce stores, but they hadn’t even been included in this site’s content or metadata. After optimizing for them, they saw a 70% uplift in organic traffic over the next quarter.
Final Thoughts on Incorporating It Into Your Workflow
Use the data you find to build a keyword mapping document. Assign each keyword or cluster to a particular page or blog post, and track progress regularly. This kind of structured optimization keeps your site scalable, consistent, and targeted.
If you’re already auditing backlinks, optimizing content, or doing weekly rank checks, squeeze in 30 minutes with the Content Gap tool—you'll easily identify outperforming URLs and create a prioritized list of content pieces to develop next.
At the end of the day, SEO doesn't have to feel like a guessing game. By using data intelligently—especially competitor data—you can confidently make decisions that improve visibility and bring more qualified traffic. Ahrefs' Content Gap tool has been a cornerstone of this approach for me, and I highly recommend giving it a try if you haven’t already.
