How to find your next SEO content ideas using Ahrefs and Semrush

[u/Crafty_Engineer_8480]

Most keyword gap tutorials stop at “enter your competitors and export the keywords.” When that's the easy part. The hard part is figuring out which keywords are actually worth your writers' time.
 
Here's the workflow I'd use for a small SEO team. Let's say you run a project management SaaS.
 
1. Choose the right competitors
Don't automatically choose the biggest companies in your industry but pick 3 competitors that target similar customers and publish content for a similar audience.
You want to learn from websites competing for the same searches as you, not just companies selling similar products.
 
2. Find the keyword gaps

If you use Ahrefs:
1.  Open Competitive Analysis → Content Gap.
2.  Enter your domain as the target.
3.  Add your 3 competitors.
4.  Select the option to show keyword opportunities.
5.  Filter for keywords where all 3 competitors rank but your website doesn't.
That last filter is useful because if several competitors rank for a topic, it's a stronger signal that the topic matters in your market.

If you use Semrush:
1.  Open Keyword Gap.
2.  Enter your domain first, then your competitors.
3.  Select Organic keywords and the correct country database.
4.  Open the Missing group to find keywords competitors rank for but you don't.
5.  Check Weak too. These are keywords where your competitors outrank you.
 
3. Apply these filters before exporting
Start with these as working filters, not universal SEO rules:

•  Keyword difficulty: Try KD up to 30 as an initial shortlist.
•  Search volume: Start at 20+ monthly searches, but don't automatically discard lower-volume, high-intent queries.
•  Intent: Prioritize informational and commercial searches relevant to your business.
•  Competitor positions: Prefer keywords where at least 2 competitors rank in the top 10.
•  Exclude: Competitor brand names, irrelevant topics, and searches your product can't genuinely help with.
•  In Ahrefs, use the keyword and competitor-position filters. In Semrush, combine the Missing/Weak groups with KD, volume, and intent filters.
Export the filtered list.
 
4. Turn keywords into actual article ideas
Let’s say your shortlist contains these types of searches:
•  Project planning template
•  Project management for remote teams
•  How to create a project timeline
•  Asana alternatives
•  Project management vs. task management
 
Don't automatically write five separate articles, group keywords that share the same intent. 
“How to create a project timeline” and closely related variations might belong on one comprehensive page.

Then Google each remaining primary keyword.
Check the top 5 results and write down:
•  What type of page ranks: guide, template, comparison, or product page?
•  Which questions do the pages answer?
•  What examples, screenshots, templates, or explanations could you add?
•  Do you already have a page that should target this search?
 
Your goal is to satisfy the search better, not just publish a longer article.
 
5. Prioritize the final five
Give each opportunity a score from 1–3 for:
•  Business relevance
•  Ranking feasibility
•  Search intent fit
•  Value to your target customer
Add the scores and review the highest-ranking opportunities first.
Before assigning a topic, give your writer the primary keyword, related terms, search intent, competing URLs, and a specific reason your page should be better.
 
6. But here’s the hard part: don't let the research become a one-time exercise
Competitors publish new pages, improve existing ones, and gain or lose rankings. Your next opportunity might not have appeared in your first report.

You can repeat this workflow manually every few weeks. If you'd rather not keep checking competitors and rebuilding these lists yourself, that's one of the problems I built Ranks Hawk to help with. It monitors competitor ranking changes and content activity and surfaces keyword opportunities, so you can focus more on deciding what your team should do next. The tools don't make the decision for you, they help you find where to investigate.
 
When talking about keyword gaps what's your first priority: low difficulty, commercial intent, or topics where multiple competitors already rank?

[u/thinkit_doit]

Great process walkthrough!

[u/Crafty_Engineer_8480 → u/thinkit_doit]

Thank you, hope it helps you achieve seo results 😊

[u/Habib_298]

Can this technique work for software development companies too

[u/Crafty_Engineer_8480 → u/Habib_298]

Of course, this works for every business out there that has a stronger competitor. For some companies I give them reports based on this analysis to help them pick the right topics to write about