Ahrefs is a backlink research and monitoring platform for finding link opportunities, evaluating prospects and tracking the links you earn.

Use Ahrefs to find websites that already link to competitors, identify broken or outdated link opportunities, discover content worth promoting, qualify prospects and monitor new or lost backlinks.

The workflow is:

  1. Choose a page you want to strengthen.
  2. Analyze competing pages in Site Explorer.
  3. Find prospects with Link Intersect and Backlinks reports.
  4. Identify linkable content with Best by Links and Content Explorer.
  5. Qualify prospects using relevance, traffic, DR, UR and link placement.
  6. Contact the right person with a specific pitch.
  7. Monitor new, lost and broken backlinks.
Goal Ahrefs Tool or Report What to Look For Next Action
Find sites linking to competitors Link Intersect Domains linking to competitors but not you Build a prospect list
Analyze a competitor's backlinks Site Explorer > Backlinks Relevant followed links and strong referring pages Investigate the opportunity
Find pages attracting links Site Explorer > Best by Links Competitor content with many referring domains Create a stronger or different asset
Find broken link opportunities Broken Backlinks and Best by Links Competitor pages returning a 404 but still receiving links Offer a relevant replacement
Find topical prospects Content Explorer Relevant pages, authors and publications Build an outreach list
Evaluate prospects in bulk Batch Analysis DR, UR, traffic, referring domains and backlinks Prioritize prospects
Track link gains and losses Site Explorer > New & Lost Backlinks Newly discovered or lost links Follow up or reclaim links

1. Choose the Page You Want to Promote

Do not start by collecting random backlinks. Choose a target page and define why another website would want to reference it.

Good targets include:

  • A page ranking on page two of Google
  • An original research study
  • A free tool, calculator or template
  • A comprehensive guide
  • A comparison or data resource
  • A commercial page supported by an informative linkable asset

Direct links to commercial pages can be difficult to earn because publishers have less reason to reference sales content. A common alternative is to create a useful, non-commercial resource, earn links to that page and internally link to the commercial page.

Before opening Ahrefs, record:

  • Target URL
  • Primary topic
  • Main search intent
  • Two to five competing pages
  • The type of link you want, such as a resource link, editorial mention or broken-link replacement

Link Intersect is often the quickest way to build an initial prospect list. It shows websites that link to competing domains or pages but do not link to your target website. Ahrefs allows up to 10 domains or URLs in one Link Intersect analysis.

  1. Open Link Intersect.
  2. Enter your website as the target.
  3. Add two to five relevant competitors.
  4. Choose the scope that fits your analysis:
    • Domain for a broad competitor analysis
    • Exact URL for a page-level comparison
  5. Select Show link opportunities.
  6. Review the referring domains.
  7. Open the backlinks behind promising domains.
  8. Export the prospects that pass a manual review.

Link Intersect can display:

  • Referring domains, which helps you build a list of websites to contact
  • Referring pages, which shows the exact article or resource where a competitor received the link

A domain linking to three relevant competitors may be a stronger prospect than one linking to only one. Relevance still matters more than the number of intersections.

What to Record

Create a spreadsheet with these columns:

  • Website
  • Referring page
  • Competitor page receiving the link
  • Suggested target page on your site
  • Link context
  • Contact person
  • Contact email or contact page
  • Relevance
  • DR
  • Organic traffic
  • Outreach status
  • Follow-up date

Do not contact every domain in the report. Open the page and check whether your content would improve the reader's experience.

Use Site Explorer when you want to understand why a specific competitor page attracts links.

Enter a competitor domain or URL and open the Backlinks report. Review:

  • Referring page
  • Target page
  • Anchor text
  • Surrounding text
  • Link type
  • URL Rating
  • Domain Rating
  • Estimated organic traffic
  • Whether the link is followed, nofollow, sponsored or user-generated

Ahrefs distinguishes between backlinks and referring domains. A backlink is an individual hyperlink. A referring domain is a website that provides one or more backlinks. Ten links from one website still count as one referring domain.

Use Filters to Remove Noise

Useful filters include:

  • One link per domain
  • Followed links
  • Links in content
  • Platform
  • Language
  • Domain Rating
  • URL Rating
  • Organic traffic
  • New or lost links
  • Link type

Ahrefs also has a Group similar links option. It can consolidate repeated links caused by archives, internal search pages and similar site structures.

Individual links are useful, but patterns tell you more about the asset and pitch you may need.

Ask:

  • Are competitors earning links from statistics pages?
  • Are journalists citing original research?
  • Are bloggers linking to templates or tools?
  • Are industry publications referencing detailed tutorials?
  • Are resource pages linking to educational guides?
  • Are links coming from partner pages, directories or communities?

The answer helps you decide what to create and how to approach publishers.

The Best by Links report shows which pages on a website have attracted the most backlinks and referring domains.

Use it on:

  • Your own domain
  • A direct competitor
  • A publisher in your industry
  • A website ranking for your target topic

Sort the report by referring domains or backlinks, then inspect the pages at the top.

Look for:

  • Original studies
  • Statistics pages
  • Industry reports
  • Free tools
  • Templates
  • Definitive guides
  • Glossaries
  • Visual explainers
  • Curated resource pages

The report answers a useful question: What does this market already consider worth citing?

Do not copy the competitor's page. Find a clear way to improve on it, such as:

  • More recent data
  • A clearer explanation
  • A better template
  • A larger or more reliable dataset
  • A calculator or interactive tool
  • An industry-specific example
  • A missing section that answers an important subtopic

Ahrefs recommends studying competitor pages with the most backlinks to understand which subjects and formats attract links in your industry.

Broken link building means finding a relevant dead page with backlinks, creating or identifying a suitable replacement and contacting the sites that still link to it.

Find Broken Pages on Competitor Websites

Two Ahrefs reports are useful here.

Broken Backlinks Report

In Site Explorer, open the competitor's Broken Backlinks report. Ahrefs shows referring pages that link to 404 pages, along with anchor text and surrounding text. You can filter the results by URL, anchor text, DR and other attributes.

Best by Links Report

Open Best by Links, apply the HTTP code filter for 404 not found and inspect pages that still have referring domains.

Evaluate the Opportunity

A broken page is worth pursuing when:

  • The referring page is relevant
  • The dead page had several quality referring domains
  • Your existing page is a close replacement
  • You can create a better replacement without forcing the topic
  • The publisher appears active and maintains its content

Outreach Example

Subject: Broken resource on your [topic] page

Hi [Name],

I noticed that the link to [dead resource] on your page about [topic] no longer works.

We recently published [replacement resource], which covers [specific benefit]. It may be a useful replacement for your readers.

Thanks, [Name]

Do not pitch an unrelated page because the dead URL has a high DR. The replacement still needs to fit the page.

6. Use Content Explorer to Find Publishers and Authors

Content Explorer helps you find websites that publish content about your subject. Search for a topic, phrase or title pattern, then review the pages and publishers that appear.

Use it to find:

  • Publications covering your topic
  • Authors who regularly write about your subject
  • Websites that publish expert contributions
  • Pages that have already attracted links
  • Digital PR and content promotion targets

Ahrefs describes Content Explorer as a searchable database that can be filtered to find relevant content and link prospects. Searches can include title modifiers such as "how," "why" or "guide", as well as a specific industry phrase.

Do not limit your list to websites with a "write for us" page. A site may be a good editorial prospect even if it does not advertise guest contributions. Check whether it already covers your subject and links to outside resources.

7. Qualify Prospects Before Outreach

Ahrefs metrics help you sort prospects. They do not replace manual review.

Qualification Criteria

Criterion What to Check
Topical relevance Does the website serve the same audience or cover a closely related subject?
Page relevance Would your link make sense in the specific article?
Organic visibility Does the site or referring page receive search traffic?
Referring domains Does the page have links from multiple unique websites?
DR Is the site's backlink profile relatively strong?
UR Does the specific referring page have a strong link profile?
Editorial quality Does the site publish original, maintained content?
Link placement Would the link appear within useful editorial content?
Commercial risk Does the site sell large numbers of unrelated links?
Audience value Could the link bring relevant referral traffic?

Domain Rating measures the relative strength of a website's backlink profile on a 0 to 100 scale. URL Rating measures the strength of an individual page's link profile. DR is a domain-level metric, while UR is page-level.

Do Not Use DR as Your Only Filter

A high DR does not automatically make a site a good prospect. Ahrefs says DR is link-based and does not account for organic search traffic, domain age or backlink spam.

A smaller publication with a close connection to your audience may be more useful than a high-DR site with no topical connection.

A sensible priority order is:

  1. Relevance to your topic and audience
  2. A natural reason for the page to link to you
  3. Editorial quality and trust
  4. Page-level strength and visibility
  5. Domain-level strength
  6. Referral traffic potential

8. Use Batch Analysis to Prioritize a Large List

When you have dozens or hundreds of prospects, use Batch Analysis instead of checking every domain separately.

Ahrefs Batch Analysis can provide:

  • Domain Rating
  • URL Rating
  • Organic keywords
  • Organic traffic
  • Traffic value
  • Referring domains
  • Followed and nofollow backlinks
  • Total backlinks
  • Linked domains
  • Top country

A simple system is:

  • Tier 1: Highly relevant, active sites with strong editorial pages
  • Tier 2: Relevant sites with moderate authority or traffic
  • Tier 3: Low-priority directories, forums and broad resource pages

Review Tier 1 prospects manually before writing outreach. Do not send the same email to every row in the export.

9. Match the Outreach Angle to the Opportunity

Your email should explain why the link would help that specific publisher and its readers.

Opportunity Outreach Angle
Competitor link gap Your page adds information the competitor page lacks
Broken backlink Your resource is a relevant replacement for a dead page
Unlinked brand mention The publisher already mentioned your brand and could add the URL
Resource page Your guide or tool fits the page's existing recommendations
Data-driven article Your research provides a source for a factual claim
Expert commentary You can contribute a useful quote or original insight
Outdated content Your updated data or examples improve the article

A useful outreach email includes:

  • The recipient's name
  • The exact page you are referencing
  • The issue or opportunity
  • Your relevant replacement or contribution
  • One clear request
  • No unrelated list of services

Ahrefs helps you make the pitch more relevant. It should not be used to send a larger volume of generic email.

After outreach, use Site Explorer to check whether links were acquired and whether existing links disappear.

Monitor:

  • New referring domains
  • New followed links
  • Lost backlinks
  • Lost referring domains
  • Changes to anchor text
  • Links pointing to redirected or broken pages
  • Whether the link points to the intended URL

If an important link is lost, open the referring page. It may have been deleted, redesigned, redirected or updated. Contact the publisher when the loss appears accidental.

Ahrefs also lets you filter backlinks by redirects, sponsored links, UGC links, nofollow links and other attributes.

Chasing DR Instead of Relevance

A high DR does not make an irrelevant link useful. Check the subject, audience, page context and editorial quality.

Several links from one website do not equal several independent endorsements. Use referring domains to understand the breadth of a backlink profile.

Some competitor links may come from paid placements, low-quality directories, private networks or irrelevant pages. Competitor analysis gives you ideas to investigate. It does not approve every link.

Repeating Exact-Match Anchor Text

Natural anchor text can include brand names, page titles, descriptive phrases and URLs. Repeating keyword-rich anchors can make a backlink profile look manipulative.

Ignoring the Target Page

A backlink is more useful when it points to the page that needs visibility. Building links randomly to a homepage may increase reported authority without strengthening the page you want to rank.

Nofollow, sponsored and UGC links may not pass the same ranking signals as regular followed links. They can still generate referral traffic, visibility, relationships and additional earned links. Ahrefs provides filters for separating these link attributes.

Do not use Ahrefs to scale manipulative tactics.

Google identifies buying or selling links for ranking purposes, excessive link exchanges, automated link creation, low-quality directories, optimized forum links and large-scale guest-post campaigns created mainly to obtain links as link spam. Paid or sponsored links should use the appropriate rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow" attributes.

Use Ahrefs to find opportunities where your content helps the reader. The process is simple:

  1. Create something worth citing.
  2. Find publishers with a relevant reason to reference it.
  3. Suggest the resource clearly.
  4. Let the publisher decide whether the link improves the page.
  5. Measure referring domains, rankings, referral traffic and conversions, not DR alone.

The Most Efficient Ahrefs Workflow

For most websites, use this sequence:

  1. Enter your target page and three relevant competitors into Link Intersect.
  2. Export referring domains that link to competitors but not to you.
  3. Check each domain in Site Explorer.
  4. Use Best by Links to see which competitor assets attract links.
  5. Search Broken Backlinks for relevant 404 opportunities.
  6. Use Batch Analysis to sort prospects by relevance, traffic, DR and UR.
  7. Contact only publishers with a clear editorial reason to link.
  8. Track acquired and lost links in Site Explorer.

This turns Ahrefs into a working link building process: find the opportunity, understand why the link exists, create a useful asset, make a relevant pitch and measure what happens.