[ad_1]
Summary
Ahrefs is a powerful SEO tool that offers a wide range of tools, including keyword research, site audits, content explorer, site explorer, etc. Its pricing starts at $99 per month. But… is Ahrefs worth your money in 2023? Find out in this detailed review along with its pros, cons and features.
Ahrefs is one of the most popular SEO tools, used for keyword research, content research, rank tracking, site audits, and more.
But.. there are many tools out there that offer even more features for a similar price.
Examples include Semrush, SE Ranking, Serpstat, etc.
So why do you need Ahrefs over other SEO toolkits?
In this post, we’ll cover the following topics:
- What is Ahrefs?
- Ahrefs BEST features
- Ahrefs pros and cons
- Its pricing and more
What is Ahrefs?
It offers an easy-to-use interface. Even if you’re a beginner, you won’t take much time to figure out how to access all the tools provided by Ahrefs.
Here’s what its interface looks like;
As you can see above, you can quickly access any tool quickly.
But how good is Ahrefs? Is Ahrefs worth your money in 2023? Let’s find out.
Unbiased Ahrefs Review: 5 Features that Set Ahrefs Apart from Competitors
How is Ahrefs different from other SEO tools? Here are the 5 BIGGEST features that make Ahrefs unique from the competition.
1. Keyword Research
No matter your niche, it’s essential to find keywords your customers search for.
There are a ton of keyword research tools out there.
There are two major problems with most keyword tools;
- They don’t provide enough keyword suggestions
- They don’t provide accurate keyword metrics such as search volume, CPC, keyword difficulty, etc
Here’s where Ahrefs’s keywords explorer comes into play.
It offers hundreds of keyword ideas from TEN search engines including;
- Youtube
- Amazon
- Bing
- Yahoo
- Yandex
- Baidu
- Daum
- Naver
- Seznam
Within a few minutes, you can use keywords explorer to find hundreds of HIGHLY relevant keywords for both paid and search.
Here’s a quick tutorial on using Keywords Explorer from Ahrefs.
Once you’re on the Keywords Explorer, enter one or more keywords that you want to rank for.
You can also select the database where your target audiences are. Once you hit the search button, it will show you an overview of the keywords where you can filter keywords by groups.
Here’s what it looks like;
Let’s say you want to find relevant keywords for the group “SEO tools”. Simply click on it, and it will show you the whole overview for that particular keyword.
Have a look;
As you can see above, the Keywords Explorer tool will show you a ton of data, including;
- Keyword difficulty
- Keyword ideas include question keywords, also rank for keywords, same terms match keywords, also ask about keywords, etc.
- Search volume of the keyword
- Traffic potential and much more
To find low-competition keywords, filter the keyword ideas by “Matching terms” and choose a maximum KD (keyword difficulty of 40).
Have a look;
Here’s the list of low-competition keyword ideas for the same example keyword.
As you can see, Keywords Explorer suggests over 200 low-competitive keyword ideas for the example keyword.
You’ll also find the various keyword metrics for each keyword, including;
- Keyword difficultly score
- Search Volume
- GV (shows you global search volume where you can find how many times per month, people search for the target keyword across all countries)
- TP (Traffic Potential shows the total search traffic that the #1 ranking page receives from all the keywords that it ranks for)
- CPC (Cost Per Click shows the average price that advertisers pay for each ad) and much more
Whether you’re new to keyword research or running a new website, go for low-competitive topics only.
Why? They’re often easier to rank for. Ranking for those keywords gives you enough momentum to rank for bigger keywords later.
Here’s Ahrefs’ keyword difficulty scale, which can be helpful for you in choosing low-competitive keywords.
Our tip: Try to find keywords with less than a 40 KD score if you’re just getting started with keyword research or running a new website.
2. Site Explorer (for Competitor Analysis)
Site Explorer is a powerful tool used for in-depth competitor analysis.
Using Site Explorer from Ahrefs, you can easily perform the following three things.
- See what keywords your competitors are ranking for
- See which websites link to your competitors’ sites
- Find out whether your competitors are doing paid search ads
Let’s discuss how you can use the Site Explorer tool to your advantage.
Want to find your competitors’ best-performing keywords?
Simply enter your competitor’s URL in the Site Explorer and click on “Organic Keywords” to see the list of full keywords that they’re ranking for.
Have a look;
As you can see, you’ll find all the keywords your competitors are currently ranking for, along with the following data;
- Keywords
- Search volume of those keywords
- CPC value and KD score
- Traffic
- Change in positions
- SF (The SERP features that appear in search results for a keyword)
Want to find a list of all the backlink sources of your competitors? You can use the “Backlink profile” of the Site Explorer to find those sources.
Here’s what it looks like;
What can you find in their backlink profile?
First of all, you can filter all the backlinks by “Dofollow,” so you’ll get a list of only dofollow links.
On the backlink profile section, you’ll find the essential data, including;
- Referring page (from where the links are coming)
- DR (domain rating shows the strength of a website’s backlink profile)
- UR (URL rating shows the strength of your target page’s backlink profile)
- Anchor and target URL
The above information is enough for you to spy on your backlink sources to create 10x better content around those topics. Then, you can reach out to those websites (who’ve already linked to your competitors) to link to your page.
Similarly, you can use the Site Explorer tool from Ahrefs to find paid keywords from your competitors.
For example, here are the paid search ads run by Ahrefs.com;
As you can see, Ahrefs is running THREE paid ad keywords in search results. Similarly, you can find paid ad keywords of ANY website or URL.
3. Content Research
Do you know why most people struggle to increase their search traffic?
It’s because they create content without any direction.
If you want to build a high-traffic website, make sure to find the top-performing content in your niche. Find what works and create highly engaging content around it. It’s that simple.
So how do you find top-performing content in your niche?
Here’s where the “Content Explorer” tool from Ahrefs comes in handy.
The total content index size of the Content Explorer tool is over 11 billion pages, and over 40 million new pages are discovered every 24 hours.
Here’s what you can do with the content explorer tool.
- Find the best guest blogging opportunities in ANY niche
- Identify top-performing content that generates links
- Find unlinked brand mentions
- Find broken link-building opportunities by topic and much more
Here’s a quick tutorial on using the Content Explorer tool from Ahrefs.
Once you’re on the tool, enter any topic and hit the search button.
As you can see, the content explorer tool will instantly start showing the top-performing pages for the topic you entered.
You can also filter the results in multiple ways, including;
- One page per domain
- Domain rating
- Social shares
- Only English-based results
- Platforms such as blogs, WordPress, eCommerce, etc
- Publication date, etc
The best part? Ahrefs will also show you key metrics of the top pages, including;
- Domain rating
- Referring domains
- Page traffic, traffic value, and much more
4. Rank Tracker
Keyword rank tracking is extremely important.
Why? Tracking your keywords helps you keep an eye on where you’re at currently in search results and quickly act on those topics if your rankings drop.
Ahrefs is known for its “Rank Tracker” tool which provides 100% accurate information on your keyword rankings. You can easily see where you rank in Google for any keyword in 240+ countries.
With their rank tracker tool, you can keep a track of up to 10,000 keywords over time.
To get started, simply add a list of all the keywords you want to track. Ahrefs also shows you keywords that your website is already ranking for.
Here’s what the rank tracking on Ahrefs looks like;
As you can see, you’ll get all the essential data, including;
- Search volume
- Ranking position
- Keyword Difficulty (KD)
- Estimated organic traffic
- Ranking URL
- SERP features (if any)
5. Site Audit
Are you struggling with search traffic even after creating high-quality content on your website? There might be SEO issues on your site.
Ahrefs’ site audit tool helps you quickly analyze your website for both technical SEO and on-page SEO issues.
With the site audit tool, you can find out precisely what’s holding your website from getting better search rankings.
Quick note: The site audit tool from Ahrefs is also available for free. You’ll need to verify ownership of your website to use Site Audit for free.
To get an in-depth website analysis, add your website as a new project and crawl the website.
Once the crawling is done, it will show a detailed analysis of your website.
Here’s what the site audit of our website looks like;
As you can see, your website will get an overall health score out of 100 (which shows the proportion of internal URLs crawled by Site Audit that don’t have errors).
Here are some issues you can easily find and fix on your website for better rankings.
- Internal link opportunities
- Internal pages
- Indexability issues
- Redirects
- Content
- Social tags
- Duplicates
- Localization
- Images
- JavaScript issues
- CSS issues and more
What if you want to perform site audits regularly so you can fix issues on your website quickly? You can also schedule site audits daily, weekly or monthly crawls for your websites!
Ahrefs Pros and Cons
Let’s find out the Ahrefs’ pros and cons now.
Pros:
- Ahrefs uses its own crawler that processes up to 8 billion pages a day to collect data, which means the data is more accurate than other SEO tools.
- Ahrefs is easy to use, even for beginners, as it has an intuitive interface to access all its tools easily.
- Get an in-depth look at the backlink profile of any website using its Site Explorer.
- Ahrefs offers a wide range of SEO tools, making it worth every penny you pay.
- It offers a huge database of 12.8 billion keywords (4.9 billion keywords in the US alone)
- Ahrefs has the world’s largest index of live backlinks, updated with fresh backlink data every few minutes. It has backlink data from 3.4 trillion backlinks.
- If you’re looking for a keyword tool that generates accurate Search Volume, Keyword Difficulty scores, etc. – Ahrefs is just for you.
- Offers a rank tracker, which shows you 100% accurate keyword rankings and you can add up to 10K keywords to track their rankings.
- Its site audit feature helps you find and fix your site’s SEO-related issues.
- Most SEO tools (including Semrush) offer keyword ideas from only one search engine which is Google, whereas Ahrefs shows you keyword ideas from ten different suggestions including Google, YouTube, Amazon, Baidu, etc.
Cons:
- There are no discounts or free trials offered with Ahrefs
- The reporting limits are too restrictive
Ahrefs Pricing: How Much Does Ahrefs Cost?
So how much does Ahrefs cost? Ahrefs offers the following four pricing packages.
1. Lite: This plan offers all the essential features where you can add up to 5 projects (unlimited verified projects), track up to 750 keywords, and get 100,000 site audit crawl credits.
- Best for: Beginners and hobbyists
- Price: $99 per month (OR $83/mo if billed annually)
2. Standard: This plan offers everything from the Lite plan and features like six months of history, keyword position history chart, SERP updates, and more.
You can add up to 20 projects (unlimited verified projects), track up to 2000 keywords, and get 500,000 site audit crawl credits.
- Best for: Freelancers and marketers
- Price: $199 per month (OR $166/mo if billed annually)
3. Advanced: This plan gives you more tools, including Google Data Studio integration, dashboard folders, and two years of history.
You can add up to 50 projects (unlimited verified projects), track up to 5000 keywords, and get 1.5 million site audit crawl credits.
- Best for: In-house marketing teams
- Price: $399 per month (OR $333/mo if billed annually)
4. Enterprise: This plan unlocks all the features of Ahrefs, including unlimited history, access management, directory listing, and much more.
You can add up to 100 projects (unlimited verified projects), track up to 10,000 keywords, and get 5 million site audit crawl credits.
- Best for: SEO agencies
- Price: $999 per month (OR $833/mo if billed annually)
Unfortunately, Ahrefs does not offer special discounts or free trials.
So what are you waiting for?
Ahrefs Customer Reviews | Is Ahrefs Worth It?
What do other customers think about Ahrefs? Is Ahrefs worth it? Let’s find out their reviews from the top product review platforms.
On TrustRadius;
As you can see, on the TrustRadius platform, Ahrefs got a user rating of 8.6 out of 10 stars.
On G2;
As you can see, on the G2 platform, Ahrefs got a user rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars.
On Capterra;
As you can see, on the Capterra platform, Ahrefs got a user rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars.
FAQs
Here are some questions that people often ask about Ahrefs.
What does Ahrefs do?
Ahrefs is an all-in-one SEO toolkit that helps you research hundreds of keywords for a single topic, analyze any website’s backlinks, track your keyword rankings, perform site audits, and more.
Who is Ahrefs for?
Ahrefs is for anyone who wants to improve their website rankings in search engines like Google. It’s a perfect SEO tool for bloggers, eCommerce store owners, freelancers, and agencies.
Does Ahrefs offer a free trial?
No, Ahrefs does not offer a free trial. However, as a website owner, you can get free access to Ahrefs Webmaster tools, which provide insights about your website’s performance in Google.
What is the Ahrefs Webmaster tool used for?
Ahrefs webmaster tools is a free (and better) alternative to Google search console, which shows your site’s health, identifies keywords that bring traffic, gives you broken link data, and much more. You’ll need to verify your website’s ownership to use it for free.
Is Ahrefs worth it?
Ahrefs has one of the best keyword research tools in the market, with 12+ billion keywords. It also offers plenty of useful tools to help you with all the major SEO tasks. So if you’re serious about improving your website’s SEO, Ahrefs is worth your money.
Does Ahrefs offer refunds?
Related Posts:
Final Thoughts
Ahrefs is worth every penny if your goal is to find low-competitive keywords, fix your SEO issues, and rank higher on Google.
If you’re looking for an all-in-one SEO toolkit that offers extensive keyword data, backlink data, and competitor data – Ahrefs is a must-try.
What do you think about Ahrefs? Are you going to try? Have any questions about this tool? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
[ad_2]