The Ultimate Ahrefs Cheat Sheet: Commands, Metrics & Strategies

Introduction to Ahrefs

Ahrefs is a powerful SEO toolset used for competitive analysis, keyword research, backlink analysis, content exploration, and rank tracking. It helps digital marketers, SEO professionals, and content creators optimize their websites, analyze competitors, and develop data-driven SEO strategies. This cheat sheet provides a comprehensive reference for Ahrefs’ key tools, metrics, commands, and practical applications to help you maximize your SEO efforts.

Core Ahrefs Tools & Navigation

Main Dashboard Sections

• Site Explorer: Analyze URL or domain metrics, backlinks, organic traffic
• Keywords Explorer: Research keywords, search volume, difficulty
• Content Explorer: Find popular content on any topic
• Site Audit: Identify technical SEO issues
• Rank Tracker: Monitor keyword positions
• Alerts: Set up notifications for backlinks and mentions
• More: Access additional tools like Batch Analysis, Domain Comparison

Common Navigation Commands

• Export: Download data in CSV, PDF, or XLSX format (button in top-right of most reports)
• Filters: Click “Add filter” button to refine any report view
• Date Range: Modify timeframes via calendar dropdown (top-right corner)
• Comparison: Use “Compare with” dropdown to analyze historical data
• Project Switch: Toggle between projects via dropdown menu (top navigation)
• Domain vs URL vs Prefix: Select analysis scope from dropdown in Site Explorer

Site Explorer Deep Dive

Overview Dashboard Metrics

• Ahrefs Rank: Overall website ranking in Ahrefs database (lower is better)
• UR (URL Rating): Page-level strength score (0-100)
• DR (Domain Rating): Domain-level strength score (0-100)
• Referring domains: Number of unique websites linking to target
• Dofollow referring domains: Domains with non-nofollowed links
• Organic keywords: Number of keywords the site ranks for
• Organic traffic: Estimated monthly search traffic
• Traffic value: Estimated monthly value of organic traffic

Key Site Explorer Reports & Commands

Backlink Analysis Commands

• Backlinks report: Site Explorer > Backlinks

  • Filter by dofollow/nofollow, live/broken, new/lost, text/image/form
  • Use “One link per domain” toggle for unique domain focus
  • Sort by Domain Rating, URL Rating, or Traffic

• Referring domains report: Site Explorer > Referring domains

  • Filter by DR range, link type, language, country
  • Use “Link type” filter to find .gov/.edu domains
  • Sort by DR, Dofollow links, or Traffic

• Anchors report: Site Explorer > Anchors

  • Identify over-optimized anchor text
  • Check brand vs. non-brand ratio
  • Filter by dofollow to see SEO-impacting anchors

• New/lost backlinks: Site Explorer > New/Lost

  • Set date range to monitor recent changes
  • Filter by dofollow to focus on SEO-impacting links
  • Export lost links for outreach opportunities

Organic Search Commands

• Organic keywords report: Site Explorer > Organic keywords

  • Filter by position, volume, KD, CPC
  • Use “SERP features” filter for featured snippet opportunities
  • Sort by Traffic or Position to find valuable keywords

• Top pages report: Site Explorer > Top pages

  • Identify highest-traffic content
  • Sort by Traffic or Traffic value
  • See Top keyword driving traffic to each URL

• Content gap analysis: Site Explorer > Content gap

  • Enter 2-3 competitor domains
  • Filter by Volume and KD to find opportunities
  • Use “Intersect” dropdown to adjust strictness

Keywords Explorer Essentials

Keyword Analysis Metrics

• Keyword Difficulty (KD): Ranking difficulty score (0-100)
• Search Volume: Monthly searches
• Clicks: Actual clicks from search results
• Clicks Per Search (CPS): Average clicks per search
• Cost Per Click (CPC): Average cost for PPC
• Return Rate (RR): How often searchers perform the same query
• Parent Topic: Broader topic with higher search volume
• SERP Features: Special results appearing for the keyword

Keyword Research Commands

• Basic keyword research: Enter seed keyword → Keywords Explorer

  • Check “Parent topic” for potential topic consolidation
  • Analyze search volume trends for seasonality
  • Review metrics table for comprehensive data

• Keyword ideas reports: Keywords Explorer > [select idea type]

  • Phrase match: Contains your exact keyword
  • Having same terms: Contains all words in any order
  • Also rank for: Keywords other ranking pages also rank for
  • Search suggestions: Based on Google autocomplete
  • Newly discovered: Recently added to Ahrefs database
  • Questions: Interrogative keywords (who, what, where, etc.)

• SERP analysis: Keywords Explorer > SERP

  • Examine top 10 ranking pages
  • Check UR, DR, Backlinks, Traffic of ranking pages
  • Analyze domain vs. page authority distribution

Advanced Keyword Filtering

• Finding low-competition keywords:

  • KD < 20 + Volume > 200 + Words <= 3
  • Position 10-20 + Volume > 500 (for existing rankings to improve)

• Question keyword research:

  • Use Keywords Explorer > Questions
  • Filter by Word count = 4-6 for clear search intent
  • Sort by Volume to find popular questions

• Content gap for competitors:

  • Site Explorer > Content gap
  • Enter 3+ competing domains
  • Filter: None of the targets rank + KD < 30 + Volume > 200

Content Explorer Mastery

Content Research Metrics

• Domain Rating (DR): Domain strength (0-100)
• URL Rating (UR): Page strength (0-100)
• Traffic: Estimated monthly organic traffic
• Referring domains: Number of linking websites
• Social shares: Engagement across platforms
• Publishing date: Content freshness

Content Research Commands

• Topic research: Enter topic → Content Explorer

  • Filter by Language, Published, Word count, DR
  • Use “One page per domain” to avoid domain domination
  • Toggle “Highlight unlinked domains” to find outreach prospects

• Competitor content analysis:

  • Use site:competitor.com with your topic
  • Sort by Traffic to see their best-performing content
  • Filter by Last published > 1 year ago for outdated but successful content

• Content gap opportunities:

  • Find topics with high Traffic but low Referring domains
  • Use “Highlight domains with DR ≥ X” to identify authority publishers
  • Filter by Word count > 2000 to find comprehensive content

Site Audit Technical Commands

Site Audit Setup

• New project: Dashboard > New project

  • Enter domain, crawl scope, disallow parameters
  • Set crawl frequency (daily, weekly, monthly)
  • Configure crawl limits and speed

• Audit scope options:

  • Subdomain: Audit specific subdomain only
  • Subfolder: Limit to particular directory
  • Protocol: HTTP vs HTTPS focus

Key Issue Categories

• Errors: Critical issues requiring immediate attention
• Warnings: Important issues to address for optimization
• Notices: Minor issues and information points

Audit Analysis Commands

• Performance overview: Site Audit > Overview

  • Review health score trend
  • Check crawl statistics and progress
  • Identify top issue categories

• Issue reports: Site Audit > All issues

  • Filter by Error/Warning/Notice
  • Sort by Number of issues for priority fixes
  • Use “Affected URLs” to see specific examples

• Structured data analysis: Site Audit > Structure > HTML tags > Structured data

  • Review schema implementation
  • Identify missing structured data
  • Check for errors in JSON-LD/Microdata

• Page speed analysis: Site Audit > Performance

  • Review loading metrics across site
  • Identify slow pages by load time
  • Check specific recommendations

Rank Tracker Functionality

Tracking Setup Commands

• New project: Rank Tracker > Add new

  • Enter domain, keywords, competitors
  • Select search engines and locations
  • Set update frequency

• Keyword management: Rank Tracker > [Project] > Manage

  • Add/remove keywords
  • Organize by tags/groups
  • Adjust locations

Rank Analysis Commands

• Position overview: Rank Tracker > Overview

  • Review average position
  • Check visibility score
  • Monitor SERP feature presence

• Performance reports: Rank Tracker > Performance

  • Analyze ranking distributions
  • Track position changes
  • Monitor SERP feature wins/losses

• Competitor comparison: Rank Tracker > Competitors

  • Check visibility vs competitors
  • Identify competitor ranking gains
  • Analyze SERP feature distribution

Competitor Analysis Workflow

Competitive Research Process

1. Identify competitors: Site Explorer > Competing domains
2. Analyze backlinks: Site Explorer > Backlinks (competitor URL)
3. Review top content: Site Explorer > Top pages (competitor URL)
4. Find keyword gaps: Site Explorer > Content gap
5. Compare technical setup: Batch Analysis of key metrics

Competitive Link Building Commands

• Find competitor backlinks:

  • Site Explorer > Backlinks (competitor URL)
  • Filter by DR > 40 + dofollow + One link per domain
  • Sort by DR (descending) for high-authority targets

• Identify easy link opportunities:

  • Site Explorer > Link intersect
  • Enter 2-3 competitors
  • Select “Any of the below targets” option
  • Filter by DR > 30 for quality targets

Most Important Ahrefs Metrics Explained

Link Metrics

• Domain Rating (DR):

  • Scale: 0-100 (higher is stronger)
  • Measures overall backlink strength of entire domain
  • Calculation based on quantity and quality of linking domains
  • Use for: Competitor comparison, link prospect evaluation

• URL Rating (UR):

  • Scale: 0-100 (higher is stronger)
  • Measures backlink strength of individual page
  • Accounts for internal linking and domain authority
  • Use for: Page-level analysis, prioritizing internal linking

• Ahrefs Rank:

  • Scale: 1 to millions (lower is better)
  • Overall website ranking in Ahrefs database
  • Based on size and quality of backlink profile
  • Use for: Quick domain strength assessment

Traffic Metrics

• Organic Traffic:

  • Estimated monthly visitors from organic search
  • Based on ranking positions and estimated CTRs
  • Use for: Content performance, competitor comparison

• Traffic Value:

  • Estimated monthly value if traffic came from PPC
  • Calculated using CPC data and traffic volume
  • Use for: ROI estimation, content prioritization

• Clicks:

  • Estimated actual clicks (vs just impressions)
  • Accounts for no-click searches, SERP features
  • Use for: Understanding actual traffic potential

Keyword Metrics

• Keyword Difficulty (KD):

  • Scale: 0-100 (higher is more difficult)
  • Estimates ranking difficulty based on backlink profiles
  • Use for: Finding keyword opportunities, content planning

• Search Volume:

  • Estimated monthly searches
  • Country-specific, shows 12-month averages
  • Use for: Prioritizing keyword targets, traffic potential

• Clicks Per Search (CPS):

  • Average clicks users make per search
  • Values less than 1 indicate SERP features capturing clicks
  • Use for: Identifying actual traffic opportunity beyond volume

Advanced Ahrefs Tips & Tricks

Custom Filters & Presets

• Create filter presets: Click “Add filter” → Configure → “Save as preset”
• Clone reports: Use clone button to duplicate custom configurations
• Custom dashboard: Configure “Overview” chart selections for regular analysis

Bulk Analysis Methods

• Batch Analysis: Analyze up to 200 URLs simultaneously

  • Enter URLs → Select metrics → Compare
  • Export for offline analysis

• Content Explorer batch: Upload URL list

  • Content Explorer > More → “Import URLs”
  • Analyze metrics across published content

Data Integration

• API access: Connect Ahrefs data to custom dashboards

  • Available on higher-tier plans
  • Access all core metrics programmatically

• Google Sheets integration: Use Ahrefs addon

  • Google Sheets → “Add-ons” → Search “Ahrefs”
  • Pull live data directly into spreadsheets

Specialized Reports

• Find broken backlinks:

  • Site Explorer > Pages > Best by links
  • Filter by HTTP code = 404 + Referring domains > 0
  • Identify reclamation opportunities

• SERP position history:

  • Site Explorer > Organic keywords
  • Click keyword → “SERP position history”
  • Track ranking volatility over time

• Content gap for publishers:

  • Site Explorer > Content gap
  • Enter 3+ publications in your industry
  • Filter by KD < 30 + Volume > 500
  • Find underserved topics with traffic potential

Resources for Further Learning

Ahrefs Official Resources

• Ahrefs Academy: Free courses and certification
• Ahrefs Blog & YouTube: Tutorial content and case studies
• Ahrefs Webinars: Regular training sessions on specific features
• Ahrefs Help Center: Documentation and FAQ

Community & Support

• Ahrefs Insider Facebook Group: User community for tips and assistance
• Twitter @ahrefs: Updates and quick tips
• Support email: support@ahrefs.com

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Ctrl/Cmd + D: Add to dashboard favorites
• Ctrl/Cmd + E: Export current report
• Ctrl/Cmd + F: Open filter panel
• / (Forward slash): Quick search within Ahrefs

This cheat sheet provides a comprehensive reference for maximizing your use of Ahrefs for SEO analysis, competitive research, and content planning. From essential commands and metrics to advanced workflows, these techniques will help you extract actionable insights and develop data-driven strategies for organic search success.