Ahrefs is one of the most powerful SEO tools available, helping you improve your rankings through keyword research, backlink analysis, competitor tracking, and technical SEO insights. Here’s how to use Ahrefs to boost your website’s SEO performance.
1. Conduct Keyword Research
📌 Where to Find It:
Ahrefs → Keywords Explorer
- Enter a seed keyword to see search volume, keyword difficulty, and CPC (cost-per-click).
- Find long-tail keywords and question-based searches for better ranking opportunities.
- Use the Parent Topic feature to discover broader keyword opportunities.
✅ SEO Tip: Target low-difficulty, high-volume keywords for faster rankings.
2. Track Your Website’s Rankings
📌 Where to Find It:
Ahrefs → Rank Tracker
- Add your website and target keywords to monitor ranking changes over time.
- Compare rankings against competitors to spot growth opportunities.
- Get alerts on keyword movement and track SERP features like featured snippets.
✅ SEO Tip: If rankings drop, check for Google algorithm updates or content cannibalization issues.
3. Perform a Site Audit to Fix Technical SEO Issues
📌 Where to Find It:
Ahrefs → Site Audit
- Scans your website for broken links, slow pages, missing meta tags, and duplicate content.
- Provides a health score to show your website’s overall SEO performance.
- Suggests actionable fixes to improve site structure and indexability.
✅ SEO Tip: Fix crawl errors and site speed issues to enhance user experience and rankings.
4. Analyze Backlinks to Strengthen Authority
📌 Where to Find It:
Ahrefs → Site Explorer → Backlink Profile
- See who is linking to your site and analyze link quality.
- Identify and remove toxic backlinks that could harm rankings.
- Use the Broken Backlinks feature to reclaim lost links.
✅ SEO Tip: Build high-quality backlinks by reaching out to authoritative sites in your niche.
5. Spy on Competitor SEO Strategies
📌 Where to Find It:
Ahrefs → Site Explorer
- Enter a competitor’s domain to analyze their organic keywords, top pages, and backlinks.
- Discover gaps in their strategy and find new keyword and content opportunities.
- Use the Content Gap tool to see which keywords they rank for but you don’t.
✅ SEO Tip: Replicate your competitor’s best-performing pages while improving content depth and quality.
6. Optimize Content for Featured Snippets
📌 Where to Find It:
Ahrefs → Keywords Explorer → SERP Features
- Identify keywords that trigger featured snippets, “People Also Ask,” and knowledge panels.
- Optimize content with concise answers, bullet points, and structured data.
✅ SEO Tip: Target question-based queries and use schema markup to increase snippet chances.
7. Find Internal Linking Opportunities
📌 Where to Find It:
Ahrefs → Site Audit → Link Opportunities
- Identifies internal linking gaps where you can link related pages.
- Helps distribute link equity to improve rankings of lower-ranked pages.
✅ SEO Tip: Use descriptive anchor text to boost relevance for linked pages.
8. Monitor Website Traffic and Organic Growth
📌 Where to Find It:
Ahrefs → Site Explorer → Organic Search
- Tracks organic traffic trends over time.
- Shows which pages bring the most traffic and which are declining.
- Helps evaluate the impact of Google algorithm updates on rankings.
✅ SEO Tip: Refresh declining pages with updated content, images, and internal links.
Final Thoughts
Ahrefs is a powerful all-in-one SEO tool that helps improve rankings through keyword research, backlink analysis, and competitor tracking. By leveraging these features, you can make data-driven decisions to outrank competitors and drive more organic traffic.