Find keyword families competitors rank for but you don't

Why this matters

Compare your site with three competitors in Search Console to find keyword families you are missing.

Before you start

• Google Search Console access for the site
• A shortlist of 3 main competitors

How to apply it

1. Connect Search Console to the comparison

   Select the Search Console property for the site you are auditing so the keyword comparison runs on your own query data rather than on estimates.

   Check: The analysis shows query rows for your property, for example a 28-day query table with impressions and clicks.

2. Name the three main competitors

   List the three competitor domains whose visibility you want to compare against, using the sites that already appear beside you in the SERPs for your core terms.

   Check: Three competitor domains are listed and each returns ranking keywords in the comparison output.

3. List the keyword families you are absent from

   Run the comparison so it returns every keyword family the competitors rank in the top 10 for and your site does not rank for at all.

   Check: Each returned family has at least one competitor URL in positions 1-10 and no URL from your domain in the results.

4. Add volume, page type and the winning competitor page

   For every family record the monthly search volume, the page type Google currently ranks (collection, product or guide) and the competitor URL that wins it.

   Check: Every row in the list has a volume figure, a page type label and one competitor URL.

5. Sort the families by commercial intent

   Reorder the list so families whose ranking pages are collections and products come first and guide-style families last.

   Check: The top of the sorted list contains only families where Google ranks a collection or product page.

6. Map each family to an existing page or a new collection

   For each family decide whether an existing page or collection can cover it, and mark the rest as needing a new collection; a gap that an existing page half-covers usually means a title and content fix, not a new URL.

   Check: Each family in the sorted list has either an existing URL or a planned new collection URL assigned to it, with no two families pointing at the same page type and term.

7. Track the new or fixed pages after publishing General best practice

   Publish the pages in priority order, then monitor indexation and impressions for the new URLs so families that fail to gain visibility are caught early.

   Check: Search Console Pages reports the new URL as Indexed and the Performance report shows impressions for the target family.

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Source: @nicholasdulait on 2026-10-15 · original post · report an error