Short answer
Choose relevant search competitors. Compare their keywords with your site within the report’s coverage. Check each candidate against your business and the reader’s task. Improve an existing page or create a distinct useful answer.
Steps
- 1Pick real rivalsChoose sites that show up for your keywords, not the biggest name in your industry.
- 2Pull the keywords they rank forExport or look up the organic keywords for each rival domain in your market.
- 3Split into Missing and LosingMissing means they rank and you do not. Losing means you both rank and they are ahead.
- 4Filter by intent and difficultyCheck relevance and the current results. Treat difficulty as an estimate.
- 5Track the ones you act onAssign related keywords to a suitable page. Record changes and track the selected keywords.
Try a page decision
This fictional bike shop offers repairs. It does not offer rentals. Select a keyword.
Improve the service page
Add verified price factors and explain how to request a quote.
Read all example decisions
- bike brake repair cost: Improve the service page. Add verified price factors and explain how to request a quote.
- bike rental near me: Leave this keyword out. This example shop does not rent bikes. The search asks for a service it does not provide.
- how to maintain bike brakes: Consider a separate guide. The reader wants instructions. Write this guide if the shop can provide reliable steps and evidence.
What you will learn
You will use competitor keywords to choose a page improvement. A gap report supplies candidates. You still need to check the reader's task.
Choose relevant search competitors
Search several keywords that matter to your business. Note sites that appear repeatedly in your target market.
A search competitor can be a guide, directory, or business. Choose competitors whose pages help you understand the same customer question.
Use the keyword selection guide if you have not chosen a market or service yet.
Read Missing and Losing
| List | Meaning in the report | Next check |
|---|---|---|
| Missing | The competitor appears within the report's coverage and your site does not | Check whether an existing page already answers the task |
| Losing | Both sites appear, with the competitor ahead | Compare the relevant pages and their intent |
Missing does not prove your site never ranks. Reports have collection dates and coverage limits.
Work through a page decision
Imagine a bike shop that repairs bikes but does not rent them. The following rows are fictional examples.
| Keyword | Gap | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| bike brake repair cost | Missing | Add verified price guidance to the existing repair page |
| bike repair booking | Losing | Check whether the booking instructions answer the task |
| bike rental near me | Missing | Reject because the shop does not provide rentals |
| how to maintain bike brakes | Missing | Consider a separate guide if the shop can provide reliable instructions |
A missing keyword does not always need a new URL. Related questions can fit an existing page.
Check the opportunity
- Confirm that the keyword matches your business.
- Inspect the current results in the target market.
- Identify the page format that answers the task.
- Compare volume and difficulty estimates from the same source.
- Select an existing owner or justify a new page.
- Record the change you plan to make.
Difficulty is an estimate, not a promise. A competitor's traffic estimate is not its private analytics.
Apply the decision in RankMySEO
Save a relevant rival on your site. Open Keyword gap and review the Missing and Losing lists.
Use Track for the keywords you decide to act on. Check the ranking URL as well as its position.
Rank compare helps you compare tracked results with saved rivals. See competitor rank tracking for feature details.
The blog explains how gaps sit beside rank history. This lesson focuses on choosing the page work.
Review after the change
Record the page, keyword, and publication date. Check indexing and relevant query exposure. Review useful visits and customer actions where you can measure them.
Use the content writing guide to build the answer. Use ranking checks for repeatable comparisons.
