10 Things You Can Do in Ahrefs for Free

10 Things You Can Do in Ahrefs for Free


Welcome to our blog post where we will be discussing important tools and techniques to optimize your website’s online presence. In today’s digital world, it is crucial to stay ahead of the competition and ensure that your website is attracting organic traffic and generating leads. To achieve this, we will explore various strategies such as performing keyword research, analyzing backlinks, tracking competitor rankings, and monitoring social media performance. Additionally, we will delve into tools like Content Explorer and Site Audit to explore content ideas and monitor website health respectively. So, get ready to enhance your website’s performance with our comprehensive guide.

1. Perform Keyword Research

Performing keyword research is an essential step in any successful online marketing campaign. By understanding the search terms people are using to find products or services in your industry, you can optimize your website’s content to attract more targeted traffic. There are several tools available that can help you in this process, and one of the most popular ones is Ahrefs. Ahrefs offers a wide range of features for free that can assist you in finding the right keywords to focus on.

One of the key features of Ahrefs for free is its keyword explorer tool. This tool allows you to enter a keyword or phrase and get detailed information about its search volume, competition level, and other relevant metrics. You can also see the top-ranking pages for a specific keyword and analyze their backlink profiles. This information can give you valuable insights into what keywords to target and how to optimize your content for better rankings.

In addition to the keyword explorer tool, Ahrefs also provides a content explorer feature. This feature allows you to discover popular content ideas in your industry. You can enter a topic or a competitor’s website and see the most shared and linked-to content related to that topic. This can help you come up with fresh and engaging content ideas that are likely to attract attention and generate backlinks.

  • In summary, performing keyword research is crucial for the success of your online marketing efforts. Ahrefs offers a range of free tools and features that can help you in this process.
  • The keyword explorer tool allows you to analyze search volume, competition level, and top-ranking pages for specific keywords.
  • The content explorer feature helps you discover popular content ideas in your industry, giving you an advantage in creating engaging and shareable content.
Keyword Research Tools Features
Ahrefs Keyword explorer, content explorer, backlink analysis
Google Keyword Planner Search volume, competition level, keyword suggestions
Semrush Keyword research, competitor analysis, rank tracking

2. Analyze Backlinks Of Any Website

When it comes to analyzing backlinks of any website, there are several tools available to help you with this task. One such tool that stands out from the rest is Ahrefs. Ahrefs offers a range of features and functionalities that make it a go-to choice for marketers and SEO professionals. With Ahrefs, you can easily analyze the backlinks of any website and gain valuable insights into its link profile.

One of the key features of Ahrefs is its ability to provide a comprehensive backlink analysis. Ahrefs crawls the web and collects data on millions of domains, allowing you to get an in-depth look at the backlinks of any website. The tool provides you with detailed information on each backlink, such as the linking page, anchor text, and the authority of the domain linking to the website.

Additionally, Ahrefs allows you to compare the backlink profiles of multiple websites. This feature is particularly useful when conducting competitor analysis. By analyzing the backlinks of your competitors, you can identify potential link building opportunities and gain insights into their overall SEO strategy.

  • Furthermore, Ahrefs offers a “Best Pages by Links” feature that allows you to identify the top-performing pages of any website. This feature can be extremely beneficial when creating your content strategy and determining which type of content performs well in your industry.
Linking Page Anchor Text Domain Authority
https://example.com/page1.html keyword 1 50
https://example.com/page2.html keyword 2 37

In conclusion, analyzing the backlinks of any website is crucial for understanding its link profile and gaining insights into its SEO strategy. Ahrefs is a powerful tool that offers a range of features to help you with this task. From providing detailed information on each backlink to allowing you to compare the backlink profiles of multiple websites, Ahrefs is a valuable resource for marketers and SEO professionals. So why not give Ahrefs a try and take your backlink analysis to the next level?

3. Track Competitor Rankings

In today’s highly competitive online world, it is essential for businesses to constantly monitor and track their competitors’ rankings. By doing so, businesses can gain valuable insights into their competitors’ strategies and identify opportunities to improve their own website’s performance. Fortunately, there are powerful tools available, such as Ahrefs, that allow businesses to track competitor rankings easily and effectively.

Ahrefs is a popular SEO tool that offers a wide range of features to help businesses optimize their online presence. One of its key features is the ability to track competitor rankings. With Ahrefs, businesses can easily monitor the performance of their competitors’ websites in search engine results pages (SERPs).

  • By analyzing competitor rankings, businesses can gain insights into the keywords their competitors are targeting and the search terms that drive the most traffic to their websites. This information can be invaluable in helping businesses refine their own SEO strategies.
  • Ahrefs allows businesses to track the rankings of multiple competitors simultaneously. This enables businesses to compare their performance against their top competitors and identify areas of strength and weakness.
  • The data provided by Ahrefs is comprehensive and reliable, allowing businesses to make informed decisions based on accurate information. With Ahrefs, businesses can easily track keyword rankings over time, identify trends and patterns, and adjust their strategies accordingly.

    Benefits of Tracking Competitor Rankings with Ahrefs
    • Identify top competitors and benchmark performance
    • Gain insights into competitors’ SEO strategies
    • Discover new opportunities for keyword targeting
    • Track keyword rankings over time
    • Monitor the impact of SEO efforts

    Overall, tracking competitor rankings is crucial for businesses that want to stay ahead in the competitive online landscape. By using Ahrefs, businesses can gain valuable insights into their competitors’ strategies and identify opportunities to improve their own SEO performance. With accurate and comprehensive data provided by Ahrefs, businesses can make informed decisions and take strategic actions to optimize their online presence.

    4. Explore Content Ideas With Content Explorer

    Everyone knows that content is king in today’s digital landscape. However, coming up with fresh and engaging content ideas can be a challenge. That’s where Ahrefs comes in. With their powerful tool, Content Explorer, you can easily explore and discover new content ideas that will captivate your audience.

    Using Content Explorer is simple. Just enter a keyword or topic into the search bar and let Ahrefs do the rest. The tool will generate a list of popular articles and blog posts related to your search query. You can filter the results by language, country, date, and even social shares to find content that is most relevant to your target audience.

    But what sets Content Explorer apart from other content research tools is its extensive database. Ahrefs crawls over 5 billion web pages every day, indexing new content as it is published. This means you’ll have access to the latest and most up-to-date articles and blog posts in your niche.

  • With Content Explorer, you can take advantage of the popularity and success of existing content by analyzing backlinks and search traffic. By knowing what works for your competitors, you can replicate their strategies and create content that resonates with your audience.
  • Additionally, Content Explorer provides valuable insights into content trends and topics. Through the “Popular” tab, you can see the most shared and linked-to articles in your industry. This allows you to stay ahead of the curve and create content that is both timely and relevant.
  • In conclusion, Ahrefs’ Content Explorer is a powerful tool for exploring and discovering new content ideas. By leveraging its extensive database and advanced search filters, you can find the most popular and engaging articles in your niche. Whether you’re looking for inspiration or want to replicate the success of your competitors, Content Explorer has you covered.

    5. Monitor Website Health With Site Audit

    Website health is crucial for its success and visibility in search engine results. One powerful tool that can help you stay on top of your website’s health is Site Audit by Ahrefs. With this tool, you can identify and fix critical issues that may be impacting your website’s performance.

    Site Audit provides a comprehensive analysis of your website, highlighting both technical and SEO-related issues that need attention. It crawls your site and checks for broken links, crawl errors, duplicate content, and more. By addressing these issues, you can improve your website’s user experience, increase organic traffic, and boost your search engine rankings.

    One of the key features of Site Audit is its ability to analyze the overall health of your website. It provides you with an overview of your site’s performance, including the number of pages crawled, number of issues found, and a health score. This allows you to quickly identify any major issues that need immediate attention and prioritize your efforts accordingly.

    Another useful feature of Site Audit is the ability to track changes and monitor progress over time. Once you have fixed the identified issues, you can re-audit your website to see the improvements. Site Audit also allows you to schedule audits at regular intervals, ensuring that your website remains healthy and optimized at all times.

    • Identify and fix critical issues
    • Analyze technical and SEO-related issues
    • Crawl your site for broken links and duplicate content
    • Improve user experience and search engine rankings
    • Track changes and monitor progress over time
    • Schedule regular audits for a healthy and optimized website

    In conclusion, monitoring the health of your website is essential for its overall success. Ahrefs’ Site Audit tool provides you with the necessary insights and analysis to identify and fix any issues that may be harming your site’s performance. By using this tool and addressing the identified issues, you can improve your website’s user experience, increase organic traffic, and ultimately achieve better rankings in search engine results.

    Tool Name Features
    Site Audit
    • Identify critical issues
    • Analyze technical and SEO-related issues
    • Crawl for broken links and duplicate content
    • Track changes and progress
    • Schedule regular audits

    6. Check On-Page Seo Optimization

    Check On-Page SEO Optimization

    When it comes to improving your website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results, on-page SEO optimization plays a crucial role. It refers to the practice of optimizing individual web pages to rank higher and earn more organic traffic. By implementing effective on-page SEO techniques, you can ensure that your website is easily understandable by search engines and offers a seamless user experience. One powerful tool that can assist you in checking on-page SEO optimization is Ahrefs.

    Ahrefs is a comprehensive SEO tool that provides a wide range of features to help you optimize your website’s on-page SEO. By utilizing Ahrefs’ various tools and functionalities for free, you can gain valuable insights into your website’s SEO performance and identify areas that require improvement.

    One of the key benefits of using Ahrefs for on-page SEO optimization is the ability to analyze your website’s HTML structure and ensure that it is properly formatted. Ahrefs can highlight any issues or errors in your HTML code that may be affecting your website’s performance in search engine rankings. By addressing these issues, you can enhance your website’s visibility and increase its chances of ranking higher in search results.

  • Another important aspect of on-page SEO optimization is keyword usage. Properly optimizing your website’s content with relevant keywords is essential for ranking higher in search results. Using Ahrefs, you can easily identify the keywords that are driving organic traffic to your website and analyze their performance. This data can help you identify opportunities to optimize your content further and improve your website’s visibility.
  • In addition to keyword analysis, Ahrefs also allows you to track your website’s performance in terms of backlinks. Backlinks are an essential factor in determining a website’s authority and credibility in the eyes of search engines. Ahrefs’ backlink analysis tool enables you to monitor the quality and quantity of backlinks pointing to your website. By identifying any toxic or spammy backlinks, you can take necessary actions to disavow them and protect your website’s reputation.
  • Benefit Description
    HTML Structure analysis Ahrefs can highlight any issues or errors in your HTML code that may be affecting your website’s performance
    Keyword analysis Ahrefs can help you identify keywords that are driving organic traffic to your website and improve your content optimization
    Backlink tracking You can monitor the quality and quantity of backlinks pointing to your website and take necessary actions to protect your website’s reputation

    Overall, Ahrefs provides an excellent set of tools and features to help you check and improve your website’s on-page SEO optimization. By utilizing Ahrefs, you can analyze your website’s HTML structure, optimize your content with relevant keywords, and track and manage your backlinks effectively. With its powerful capabilities, Ahrefs can elevate your on-page SEO optimization efforts and ultimately lead to improved search engine rankings and increased organic traffic.

    7. Analyze Organic Traffic Of Any Website

    When it comes to analyzing the organic traffic of a website, there is no better tool than Ahrefs. Ahrefs provides a comprehensive suite of SEO tools, and one of the most valuable features is its ability to analyze the organic traffic of any website.

    With Ahrefs, you can easily get insights into the organic traffic of any website. By simply entering the website’s URL into the search bar, Ahrefs will provide you with detailed data on the website’s organic traffic, including the number of organic keywords the website ranks for, the estimated organic traffic, and the top pages driving organic traffic.

    Furthermore, Ahrefs allows you to analyze the organic traffic of your competitors’ websites as well. By comparing the organic traffic data of different websites, you can gain valuable insights into their SEO strategies and discover new opportunities for your own website.

    • Ahrefs provides accurate and up-to-date data on organic traffic.
    • By analyzing the organic traffic of a website, you can understand its SEO performance.
    • You can identify the keywords and pages that are driving the most organic traffic.
    • With Ahrefs, you can compare the organic traffic of different websites and gain insights into their SEO strategies.
    Benefits of Analyzing Organic Traffic with Ahrefs
    1. Uncover Keyword Opportunities: By analyzing the organic traffic of a website, you can identify the keywords it ranks for and discover new keyword opportunities for your own website.
    2. Understand Competitor Strategies: By comparing the organic traffic of different websites, you can gain insights into the SEO strategies of your competitors and find ways to outrank them in search results.
    3. Optimize Your Own Website: Analyzing the organic traffic of your own website can help you understand which pages are performing well and which ones need improvement. This data can guide your on-page SEO optimization efforts.

    In conclusion, analyzing the organic traffic of any website is crucial for understanding its SEO performance and uncovering new opportunities. With Ahrefs, you have a powerful tool at your disposal to analyze and compare organic traffic data. So, whether you want to improve your own website’s organic traffic or gain insights into your competitors’ strategies, Ahrefs is the go-to tool for analyzing organic traffic.

    8. Monitor Social Media Performance

    Welcome to our blog post on how to monitor social media performance! In today’s digital age, social media has become an essential part of any business’s marketing strategy. It allows brands to connect with their audience, build brand awareness, and drive traffic to their website. However, it’s not enough to simply have a presence on social media. It’s crucial to monitor and analyze your social media performance to ensure that your efforts are effective and yielding results. In this blog post, we will discuss some valuable tips and tools that can help you monitor and optimize your social media performance.

    One of the most important aspects of monitoring social media performance is tracking metrics such as likes, comments, shares, and followers. These metrics provide valuable insights into how well your content is resonating with your audience and whether your social media efforts are successful. To track these metrics, there are several free tools available, such as Ahrefs. Ahrefs provides comprehensive analytics and reports that can help you understand how your social media posts are performing.

    In addition to tracking metrics, it’s also essential to analyze your competitors’ social media performance. By analyzing your competitors’ strategies and success, you can gain valuable insights and find ways to improve your own social media performance. With tools like Ahrefs, you can analyze the social media profiles of your competitors and identify their top-performing posts, engagement rates, and follower growth. This information can help you understand what works in your industry and adapt your own social media strategy accordingly.

    9. Identify Broken Links And Redirects

    One of the crucial aspects of maintaining a well-functioning website is to identify and fix any broken links and redirects. These issues can have a negative impact on user experience and can also harm your website’s SEO performance. In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of identifying broken links and redirects and how you can utilize Ahrefs for free to tackle these issues effectively.

    Why should you identify broken links and redirects?

    Broken links, also known as dead links, are hyperlinks that lead to non-existent web pages. When a user clicks on a broken link, they are directed to an error page, commonly known as a 404 page. This can be frustrating for users, resulting in a poor user experience and the possibility of them leaving your website.

    Additionally, broken links and redirects can negatively impact your website’s SEO performance. Search engines like Google consider broken links as a sign of poor website maintenance, which can, in turn, affect your website’s rankings and organic traffic.

    How can Ahrefs help in identifying broken links and redirects?

    Ahrefs is a powerful SEO tool that offers a range of features to help you optimize your website. While some of its features require a paid subscription, Ahrefs also offers a free plan that allows you to access basic functionalities, including the ability to identify broken links and redirects.

  • Start by navigating to the Ahrefs website and signing up for a free account.
  • Once you’ve created your account, log in and access the Site Explorer tool.
  • Enter your website’s URL in the search bar provided and click on the “Start Trial” button.
  • Steps to identify broken links and redirects using Ahrefs:
    1. After accessing the Site Explorer tool, go to the “Best by links” report.
    2. Sort the results by the “HTTP code” column to identify any broken links (typically, links with a 404 status code).
    3. Click on the broken link to view the referring page and the linked anchor text.
    4. To identify redirects, go to the “Outgoing” tab in the Site Explorer tool and click on “Redirects.”
    5. Sort the results by “Target URL” to view all the redirected URLs on your website.

    Once you have identified broken links and redirects using Ahrefs, it’s important to take necessary actions to address these issues.

    For broken links: You can either update the broken link with a correct URL or remove the broken link altogether if it is no longer relevant or necessary.

    For redirects: If you have outdated or irrelevant redirects, consider updating them to ensure a smooth user experience. Additionally, if you have too many redirects, it is advisable to minimize their usage as they can slow down your website’s loading speed.

    By regularly identifying and fixing broken links and redirects using Ahrefs or any other reliable SEO tool, you can enhance user experience, maintain a healthy website, and optimize your SEO performance.

    10. Analyze Top Performing Pages Of Your Competitors

    When it comes to staying ahead of the competition, one of the most effective strategies is to analyze the top performing pages of your competitors. By understanding what content is resonating with their audience, you can gain valuable insights that will help inform your own content strategy and improve your website’s performance. In this blog post, we’ll explore how you can use Ahrefs for Free to analyze the top performing pages of your competitors and leverage this information to your advantage.

    With Ahrefs’ powerful Site Explorer tool, you can easily gain a comprehensive overview of any website’s top performing pages. Simply enter your competitor’s domain into the search bar and select “Top Pages” from the sidebar menu. This will provide you with a list of their most popular pages, ranked by organic search traffic. Take note of the keywords and topics that these pages are targeting, as well as the backlinks they have acquired.

    Next, make use of Ahrefs’ Content Gap tool to identify opportunities where your competitors are outperforming you. By comparing your website’s top performing pages with those of your competitors, you can uncover gaps in your content strategy and prioritize areas for improvement. Use the “Metrics” filter to focus on pages with high organic search traffic and use the “Missing Keywords” filter to identify keywords that your competitors are ranking for, but you are not.

  • Once you have identified the top performing pages of your competitors and the keywords they are targeting, it’s time to analyze their backlink profile. Backlinks play a crucial role in search engine rankings, so understanding where your competitors are getting their backlinks from can help you develop an effective link building strategy. Use Ahrefs’ Site Explorer tool to explore the backlinks of your competitor’s top performing pages. Pay attention to the quality and relevancy of these backlinks, as well as the anchor text used. This will give you valuable insights into the types of websites and content that are linking to your competitors.
  • Competitor Page Organic Search Traffic Backlinks
    www.competitor1.com/top-page1 10,000 500
    www.competitor2.com/top-page2 8,000 300
    www.competitor3.com/top-page3 12,000 800

    11. Explore Popular Content By Topic

    When it comes to content marketing, one of the key factors in achieving success is creating content that resonates with your target audience. But how do you know what type of content is popular or trending in your industry?

    Luckily, there are tools available that can help you explore popular content by topic. One such tool is Ahrefs. Ahrefs is a comprehensive SEO tool that offers various features to improve your website’s performance. One of these features is the Content Explorer, which allows you to search for popular content based on a specific topic.

    Using Ahrefs for free, you can simply enter a keyword or topic into the search bar and the tool will pull up a list of popular articles and blog posts related to that topic. You can then sort the results by various metrics such as the number of social shares, backlinks, or organic traffic.

  • Ahrefs provides valuable insights into which types of content are performing well in your industry. This can help you generate ideas for your own content and create pieces that are more likely to resonate with your target audience.
  • Benefits of Exploring Popular Content by Topic with Ahrefs
    1. Stay up to date with industry trends
    2. Generate ideas for your own content
    3. Improve engagement and reach with your target audience
    4. Identify potential collaborators or influencers in your industry

    By exploring popular content in your industry, you can gain valuable insights into what your target audience is interested in. This can help you create content that is more likely to engage and resonate with your audience, ultimately leading to improved website performance and increased brand visibility.

    Whether you’re a digital marketer, content creator, or business owner, utilizing tools like Ahrefs’ Content Explorer can give you a competitive edge by providing you with real-time data on popular content in your industry. So, why not take advantage of this free tool and explore popular content by topic to enhance your content marketing strategy today?

    12. Track Brand Mentions And Backlinks

    Do you know what people are saying about your brand online? Are you aware of the backlinks that are pointing to your website? Tracking brand mentions and backlinks can provide valuable insights into the online reputation of your business. In this blog post, we will explore the importance of tracking brand mentions and backlinks, as well as how you can use Ahrefs for free to monitor and analyze them.

    Brand mentions are references to your brand or business name on the internet. These mentions can occur in various forms, such as social media posts, blog articles, or even forum discussions. Tracking brand mentions allows you to keep tabs on what people are saying about your brand and take appropriate actions. Positive brand mentions can be an opportunity for engagement and building relationships with your customers, while negative mentions may require reputation management or addressing customer concerns.

    Backlinks, on the other hand, are links from other websites that point to your website. These links are not only important for driving traffic to your site but also play a crucial role in search engine optimization (SEO). Search engines consider backlinks as a vote of confidence in your website’s credibility and authority. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the better your chances of ranking higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).

  • Tracking brand mentions and backlinks can be a challenging task, especially if you have a large online presence. However, with Ahrefs, you can easily monitor and analyze these metrics. Ahrefs is a powerful SEO tool that provides comprehensive insights into your website’s performance, including brand mentions and backlinks.
  • With Ahrefs, you can set up alerts to notify you whenever your brand is mentioned online. This allows you to stay informed and promptly respond to any mentions, whether they are positive or negative. By engaging with your audience and addressing their concerns or questions, you can build a positive brand image and improve customer satisfaction.
  • In addition to brand mentions, Ahrefs also allows you to analyze the backlinks pointing to your website. You can view the websites that are linking to you, the anchor texts used in the backlinks, and even the authority of those websites. This information can help you identify potential opportunities for building more backlinks and improving your website’s SEO.
  • Benefits of Tracking Brand Mentions and Backlinks with Ahrefs
    1. Reputation Management: By tracking brand mentions, you can address any negative mentions or complaints promptly, helping to manage your brand’s reputation effectively.
    2. Relationship Building: Positive brand mentions provide an opportunity to engage with your audience, build relationships, and foster brand loyalty.
    3. SEO Improvement: Analyzing backlinks can help you identify high-quality websites that are linking to you and leverage those relationships to improve your website’s SEO.
    4. Competitive Analysis: Tracking your competitors’ brand mentions and backlinks can give you valuable insights into their strategies and identify potential gaps or opportunities in your own marketing efforts.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Performing keyword research helps in identifying the most relevant and high-ranking keywords for your website, which can improve your search engine rankings and drive more targeted traffic.
    You can use tools like Ahrefs or Moz to analyze the backlinks of any website. These tools provide valuable insights into the backlink profile of a website, including the number of backlinks, their quality, and the referring domains.
    Tracking competitor rankings helps you understand where you stand in comparison to your competitors and identify opportunities to improve your own rankings. It allows you to analyze their strategies and adjust your SEO efforts accordingly.
    Content Explorer is a tool that allows you to discover popular content based on any topic or keyword. It helps you generate content ideas by analyzing the engagement and performance of similar content in your niche.
    A site audit tool can scan your website for various SEO issues such as broken links, missing meta tags, slow page speed, and more. By monitoring and resolving these issues, you can ensure that your website is in good health and optimized for search engines.
    On-page SEO optimization refers to optimizing the content and HTML source code of individual web pages to improve their search engine rankings. It is important because it helps search engines understand the relevance and quality of your content, leading to higher visibility in search results.
    You can use tools like Google Analytics or SEMrush to analyze the organic traffic of any website. These tools provide valuable insights into the amount of organic traffic, top-performing pages, keywords driving traffic, and more.
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