How Do You Start a Site Audit?

1. In Ahrefs, go to Site Audit and click New project.
2. Enter your domain and set the crawl scope (whole site or a subfolder).
3. Add an allow/disallow list if you need to skip staging or search pages.
4. Run the crawl — a 1,000-page site takes a few minutes.
5. Review the Health Score and the Issues tab, sorted by importance.

What Does the Health Score Actually Measure?

It’s a weighted summary of how many crawled pages have errors or warnings. A 90+ score sounds great until you realize three critical 404s on your top landing pages can hide behind hundreds of clean blog posts. Read the issue list, not the headline number.

Which Issues Should You Fix First?

Priority follows traffic impact, not crawl count.

• Broken internal links (404s) on high-traffic pages — fix immediately.
• Missing or duplicate title tags — quick wins that affect every affected page.
• Redirect chains — each hop loses a bit of link equity.
• Slow page load — tracked via Core Web Vitals metrics.
• Orphan pages — indexed but unreachable from any link.

How Do You Benchmark Against Competitors?

Site Audit covers your own site. To see what rivals are doing, use Site Explorer to check their referring domains and top pages. Comparing your backlink profile to theirs tells you whether you’re losing on links or on content — different fixes entirely.

How Often Should You Crawl?

Most sites get little from weekly crawls. Monthly is enough, plus a crawl after any major template or migration change. Post-migration crawls catch redirect and canonical mistakes before they cost rankings for weeks.

Where Does Ahrefs Audit Lag?

It can’t see content quality or search intent — that’s your judgment. Complex JavaScript sites occasionally return fewer URLs than Google indexes, so cross-check with Search Console. And the credit-based plan pricing means large crawls eat your monthly allowance.

Quick Summary

• Site Audit crawls your site and flags errors, warnings, and notices.
• Prioritize issues by traffic impact, not raw count.
• Broken internal links and duplicate titles are the fastest wins.
• Run monthly or after migrations, not weekly.
• Combine with Site Explorer for competitor benchmarking.

What Is Keyword Difficulty in Ahrefs?

KD is a 0-100 score estimating how hard it is to rank in the top 10 for a term, based on the backlink strength of current ranking pages. Under 10 is easy; over 60 needs real authority. It is a guide, not a guarantee — a new site can still struggle on KD 15 terms in a competitive niche.

How Do You Run a Keyword Search?

1. Open Keyword Explorer and enter a seed term.
2. Switch to the Matching terms report to see related phrases.
3. Set filters: KD 0-20, volume 100+, and pick a target country.
4. Check the SERP overview for each candidate to see who ranks and why.
5. Sort by traffic potential, not just volume — it reflects the whole topic’s value.

Which Filters Actually Matter?

Volume alone misleads. A 2,000-search term where the top result gets 80% of clicks is worth more than a 10,000-search term spread across featured snippets and ads. Ahrefs shows traffic potential next to volume for exactly this reason. Also filter by intent — informational keywords convert differently from commercial ones.

How Much Does Ahrefs Cost?

The Starter plan is around $29/month but limits tools, and it has no API or project tracking. The main Site Explorer plans begin near $129/month. The free Webmaster Tools tier gives backlink data for sites you verify, but keyword research is limited. For casual users, that free ceiling comes fast.

Where Does Ahrefs Disappoint?

Keyword databases vary by country — smaller markets have thinner data. The crawler finds links slower than Google indexes them. And the price jump from Starter to full Site Explorer is steep for solo bloggers who just want KD scores.

Quick Summary

• Ahrefs KD scores ranking difficulty from 0-100 based on backlinks.
• Filter Matching terms by KD 0-20, volume 100+, and target country.
• Prioritize traffic potential over raw volume.
• Starter is ~$29/mo; full plans start near $129/mo.
• Data is thinner for small countries; crawling lags Google.