Keyword Gap 2.0 (BETA)

Please note: Keyword Gap 2.0 is currently in beta. You may see differences between this guide and the tool itself as we continue to quickly update and evolve the tool prior to general release. Unsure what a beta is and what it means for Moz tools? Be sure to check out our What is a Beta page.

In this guide, you’ll learn more about the Keyword Gap tool in the Competitive Research section of Moz Pro.

Quick Links

• Getting Started

• Site Overview

• Competitor Overlap

• Ranking Distribution

• Keywords Rankings Table

The Keyword Gap tool within Competitive Research allows you to compare your domain against your competitors to pinpoint gaps and opportunities for rankings, content creation, and more.

To get started:

1. Click Keyword Gap from the Competitive Research section of Moz Pro

2. Enter your domain

3. Select whether you like to see results for a Domain, Subdomain or Subfolder

4. Enter up to 3 competitor domains, subdomains or subfolders to compare

5. Select the domain type for your competitor

6. Select your preferred market

7. Click Analyze Competitors

After clicking Analyze Competitors, the Competitor Overview module will populate with information regarding the ranking keywords for each site entered, giving you a high-level overview.

1. Site — The URL for the site entered for comparison

2. Ranking Keywords — The site is ranking within the top 50 search results for this many keywords 

3. Top Positions #1-3 — The number of Ranking Keywords where this site is ranking in the top 3 search results

4. Top Positions #4-10  — The number of Ranking Keywords where this site is ranking in positions 4 through 10

5. Page Authority — A Moz proprietary metric from 1-100 that predicts how well a page will rank in Google based on a machine learning algorithm of link metrics.

6. Domain Authority  — A Moz proprietary metric from 1-100 that predicts how well a domain will rank in Google based on a machine learning algorithm of link metrics.

The Competitor Overlap chart offers a visual representation of how the entered sites’ ranking keywords overlap.

Hover over any part of the chart to see more information about any section. 

Use the checkboxes to the right to select specific competitors to highlight on the graph. The Shared Keywords count will update to show you the number of keywords the selected sites have in common and provide a few examples of the top keywords.

You also have the option to click any overlap in the chart to update the selected sites. 

There is also an option to view the Ranking Distribution tab, which displays a visual representation of where in the top 50 results the ranking keywords for each site fall. Each site entered will be represented by a different color. Hover over the graph to see more information.

You can remove a site from the graph by clicking it in the key below. Alternatively, you can click the three dots at the top right to export the graph.

The Keyword Rankings table will help you identify areas for improvement on your competitors’ most prominent ranking keywords. You will be able to view their top keywords that you also rank for and the keywords they rank for but you don’t.

There are four primary views for the Keyword Rankings table.

• Keywords to improve — The keywords where your competitor is outranking you and you rank within the positions 2-20. 

• New keywords opportunities — The keywords where your competitor is ranking but you aren’t.

• Winning keywords — The keyword where you are outranking your competitors.

• All ranking keywords — The full list of ranking keywords for all the entered sites. 

Regardless of which view you choose, the following data will be included in the table:

1. Keyword — The ranking keyword for the sites queried.

2. Traffic Lift — The estimated amount of traffic you can expect to gain by outranking your competitor for this keyword. Please note: this metric will not be included in the table when viewing Winning Keywords because you are already ranking higher than your competitors.

3. Monthly Volume — The number of searches for that keyword for any given month. This is often thought of as an indication of demand for that keyword.

4. Difficulty — Shows you how hard it would be to rank in the top 10 positions in the SERP for this keyword.

5. Your Rank — Where your site is ranking in the SERP for this keyword.

6. Competitor Rank — Where your competitor(s) are ranking in the SERP for this keyword.

7. SERP Analysis — A link to view the SERP Analysis for this keyword. 

Within the table: 

• Click any keyword to be taken to Keyword Explorer. 

• Click the arrow in the rank columns to see a site's ranking URL. If a site has multiple pages ranking for the given keyword, they will be listed here with the associated rank.

• Easily spot who is ranking highest for any keyword using the Crown marker.

You also have the option to further filter the table results using the Filters at the top right. The following filters are available within the Keyword Rankings table:

• Keyword

• Traffic Lift

• Volume

• Difficult Score

• Your Ranking

• Your Competitor’s ranking

If you’ve identified keywords that you may want to target, you can add them to a Campaign or a Keyword List. To do so:

1. Check the boxes on the left for the keywords you’d like to track

2. Click Add to Campaign or Add to Keyword List at the top of the table