If you’re looking to improve your website’s search engine performance, knowing how to use Ahrefs for SEO audits is crucial. Ahrefs is one of the most powerful SEO tools available, offering insights into backlinks, keywords, competitor analysis, and site health. With the right approach, you can perform comprehensive SEO audits that identify issues, uncover opportunities, and boost your site’s visibility.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through step-by-step instructions, real-world examples, actionable tips, and industry best practices to make the most of Ahrefs for SEO audits.
Introduction
How to use Ahrefs for SEO audits is a common question among SEO professionals, digital marketers, and business owners. Conducting a proper SEO audit is essential to improving website rankings, increasing organic traffic, and enhancing user experience. Ahrefs provides the tools to perform a thorough audit, from analyzing backlinks to identifying technical issues and content opportunities.
With Ahrefs, you can:
- Detect broken links and site errors
- Analyze your backlink profile
- Discover top-performing keywords
- Compare your website with competitors
- Identify content gaps
This guide will provide a complete roadmap to using Ahrefs efficiently for your SEO audits.
What Is Ahrefs and Why Use It for SEO Audits
Ahrefs is a premium SEO tool used globally by marketers, agencies, and businesses to optimize their websites. Its features allow for in-depth analysis, making it ideal for SEO audits.
Key Ahrefs Features for SEO Audits:
- Site Audit – Scan your website for technical SEO issues like broken links, slow pages, and crawl errors.
- Site Explorer – Analyze backlink profiles, top pages, and referring domains.
- Keywords Explorer – Discover ranking keywords, search volume, and difficulty.
- Content Gap – Identify content opportunities compared to competitors.
- Rank Tracker – Monitor keyword rankings over time.
By leveraging Ahrefs’ comprehensive features, you can conduct an actionable audit and make data-driven SEO decisions.
Setting Up Ahrefs for Your Audit
Before starting an audit, you need to set up your project in Ahrefs:
- Create an Account
- Sign up for Ahrefs and choose a plan that fits your needs.
- Add Your Website
- Navigate to the “Site Audit” section and input your domain.
- Configure Crawl Settings
- Set parameters like subdomains, crawl depth, and speed.
- Exclude irrelevant URLs to focus on core pages.
- Connect Google Analytics & Search Console
- Integrate your analytics for better insights on traffic and user behavior.
- Schedule Crawls
- Set up automatic weekly or monthly audits to monitor changes over time.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Use Ahrefs for SEO Audits
1. Using the Site Audit Feature
- Navigate to “Site Audit” and run a crawl of your website.
- Identify issues like:
- Broken links (404 errors)
- Redirect chains
- Slow-loading pages
- Duplicate content
- Missing meta descriptions or titles
- Review the “Health Score” to understand overall site performance.
2. Backlink Analysis
- Use “Site Explorer” to analyze your backlink profile.
- Check:
- Number of referring domains
- Link quality and toxicity
- Anchor text distribution
- Lost or broken links
- Identify opportunities to build high-quality backlinks and remove harmful ones.
3. Organic Keywords & Content Gap
- Use “Organic Keywords” to see which keywords your site ranks for.
- Use “Content Gap” to find keywords your competitors rank for but you don’t.
- Identify opportunities to create new content or optimize existing pages.
4. Competitor Benchmarking
- Enter competitor domains in Ahrefs’ “Site Explorer.”
- Compare:
- Backlink profiles
- Top-performing pages
- Keyword rankings
- Content strategies
- Use this data to refine your SEO strategy and target gaps.
5. Using Site Explorer Tools
- Identify top-performing pages by traffic and backlinks.
- Analyze internal linking structure.
- Track growth and declines in organic traffic and rankings.
Analyzing Results and Identifying Issues
After running the audit, prioritize issues based on impact and urgency:
- High Priority: Broken pages, redirect errors, crawl issues, slow loading pages
- Medium Priority: Missing meta descriptions, duplicate content, thin content
- Low Priority: Minor HTML issues, minor content formatting
Focus on actionable recommendations that can improve rankings and user experience.
Creating Actionable Recommendations
- Group issues by category: technical, on-page, content, backlinks
- Assign tasks to specific team members
- Create a timeline for implementation
- Monitor improvements using Ahrefs Rank Tracker and Google Analytics
Case Studies & Mini-Examples
Case Study 1: Small Business Website
- Problem: Missing meta descriptions, slow pages
- Solution: Optimized titles and meta tags, fixed 10+ slow-loading pages
- Result: 30% increase in organic traffic over 3 months
Case Study 2: E-commerce Website
- Problem: Broken links, weak backlink profile
- Solution: Removed broken links, built high-authority backlinks
- Result: Improved domain rating and 20% increase in sales from organic search
Case Study 3: Blog Site
- Problem: Low content coverage, weak keyword targeting
- Solution: Used Content Gap analysis to create optimized articles
- Result: Rankings for 50+ new keywords within 2 months
Common Mistakes When Using Ahrefs for Audits
- Ignoring site crawl warnings
- Not analyzing competitor backlinks
- Focusing only on keywords without checking technical issues
- Skipping internal linking analysis
- Failing to prioritize issues by impact
Best Practices & Tips for Effective Audits
- Schedule regular audits (monthly or quarterly)
- Integrate with Google Analytics and Search Console for better insights
- Focus on high-impact issues first
- Document all findings with screenshots and examples
- Use tiered reporting for clients: quick overview and detailed insights
Additional Tools to Complement Ahrefs
- Screaming Frog – Technical crawling
- GTmetrix / PageSpeed Insights – Page speed optimization
- Google Analytics / Search Console – Traffic and indexing insights
- SEMRush / Moz – Keyword and backlink cross-checking
Combining Ahrefs with other tools provides a more comprehensive SEO audit.
FAQs – How to Use Ahrefs for SEO Audits
Q1: Can Ahrefs detect all technical SEO issues?
A: Ahrefs covers most technical SEO issues, but combining it with Screaming Frog and Google Search Console ensures comprehensive coverage.
Q2: How often should I run Ahrefs audits?
A: Monthly or quarterly, depending on website size and SEO goals.
Q3: Can Ahrefs help with competitor audits?
A: Yes, you can analyze competitor backlinks, top-performing content, and keyword gaps.
Q4: Do I need a premium Ahrefs account?
A: For large websites and in-depth audits, a premium plan is recommended.
Q5: How do I prioritize audit issues?
A: High-impact issues like broken pages, crawl errors, and slow pages should be fixed first.
Q6: Can Ahrefs track improvements after fixes?
A: Yes, use the Rank Tracker and monitor site health scores over time.
Conclusion & Next Steps
Knowing how to use Ahrefs for SEO audits is essential for effective SEO strategy. Ahrefs provides all the tools to identify issues, analyze competitors, and uncover opportunities.
Actionable Steps:
- Set up your project and configure site audit settings
- Run comprehensive crawls and backlink analysis
- Use Content Gap to find opportunities
- Prioritize high-impact issues
- Monitor results and track improvements
Start leveraging Ahrefs today to conduct data-driven SEO audits and improve your website’s search visibility. For more insights, check out related SEO audit strategies.
