7 Smart Ways to Use Ahrefs for Link Building Effectively

By Eng Amjed / July 17, 2025

If you’re serious about SEO, using Ahrefs for link building is one of the smartest decisions you can make. This powerful SEO tool gives you a strategic advantage in identifying quality backlinks, analyzing competitors’ link profiles, and uncovering valuable acquisition opportunities. In this guide, you’ll learn step-by-step how to use Ahrefs for backlink analysis and strategic link acquisition that actually improves your rankings.

Why Ahrefs for Link Building

Ahrefs is one of the most trusted SEO platforms on the market, with a backlink index of over 35 trillion links and a crawler that’s second only to Google. It allows you to discover who links to your site, how your competitors acquire backlinks, and what you can do to build a stronger off-page SEO strategy.

With Ahrefs backlink analysis, you can:

Audit your existing backlink profile
Identify toxic or broken links
Reverse-engineer competitors’ strategies
Discover niche-specific backlink opportunities
Track the growth of your link-building campaigns

According to Search Engine Journal, marketers who use Ahrefs consistently report faster SEO results and better ROI on their outreach efforts.

1. Use Ahrefs Site Explorer for Backlink Discovery

The Site Explorer tool is the heart of Ahrefs for link building. It gives you a complete overview of any domain’s backlink profile.

What to analyze:

Total backlinks
Referring domains
Domain Rating (DR)
Anchor text distribution
Follow vs. nofollow links
Top linked pages

How to use it:

Enter your domain or a competitor’s domain
Filter by “One link per domain” to see referring domains
Sort by Domain Rating to find high-authority links

You can export this list for further analysis or direct outreach.

💡 Tip: Use filters to identify only dofollow, English-language, and contextual links for better quality outreach targets.

2. Perform Competitive Backlink Analysis

With Ahrefs backlink analysis, you can spy on your competitors and replicate their most valuable links.

Steps:

Enter your competitor’s domain in Site Explorer
Click on “Backlinks” or “Referring Domains”
Sort by DR or traffic
Look for patterns (guest posts, directories, industry mentions)

Once you identify where they’re getting links from, you can approach the same domains with better content or a more relevant pitch.

3. Use the Link Intersect Tool for Opportunity Mining

The Ahrefs Link Intersect Tool shows you which domains link to your competitors but not to you.

How to use it:

Go to “More” > “Link Intersect”
Enter multiple competitor domains
Enter your domain under “But doesn’t link to”
Click “Show link opportunities”

Ahrefs will generate a list of domains that are already open to linking to others in your niche — prime candidates for your outreach efforts.

Long-tail search intent: how to use Ahrefs to find backlink opportunities

This is one of the easiest and most strategic ways to uncover ready-to-acquire backlinks.

4. Audit Your Own Link Profile with Ahrefs

Just as important as acquiring new links is understanding your current ones. Go to Site Explorer and enter your own domain.

Check for:

Broken backlinks (links pointing to 404s)
Toxic links from spammy or irrelevant sites
Anchor text over-optimization
Sudden spikes or drops in referring domains

If needed, you can disavow toxic links using Google Search Console or reach out to remove or fix broken ones. This process protects your rankings and improves trust with Google.

5. Discover Backlink Gaps with Content Explorer

Ahrefs Content Explorer helps you find content with lots of backlinks in your niche.

Steps:

Go to “Content Explorer”
Enter a topic or keyword
Filter by referring domains ≥50 or DR ≥30
Sort by backlinks or traffic

Find top-performing articles and analyze:

Why they earned so many links
Who linked to them
Whether you can create a better, updated version

This is the basis of the Skyscraper Technique, popularized by Brian Dean at Backlinko, which is proven to boost link acquisition rates by 3x.

6. Track New & Lost Backlinks with Alerts

Stay proactive by setting up backlink alerts in Ahrefs:

Go to “Alerts” > “New Backlinks”
Enter your domain
Choose frequency (daily/weekly)
Repeat for competitor domains

This allows you to:

Thank people who link to you (build relationships)
Reclaim lost links
Monitor competitor activity in real time

In fact, many SEO agencies use this feature to track client link growth and identify brand mentions needing link attribution.

7. Build Links through Broken Link Building

Broken link building is still one of the most effective white-hat link building techniques.

With Ahrefs, do the following:

Use Site Explorer > “Broken Backlinks”
Identify broken pages that once had backlinks
Recreate similar content on your site
Reach out to sites linking to the broken page and suggest your replacement

You can also use Content Explorer to search for broken pages by topic. Just add the filter:
HTTP code = 404

This tactic provides real value while helping webmasters maintain a healthy site — making link acquisition easier and faster.

Bonus Tip: Use Ahrefs for Digital PR Campaigns

With Ahrefs, you can find journalists and bloggers who frequently link to topics in your niche.

How?

Go to Content Explorer
Search for recent articles around your industry
Filter by DR and published in the last 30 days
Export list with contact details

This is especially effective when launching tools, studies, or new products.

Example: If you’re launching a free SEO audit tool, reach out to publications that have already covered similar tools and pitch yours as a valuable update.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What makes Ahrefs effective for link building?

A: Ahrefs offers a large and frequently updated backlink index, allowing users to discover high-quality link opportunities, analyze competitor links, and monitor backlink growth with precision.

Q2: Can I use Ahrefs to build links without doing outreach?

A: Yes. You can leverage broken link building, reclaim unlinked brand mentions, or create link-worthy content based on high-performing content you discover using Ahrefs Content Explorer.

Q3: How does the Link Intersect tool help in link building?

A: The Link Intersect tool identifies websites linking to your competitors but not you, revealing link prospects that are already interested in your niche or content type.

Q4: Is Ahrefs better than other tools like SEMrush or Moz for backlinks?

A: While SEMrush and Moz are strong contenders, Ahrefs is often preferred for its larger backlink database and faster crawl rate, especially for in-depth backlink research.

Q5: How do I get started with Ahrefs for backlink acquisition?

A: Start by exploring your competitor’s backlink profile using Site Explorer, use Link Intersect to find missed opportunities, then begin outreach or create content targeting those link sources.

Final Thoughts

Using Ahrefs for link building is more than just tracking who links to you — it’s about understanding the “why” and acting on it. With tools like Site Explorer, Link Intersect, and Content Explorer, you’re empowered to create a strategy backed by real data.

Whether you’re identifying broken links, analyzing top-performing content, or spying on your competitors, Ahrefs offers the most complete toolkit for strategic backlink acquisition.

Focus on quality, relevance, and consistency — and the results will follow.

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