Session 18: Keyword Mapping & Content Gap Analysis

Block 3: The Real-World Technical SEO/SEM Audit (A3)

View lecture slides: Session 18 Slides

1-Hour Lecture (Theory & Strategy)

Keyword mapping = assigning each target keyword (or keyword cluster) to exactly one page, based on search intent (informational, commercial, transactional) — avoiding pages competing with each other.
Content gap analysis: what queries do competitors rank for that your site has no page for at all?
Read the full theory here: Fundamentals of Search Engines and On-Page SEO.
Nepal-specific nuance: mixed English/Nepali query behaviour, and local intent modifiers (“near me,” city names).

flowchart TD
    KW[10-15 Target Keywords] --> INT{Search Intent}
    INT --> INFO[Informational]
    INT --> COMM[Commercial]
    INT --> TRANS[Transactional]
    INFO --> MAP{Map to Page}
    COMM --> MAP
    TRANS --> MAP
    MAP --> PAGE[Existing Page]
    MAP --> GAP[Content Gap: No Page]
    GAP --> COMP[Competitor Spot-Check]
    PAGE --> KM[A3 Part 2: Keyword Map]
    COMP --> KM

Figure 1: Keyword mapping and content gap analysis for A3

Key Concepts in Depth

Keyword mapping assigns each keyword cluster to one page whose purpose matches the search intent:

Intent	What the searcher wants	Best page type
Informational	To learn	Guide, blog post, tool
Commercial	To compare options	Comparison page, pricing, reviews
Transactional	To act now	Service or product page with a clear CTA
Local	A nearby provider	Location page plus Google Business Profile

Keyword cannibalisation happens when two pages target the same query. Google may switch between them and neither ranks well. Fix it by merging the pages or by re-targeting one of them.

Content gap analysis: list the queries that competitors rank for and you do not. Each gap is either a new page, a new section on an existing page, or a deliberate “not for us”.

Nepal-specific behaviour: users mix English and Romanised Nepali (“ielts kasari padhne”), add city names (“near me”, “in Lalitpur”), and often search in English for professional services. Map local-modifier keywords to location pages and to the Google Business Profile.

Worked Example: Pathshala Tutors (Running Case)

Keyword cluster	Intent	Mapped page	Status
ielts classes lalitpur, ielts coaching near me	Transactional / local	/ielts-lalitpur/	Exists
ielts fee in nepal, ielts course cost	Commercial	/pricing/	Exists (but blocked by robots.txt — see Session 17)
best ielts institute kathmandu	Commercial	—	Gap: comparison-style “How to choose an IELTS institute” page
ielts band score calculator	Informational	—	Gap: interactive calculator
ielts kasari padhne, ielts tayari	Informational (Romanised Nepali)	—	Gap: bilingual study guide
see preparation tips	Informational	/blog/see-tips/	Exists
ielts online class nepal	Transactional	/ielts-lalitpur/ and /online/	Cannibalisation: merge into /online/

Competitor spot-check: the top-ranking competitor page for “ielts classes lalitpur” shows batch timings, tutor profiles, a fee range, a map, and 40+ Google reviews. The Pathshala page has none of the first three, so these become on-page fixes in Session 19.

1-Hour Lab (Agency Execution)

List 10–15 target keywords/phrases for your audit site, grouped by intent (informational / commercial / transactional).
For each keyword group, map it to an existing page — or mark it as a content gap (no page currently targets it).
Spot-check 1 competitor’s top 3 ranking pages for your top commercial keyword; note what they cover that your site doesn’t.
Local data baseline: Compare your gap list against the Home Services Local SEO case for what local-intent content actually moved rankings.

Common Mistakes

Targeting one keyword per page with dozens of near-identical pages, instead of clustering synonyms.
Sending transactional keywords to blog posts, or informational keywords to sales pages.
Ignoring Romanised Nepali and local-modifier queries.
Listing gaps without deciding what to do about each one.

Deliverable: Feeds Assignment A3 (Part 2 of 3)

Keyword map (keyword → intent → page/gap) — the “Keyword Mapping” rubric row of A3.

Summary

Keyword mapping groups keywords into clusters, matches each cluster to one page by intent, and avoids cannibalisation. Content gap analysis finds valuable queries competitors win and you do not. In Nepal, Romanised Nepali and local modifiers are important sources of gaps.

Key Takeaways

One cluster, one page, one intent.
Fix cannibalisation by merging or re-targeting.
Every gap needs a decision: new page, new section, or skip.
Local and Romanised queries are often under-served opportunities.

Review Questions

Short answer

Define keyword cannibalisation and give one way to fix it.
Match these to an intent: “ielts fee in nepal”, “what is ielts”, “book ielts class lalitpur”.
What is a content gap?

Applied (case) questions

Build a keyword map (8 clusters) for a Pokhara paragliding company, including at least two local and one Romanised Nepali query.
A law firm has three blog posts all targeting “divorce lawyer nepal” and none of them rank. Diagnose the problem and recommend a fix.

Session 18: Keyword Mapping & Content Gap Analysis