How to Build Backlinks with Ahrefs [8-Minute Guide]

I find using Ahrefs more exciting than watching TV! No kidding! And I can't imagine link building without this tool. Nor can I recommend a competitively-priced alternative with the same functionality or data reliability.

And I'm not the only one. Surveys consistently show that it's the go-to tool for most link-builders.

64.6% of SEOs who took part in our state of link-building survey named Ahrefs the best all-in-one SEO tool. So did 82% of respondents in the 2022 Aira survey and 55.5% of participants in the Authority Hackers study.

In the next 8-10 minutes, I'll show you how to use Ahrefs for link building. You will learn how to manage your link profile, analyze your competitors' links, and identify new link opportunities.

Backlink Profile Analysis

Ahrefs gives you all the data points you need to conduct a comprehensive website backlink profile audit and track changes over time.

Get an overview of your website metrics

Let's start with the basics. When you head over to Site Explorer, you get an Overview of your website's key metrics:

• Domain Rating (DR)
• URL rating (UR)
• Backlinks and Referring Domains
• Keywords you rank for in Google (top 100 search results)
• Estimated monthly organic traffic and its value

You can dive deeper into the data by clicking on each figure in the scoreboard or choosing a corresponding report from the menu.

Use filters to find dofollow backlinks

The Backlinks report gives you a list of all links pointing to your domain, and the Referring domains report—unique websites where they come from.

In both, you can filter the results by their rel= attribute (Dofollow, Nofollow, UGC, Sponsored).

Assess referring domain authoritativeness

Thanks to the filters, you can assess the authoritativeness of the referring domains.

I normally look for domains with DR40+ and website organic traffic of 1K+. These are the kinds of websites you need to rank higher in Google.

Identify toxic backlinks

Conversely, the filters can help you find bad links that may harm your SEO performance. These tend to be low DR websites (under DR30) with less than 100 in organic traffic.

Of course, not all links that tick these boxes are toxic, so you still need to review them manually before exporting the list and uploading it to the Google Disavow tool.

Track link acquisition over time

Another way to find toxic links or unnatural link patterns is by looking at the link graph illustrating link acquisition over time.

What should you look out for?

Spikes. Acquiring many links in a short time can indicate that someone has taken "shortcuts" in building links for the website. Like buying them or “hooking up” with a PBN.

A steady, even acquisition, on the other hand, looks natural and indicates consistent and responsible link-building efforts.

Analyze the anchor texts

To boost your rankings, links need relevant and accurate anchor texts.

Are yours relevant and accurate?

You can check it in the Ahrefs Anchor texts report.

Find lost and broken links

Building links requires effort, so losing them is expensive.

Ahrefs allows you to quickly identify links removed by the website owners in the Referring Domains report. So that you can reclaim them.

The Broken backlinks give you a list of all the links lost due to changes to your website.

For example, when you prune your blog or move pages to different locations without setting up redirects.

Once you identify the broken links, you can contact the website owners and suggest a replacement page.

Easy peasy, right? Well, you still need to check the links manually. We’ve seen Ahrefs flag links as lost, like the Zapier one below, even though they were still there.

Find pages that attract the most links

Finally, the Best by links report shows you the best-performing pages on your website.

That's how you can understand what kind of content attracts links.

Competitor Backlink Analysis

Ahrefs tools can also help you monitor your competitors' link-building activities. So you can replicate their strategies and avoid their mistakes.

For starters, Ahrefs allows you to find your organic competitors. You get a list of 5 top competitors in the Site Explorer Overview and more granular insights in the Organic Competitors report.

Once you have the list, you can plug them into the Competitive Analysis tool to find websites that link to them but not to you.

This is the easiest way to find listicles that don't feature your business or product, like "Best 10 link-building agencies" or "Top 15 project management tools."

There's more:

With the Backlinks and Referring domains reports, you can X-ray your competitor's backlink profile just like you did with yours.

That's how you can see how strong their links are and how actively they build them.

For example, by filtering links by New, you can find links that they've built recently.

And with the Best by links, you can find the best link magnets to replicate for your website.

For example, you can see that three out of five of Backlinko's top pages by links are research reports and stat roundups; if you're competing against them, you will want to create similar assets.

Finding Broken Backlinks

As shown above, broken backlinks can be an issue.

But also an opportunity.

If a website has broken links to content in your niche, you can approach the webmaster and ask them to replace it with a link to your page.

To find such broken links in Ahrefs, type in the target website in the Site Explorer search bar and head to the Broken links report (Outgoing links section in the menu).

Here's an example: Backlinko currently links to a Siege Media article with SEO tips. The article is no longer there, so you could contact them and suggest your article with tips (together with a quote or comment) as a replacement.

Finding Guest Posting Opportunities

Finding guest posting opportunities with Google search operators is easy.

The catch?

Google offers no data about the website. Like DR or traffic, both of which are vital for prospect vetting.

However, the Ahrefs Toolbar extension solves the problem. When enabled, the toolbar enriches the SERP results with Ahrefs metrics. So you can quickly decide if the website is worth your time.

You can also export the results into a spreadsheet.

Alternatively, you can search for websites accepting guest posts in Ahrefs Web Explorer.

However, I prefer the first method. Google search results are more accurate, and it takes less time to comb through them to find appropriate sites.

Unlinked Mentions and Brand Monitoring

Unlinked mentions are when a website talks about your product, brand, or leader without linking to you.

Such mentions are valuable for two reasons: they increase your chances of getting featured in AI search results, and you can turn them into links.

To find them in Ahrefs, we use Content Explorer:

1. Search for your brand name in content and exclude results on your website. For example, pandadoc -site:pandadoc.com

2. Add your website URL in Highlight unlinked. That's how you highlight mentions without links.

3. Filter the results by DR and website/page traffic.

You can also set up Ahrefs Alerts to notify you of any new brand mentions as soon as they appear.

Create Comprehensive Content

Ahrefs has recently rolled out its AI Content Helper, which allows marketing professionals to create more comprehensive content.

Essentially, the tool compares your article to other content that ranks for your keywords, looking for ways to optimize it for better topic coverage.

You get a list of topics you should cover to make your article more thorough, along with relevant keyword recommendations.

There's also a chat functionality that allows you to prompt the AI bot to refine your content, for example, by identifying confusing sections, suggesting examples, or finding weak arguments.

How is this relevant to link-building?

Quality content is the foundation of successful link-building efforts, and comprehensive or ultimate guides are some of the best link magnets out there.

Use Ahrefs API for Building Tools

Yes, you heard that right! You can use the Ahrefs API to create tools for your audience.

That's exactly what we used to build the free DA/DR Checker.

Free tools are the best linkbait resources. Our checker has been around for a couple of months only and has already attracted 30 links from 8 unique domains.

Free tools also bring traffic and improve user engagement on your site.

Final Words

Ahrefs is an indispensable link-building tool. From monitoring your backlink profile and analyzing competitor links to building new backlinks, it covers it all.

And there's much more.

For example, I didn't cover features like Keywords Explorer, as keyword research isn't directly linked to link-building, but it's vital for a successful SEO strategy. Or Site Audit, which helps you monitor your website performance and identify technical glitches that can hurt SEO.

Ahrefs makes link-building easier, but securing high-quality links still takes time, effort, and the right strategy.

That’s where Editorial.Link comes in.

We help SaaS and SEO agencies build ethical, effective backlinks—without the hassle. Let’s talk about your link-building goals.