Staring at the Ahrefs dashboard for the first time can feel overwhelming. You’ve heard it’s one of the most powerful tools for backlink analysis, but where do you actually start? How to use Ahrefs for backlinks isn’t immediately obvious when you’re faced with dozens of features, metrics, and reports that all seem important but don’t come with clear instructions.
Maybe you’re worried about wasting your subscription because you’re only scratching the surface of what the tool can do. Perhaps you’ve tried exploring backlink profiles but aren’t sure what the numbers actually mean or how to turn data into actionable link building opportunities. You might even wonder if you need an SEO degree just to understand domain rating, referring domains, and URL rating.
The truth is that Ahrefs becomes incredibly useful once you understand which features matter most for backlink work. You don’t need to master every tool in the platform. You just need to know the specific workflows that help you find link opportunities, analyze what’s working for competitors, and track your own link building progress. Let’s break down exactly how to do that.
Getting Started with Site Explorer for Backlink Analysis
Site Explorer is your main hub for everything related to backlinks in Ahrefs. This is where you’ll spend most of your time analyzing link profiles, whether you’re looking at your own site or researching competitors.
Start by entering any domain into the search bar at the top of Site Explorer. You’ll land on the Overview page, which gives you a snapshot of the site’s backlink profile. The key metrics you’ll see include Domain Rating, which measures the strength of a site’s backlink profile on a scale from 0 to 100, and the number of referring domains, which tells you how many unique websites link to the target site.
Pay attention to the graph showing backlink growth over time. A steady upward trend suggests consistent link building, while sudden spikes might indicate viral content or potentially unnatural link patterns. The referring domains graph is usually more important than total backlinks because one hundred links from one site count as just one referring domain.
Understanding these basics helps you evaluate any website’s authority before deciding whether to pursue a link from them or whether they’re worth analyzing further as a competitor.
Finding Your Competitors’ Best Backlinks
One of the most valuable uses of Ahrefs is discovering where your competitors get their backlinks. This gives you a ready made list of websites that are already linking to content similar to yours, meaning they’re more likely to link to you too.
Enter a competitor’s domain into Site Explorer and navigate to the Backlinks report in the left sidebar. You’ll see every backlink pointing to their site, which can be thousands or even millions of links. Don’t panic at the volume. You’re going to filter this down to find the gold.
Click on the filter options and set minimum Domain Rating to 30 or 40 to focus on quality links from authoritative sites. You can also filter by dofollow links only, since these pass more SEO value. Set the link type to “content” to exclude sidebar and footer links that are harder to replicate.
Sort the results by Domain Rating or Traffic to prioritize the most valuable links. Look through the list and identify patterns. Are competitors getting links from industry blogs, resource pages, or news sites? Make note of the types of pages that attract links, whether they’re guides, tools, research, or something else.
Export the filtered backlink list and create a spreadsheet of target websites. You now have a prioritized list of sites that have already demonstrated they link to content in your niche.
Using Content Explorer to Find Link Opportunities
Content Explorer is Ahrefs’ database of over billions of pages, and it’s perfect for finding content that attracts backlinks. Instead of analyzing specific competitors, you’re searching the entire web for popular content related to your topics.
Navigate to Content Explorer from the main menu and enter a keyword or phrase related to your content. For example, if you run a fitness blog, you might search for “workout routines” or “nutrition guide.” The tool returns pages ranked by various metrics including referring domains, organic traffic, and social shares.
Filter results to show only pages with a minimum number of referring domains, like 20 or 50, depending on your niche’s competitiveness. This ensures you’re looking at content that successfully attracts backlinks rather than pages that went unnoticed.
Click on any result to see its full backlink profile. You’re not just looking at what the content is about. You’re analyzing why it attracted links. Is it comprehensive? Does it include original research? Does it have unique visuals or tools? Understanding what makes content link worthy helps you create better content yourself.
Use the “Who links to this page” feature to see exactly which websites linked to popular content. These sites become targets for your own outreach because they’ve demonstrated interest in linking to similar content.
Analyzing Backlink Quality and Spotting Red Flags
Not all backlinks are created equal, and Ahrefs gives you the data to distinguish valuable links from worthless or potentially harmful ones. Learning to read these signals protects you from pursuing bad links and helps you prioritize the good ones.
When examining a backlink, check the Domain Rating of the linking site. Generally, links from sites with DR above 40 carry more weight, though relevance matters more than raw authority. A DR 25 site in your exact niche beats a DR 60 general directory every time.
Look at the linking page’s traffic in the Organic Traffic column. If a page gets substantial search traffic, it’s a sign that Google trusts that page, making links from it more valuable. Pages with zero traffic might be low quality or penalized.
Check the anchor text used in the link. Natural link profiles have diverse anchor text with mostly branded and generic anchors like “click here” or “this article.” If you see lots of exact match keyword anchors, especially from low quality sites, that’s a red flag for unnatural link patterns.
The Link Type column tells you whether a link is from the main content area, sidebar, footer, or elsewhere. Content links within the body of an article are the most valuable. Sitewide footer links from hundreds of pages on one site look spammy to search engines.
Finding Broken Link Building Opportunities
Broken link building is one of the most effective outreach strategies because you’re offering value by helping sites fix dead links. Ahrefs makes finding these opportunities straightforward with its Best by Links report.
Go to Site Explorer and enter a competitor’s domain or a relevant site in your niche. Navigate to Best by Links under the Pages section. This shows pages on the site that have attracted the most referring domains. Sort by referring domains to see which pages are most linked to.
Look for pages that return 404 errors or have been removed. These are gold mines because dozens or hundreds of sites might still be linking to that dead page. Click on the referring domains number to see everyone who links to the broken page.
Now you have a list of websites linking to content that no longer exists. Your outreach pitch is simple. You’re letting them know their link is broken and suggesting your relevant content as a replacement. This works because you’re helping them fix a user experience problem on their site.
You can also use the Site Audit tool if you have access to crawl websites for broken external links. Look for relevant sites in your industry, crawl them, and check the External Pages report for 404 errors. Any broken links pointing to topics you cover become outreach opportunities.
Tracking Your Own Backlink Growth
Once you start building links, you need to monitor what’s working and catch any issues before they hurt your rankings. Ahrefs provides several ways to track your backlink profile over time.
Enter your own domain into Site Explorer and bookmark it for quick access. The Overview page shows your backlink growth trends at a glance. Check this weekly to see if new links are appearing and whether your Domain Rating is improving.
Navigate to the Backlinks report to see your newest links. Sort by “First seen” to view the most recent backlinks. This helps you see which outreach efforts are paying off and how quickly links appear after content publication or outreach.
Set up email alerts for your domain by clicking the Alerts icon in the top menu. Configure alerts to notify you when you gain or lose backlinks, when competitors gain backlinks, or when specific keywords change rankings. This automates monitoring so you don’t need to manually check every day.
The Lost Backlinks report shows links that have disappeared from your profile. Some link loss is natural, but sudden drops deserve investigation. Maybe a site removed your link, or perhaps the page linking to you was deleted. You can reach out to restore valuable lost links.
Finding Unlinked Brand Mentions
Sometimes websites mention your brand or content without actually linking to you. These unlinked mentions are easy wins because the site already knows about you and referenced you positively. They just forgot to add the link.
Use Content Explorer to search for your brand name in quotes, like “your brand name.” Filter out results from your own domain to see only external mentions. Look through the results for pages that mention you without linking.
Ahrefs Alerts can monitor for new brand mentions automatically. Set up an alert with your brand name so you’re notified whenever a new page mentions you. You can reach out immediately while the content is fresh and the author is still engaged with the topic.
When you find unlinked mentions, your outreach is straightforward. Thank them for the mention and politely ask if they’d consider linking to your site so readers can learn more. This works well because you’re not asking for a favor from scratch. They already decided you were worth mentioning.
Reverse Engineering Link Building Campaigns
Sometimes you’ll notice a competitor suddenly gained dozens of high quality backlinks in a short period. This usually means they ran a successful campaign, and you can reverse engineer what they did.
In Site Explorer, look at a competitor’s backlink growth graph. Click on any spike to see which links were gained during that period. You’ll often find they all point to the same page or piece of content.
Analyze the linked page to understand what made it link worthy. Was it original research with data and statistics? An interactive tool or calculator? A comprehensive guide that became an industry resource? Understanding the content type helps you create something similar.
Look at the sites that linked during the spike. Are they all news sites, suggesting a PR campaign? Are they bloggers in your niche, indicating successful outreach? Are they resource pages, meaning they built links through relevance and utility? The linking site patterns reveal the strategy used.
You can replicate successful campaigns by creating your own version of link worthy content and targeting similar sites. You’re not copying ideas. You’re learning which content formats and outreach strategies work in your industry.
Using the Link Intersect Tool
Link Intersect is one of Ahrefs’ most underutilized features for backlink research. It shows you sites that link to your competitors but not to you, revealing obvious gaps in your backlink profile.
Navigate to Link Intersect under the More section in Site Explorer. Enter up to 10 competitor domains in the top fields and your domain in the “But don’t link to” field at the bottom. Ahrefs will show websites that link to multiple competitors but haven’t linked to you yet.
These sites are prime targets because they’ve already demonstrated interest in your niche by linking to similar businesses. They’re more likely to respond positively to outreach and consider linking to your content too.
Sort results by the number of competitors they link to. Sites linking to three or more of your competitors are especially receptive to content in your industry. They’re actively curating resources and might welcome your pitch if you have something valuable to offer.
Export the results and add them to your outreach spreadsheet with high priority. These aren’t cold prospects. They’re warm leads who already link to content like yours.
Setting Realistic Goals Based on Competitor Data
Ahrefs helps you set achievable backlink goals by showing you what’s normal and what’s exceptional in your industry. Stop guessing how many links you need and start using data to guide your targets.
Analyze the top 10 ranking sites for your target keywords in Site Explorer. Note their Domain Ratings and number of referring domains. This gives you a benchmark for the link profile needed to compete at that level.
If top ranking competitors have 500 referring domains and DR 50, you know roughly what to aim for. If you currently have 50 referring domains and DR 20, you’re not competing yet. Set incremental goals like reaching 100 referring domains in six months rather than trying to jump from 50 to 500 overnight.
Look at how quickly competitors gained links by examining their backlink growth graphs. If they consistently gain 10 to 20 new referring domains monthly, that’s a realistic target for your own efforts. Trying to gain 100 per month when competitors grow slowly might indicate you’re pursuing quantity over quality.
Common Mistakes When Using Ahrefs for Backlinks
Even with powerful tools, mistakes can waste time and lead you down unproductive paths. Avoid these common errors that beginners make when learning the platform.
Don’t obsess over Domain Rating increases. DR is a useful metric for comparing sites, but it’s not a goal in itself. Focus on acquiring relevant, high quality links rather than chasing a number. Quality beats quantity every time.
Stop analyzing every single backlink manually. You’ll drown in data if you try to examine thousands of links one by one. Use filters to narrow results to actionable opportunities. Set minimum DR thresholds, filter for content links, and focus on dofollow links from relevant sites.
Avoid pursuing links from every site your competitors have. Some of their links might be low quality, paid, or from unrelated sites. Evaluate each opportunity critically rather than assuming all competitor backlinks are worth replicating.
Don’t ignore the context around backlinks. A link from a high DR site sounds great until you realize it’s buried in a footer or sidebar with 500 other links. Always click through to see how the link appears on the page and whether it’s actually valuable.
Integrating Ahrefs Data into Your Overall Strategy
Ahrefs provides data, but you need to turn that data into action. Integrate what you learn into a systematic link building workflow that produces consistent results.
Start each month by running competitor analysis to find 20 to 30 new link targets. Use a combination of the Backlinks report, Content Explorer, and Link Intersect to build your target list. Prioritize based on relevance, authority, and likelihood of success.
Research each target site before outreach. What content do they publish? Who writes for them? What’s their linking behavior? Personalized outreach based on this research converts far better than generic templates.
Track your outreach and results in a spreadsheet or CRM. Record which sites you contacted, when you followed up, and whether you secured a link. This data helps you refine your approach and identify what types of outreach work best in your niche.
Monitor your backlink profile weekly using your bookmarked Site Explorer page and email alerts. Celebrate new links, investigate lost ones, and use this momentum to keep your link building consistent rather than sporadic.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is a good Domain Rating score in Ahrefs?
Domain Rating above 50 indicates a strong backlink profile, while DR above 70 represents exceptional authority. However, what matters most is matching or exceeding your direct competitors rather than hitting arbitrary numbers. A DR 30 site can outrank DR 60 sites if it has more relevant backlinks and better content for specific keywords.
2. How often should I check my backlinks in Ahrefs?
Check your backlink profile weekly to monitor new links and catch any issues early. Set up email alerts so Ahrefs notifies you automatically of major changes. For competitor analysis and finding new opportunities, monthly reviews are sufficient unless you’re running active campaigns that require more frequent monitoring.
3. Can Ahrefs show me every backlink to my site?
Ahrefs has one of the largest backlink indexes in the industry, but no tool captures 100% of backlinks. It updates its database constantly and typically shows the vast majority of significant links. Combine Ahrefs data with Google Search Console for the most complete picture of your backlink profile, as Google shows some links that third party tools might miss.
4. What is the difference between backlinks and referring domains in Ahrefs?
Backlinks count every individual link, so 50 links from one website equals 50 backlinks. Referring domains count unique websites, so 50 links from one website equals 1 referring domain. Referring domains is usually more important because it shows how many different sites trust you, which search engines value more than link quantity from a single source.
5. Is Ahrefs worth it just for backlink analysis?
Ahrefs is worth the investment if you’re serious about link building and SEO. The backlink features alone justify the cost for most businesses because finding and tracking quality link opportunities would take many more hours without it. The cheapest plan starts around $129 monthly, and most users recover that investment through improved rankings and traffic from just a few good backlinks discovered through the platform.
