What is the quickest way to find the biggest content gap in my niche?

Short answer

A content gap is a topic many people search for that no good video covers yet. You find it by matching what people search for against what videos already exist. Twenty minutes is enough.

The rule: a gap is proven demand plus weak supply. Keep only topics where the search numbers are real, and where the best existing video is on a small channel or is over a year old. Then confirm it in the comments.

Why a gap beats a trend for a small channel

A trend is a topic several channels are already winning with. Joining it means competing with videos that exist. A gap is a topic people are already searching for and nobody has answered well. Making the video means being the only strong answer. For a channel that nobody recommends yet, the second is a much better bet, because search does not care how many subscribers you have.

Gaps are also durable. Search demand for "which pottery wheel should I buy" does not switch off when the home page moves on. The video that fills that gap earns views for as long as the question is asked, which in a craft niche is years. The post on views without recommendations explains the search side in more depth.

The three checks, using pottery as the example

1. Look at the outliers. Search your niche in OutlierKit. The best pottery videos are on small channels, between 2,000 and 17,000 subscribers. That means nobody big owns the topic yet, and it tells you which topics small channels are already winning with.
2. Look at the searches. Use keyword research. "Pottery wheels" is searched 44,000 times a month. "Pottery class beginner" 5,900 times. "What is ceramic" 4,800 times. These are the phrases with real demand.
3. Find what is missing. None of the top pottery videos is about choosing a pottery wheel. That is 44,000 searches a month with no strong video. That is the gap.
4. Confirm it in the comments. Read the comments on the top two videos. Look for "please make a video on" and "nobody explains". Those are gaps in the viewers' own words.

Search counts were pulled from OutlierKit keyword research on 4 September 2026. The keyword research guide covers how the numbers are gathered, and the free keyword tools comparison shows what you can get without a paid plan.

The rule that keeps the list honest

A gap is proven demand plus weak supply. Keep only topics where the best existing video is on a small channel or is over a year old, and where the search numbers are real. The topic that passes all three checks is your next video.

Two ways this goes wrong. The first is counting a topic as a gap because you have not seen a video on it, without checking the search numbers; that is a topic nobody wants. The second is counting a topic with big numbers as a gap when a large channel posted a strong video on it last month; that is a topic someone already owns. The rule catches both.

What the example shows: two strong pottery videos, and what neither covers

The two pottery videos above are the current best videos on wheel throwing. Kara Leigh Ford, with 17,000 subscribers, got 55,000 views on tips for pulling up walls, 8.7 times her normal. Riley Madsen, with 2,000 subscribers, got 11,000 views on "Stop Throwing Bowls Like a Beginner", 13.8 times normal. Both are on small channels. Neither is about which wheel to buy.

If you make a good "which pottery wheel should a beginner buy" video, you are the only strong answer to 44,000 searches a month. That is the whole point of the exercise: the gap is visible in twenty minutes, and it is large.

Two more pottery outliers, and still nothing about choosing a wheel

To be sure the gap was real, I pulled the pottery outliers again on 7 September 2026. Two more small channels had won, and neither video is about which wheel to buy either.

Janna Selina, with 1,060 subscribers, got 6,400 views on the number one mistake potters make with handles, 9.5 times normal. How-To Pottery & Crafts, with 1,930 subscribers, got 13,000 views on easy pottery for beginners to sell, 12.3 times normal. Four strong pottery videos, four small channels, and the 44,000-search phrase still has no owner.

What to do once you have found the gap

• Put the search phrase in the title, close to word for word. "Which Pottery Wheel Should a Beginner Buy?" can be found by everyone typing pottery wheels.
• Answer the question completely. A gap video wins by being the answer, not by being clever. Cover the choices, the prices, the mistake, the recommendation.
• Use the comments you read in step four as the outline. The things viewers said nobody explains are the sections.
• Then look for the next gap. The prompt at the end of this page checks 15 phrases at once, which is usually enough to find three or four gaps in a niche.

If the gap you find is a whole sub-topic rather than a single video, the content strategy template helps turn it into a series, and the competitor analysis guide covers the wider check on who else is close to filling it.

Words used on this page

Content gap

A topic with proven search demand and no strong existing video.

Search volume

How many times a phrase is searched on YouTube in a month.

Weak supply

The best existing video for a phrase is on a small channel, or is more than a year old, or both.

Outlier multiplier

A video's views divided by what its channel usually gets. 13.8x means the video did 13.8 times the channel's normal.