If you want it to drive results, you need 2 things:
- A clean way to turn “they rank, you don’t” into prioritised work.
- A 90-day plan that fits real constraints: dev time, content capacity, budget, approvals, and reporting.
This guide walks you through a practical, second-person approach you can run in 90 days, using the same sort of joined-up thinking you’ll see across Insight & Strategy, Organic Marketing, and SEO Performance.
Before you start: define what “gap” actually means
A competitor “gap” is not just a missing keyword. It usually falls into 1 of 5 buckets:
- Coverage gap: they have pages for topics you don’t.
- Intent gap: you have a page, but it’s aimed at the wrong stage (too broad, too salesy, too thin).
- Authority gap: you both cover the topic, but they’re backed by stronger supporting content or links.
- Technical gap: your site structure, internal linking, crawlability, or performance is holding you back.
- Conversion gap: you might rank, but their page turns visits into enquiries better.
In the UK, you’re still largely playing on Google’s pitch (it’s over 90% of search engine market share). That means small advantages in relevance, structure, and trust signals can move the needle quickly.
The 90-day execution plan (with weekly outcomes)
Here’s the key: you’re not “doing competitor research for 90 days”. You’re using competitor insights to ship improvements every week.
Days 1–14: set the baseline and build your gap backlog
Outcome by day 14: a prioritised backlog with owners, effort, and expected impact.
- Benchmark what matters
Pull a baseline for:
- Organic clicks and conversions (not just rankings)
- Top landing pages from organic
- Branded vs non-branded split
- Current indexation and crawl issues
If you need a structured starting point, align it to your audit approach (Totally Digital’s SEO Audits framework is a good reference for what “complete” looks like).
- Pick real competitors (not just who you think they are)
You want:
- 2 direct commercial competitors (same customer, same offer)
- 1 content-led competitor (publishes a lot and ranks for informational intent)
- 1 “SERP competitor” (they show up everywhere, even if their product differs)
- Build a gap sheet that forces decisions
For each opportunity, capture:
- Query theme (entity or topic cluster)
- Search intent (informational, commercial, transactional)
- Current best URL (yours vs theirs)
- What they do better (format, depth, UX, authority, freshness)
- Effort score (S, M, L)
- Impact score (1–5) based on commercial relevance
If you want to tighten your content side, their Content SEO audit guide shows the mindset: reduce overlap, map intent, and plug topical gaps with purpose.
Days 15–30: ship fast wins that remove obvious blockers
Outcome by day 30: you’ve improved technical foundations and upgraded existing pages that are closest to winning.
This is where most teams waste time. Don’t start by writing 20 new pages. Start by making your current assets stronger and easier to rank.
Your “fast wins” list usually includes:
- Fix indexation leakage (wrong canonicals, accidental noindex, redirect chains)
- Improve internal linking to priority pages (hub-and-spoke, not random links)
- Refresh pages sitting in positions 4–15 (they often need intent alignment and better structure)
- Tighten titles and headings to match how people actually search
- Add missing sections competitors include (pricing, FAQs, comparisons, proof)
If technical issues are a theme, pull in a proper technical review (see Technical SEO Agency for the kind of issues that quietly cap performance).
And if you want a simple checklist to keep the team honest, use the 15-point SEO audit checklist as your “did we miss anything obvious?” sanity check.
Days 31–60: build the content and entity structure that competitors rely on
Outcome by day 60: you’ve launched new supporting pages and strengthened topical authority around your money terms.
This is the “gap analysis into architecture” phase.
Pick 3–5 high-value clusters (not 30). For each cluster, plan:
- 1 hub page (the core commercial page)
- 3–6 supporting pages (guides, comparisons, use cases, FAQs)
- internal linking rules (supporting pages point to hub, and cross-link where relevant)
This is also where your site experience matters more than people admit. If you’re rebuilding or optimising templates, SEO Web Design and Website Design & Development are the kind of disciplines that stop “good content” being trapped in “bad UX”.
Budget reality check (UK):
If you’re paying for this properly, you’ll normally split costs across:
- Content production
- Dev implementation
- Digital PR or authority work
Even a modest plan might look like: £2,000–£5,000 for content and £1,500–£4,000 for dev time over 60 days, depending on how much is template-led vs bespoke. If you’re investing in paid search to cover gaps while organic ramps up, UK CPC benchmarks vary wildly, and competitive sectors can run into double digits per click.
Days 61–90: win trust signals and improve conversion
Outcome by day 90: your strongest clusters have better authority, better conversion, and clearer reporting.
Now you push beyond “we published content” into “we’re harder to ignore”.
- Build proof into pages
Competitors often win because they look more credible:
- case studies, results, process clarity, expertise signals
- better page journeys (CTAs that match intent, not just “contact us” everywhere)
Use your own work as social proof where you can (browse Case Studies for the structure that tends to work).
- Add authority work where it matters
If the gap is clearly link and trust related, you’ll need digital PR or citation-worthy assets. In a world of AI answers and in-SERP summaries, being cited matters more than ever, especially as search shifts.
That’s also where Generative AI Results Optimisation (GEO) becomes part of the plan: making your pages easier to understand, and your brand easier to reference. - Run reporting that supports decisions
Your reporting should answer:
- What shipped in the last 30 days?
- What moved (rankings, clicks, conversions)?
- What’s the next constraint (content capacity, dev backlog, authority)?
If you’re also using paid advertising to support the plan, keep it joined-up with Paid Advertising so you’re not “buying traffic” while ignoring conversion leaks.
The simplest way to prioritise your backlog
When you’re staring at 200 opportunities, use a scoring model you can explain in 30 seconds:
Priority score = (Commercial intent x Likely win x Effort reality)
- Commercial intent: will this drive qualified leads or revenue?
- Likely win: do you already have some visibility or authority here?
- Effort reality: can you actually ship it in the next 30–60 days?
If an item is high effort and vague impact, park it. Your 90-day plan is a shipping plan, not a wish list.
FAQs
How many competitors should you include in a gap analysis?
Aim for 4–6. Fewer than that and you’ll miss patterns. More than that and you’ll drown in noise. The sweet spot is 2 direct rivals, 1 content-heavy publisher, and 1 SERP “dominant” site that shows up everywhere in your space.
How do you avoid copying competitors while still closing gaps?
You’re not copying wording. You’re copying coverage and intent. If competitors answer questions you ignore, add your own perspective, evidence, and examples. Make it more useful, more specific, and more aligned to what your customers actually need.
What’s the fastest way to see results in the first 30 days?
Focus on pages already close to winning: positions 4–15, high impressions, low clicks, or pages ranking for the wrong intent. Refresh content, improve internal linking, and fix any technical blockers that stop Google from trusting or crawling the right version of the page.
Should you create new pages or improve existing ones first?
Usually improve existing pages first. New pages are great for true coverage gaps, but existing pages can often deliver faster gains when they’re under-optimised, misaligned to intent, or poorly linked internally.
How do you measure success without obsessing over rankings?
Rankings are a diagnostic. Success is clicks and conversions. Track organic landing pages, assisted conversions, lead quality, and the commercial pages that matter. If a page ranks but doesn’t convert, that’s a conversion gap, not an SEO win.
Where does paid search fit into a competitor gap plan?
Paid can cover short-term demand while organic ramps up, and it can also validate which themes convert before you invest heavily in content. Just keep the messaging and landing pages consistent, otherwise you learn the wrong lessons.
If you want to turn your competitor insights into a real 90-day plan (with a prioritised backlog, clear owners, and work that actually ships), take a look at Insight & Strategy and SEO Audits and then get in touch. You’ll come away with a plan you can execute, not just a list of things your competitors are doing.
If you’re tired of traffic that doesn’t convert, Totally Digital is here to help. Start with technical seo and a detailed seo audit to fix performance issues, indexing problems, and lost visibility. Next, scale sustainably with organic marketing and accelerate results with targeted paid ads. Get in touch today and we’ll show you where the quickest wins are.