If you write SEO-friendly content consistently, you’ll love the brand new Ahrefs SEO WordPress plugin.

Launched on January 17, 2022, the handy Ahrefs SEO WP plugin is the latest addition to the impressive array of free Ahrefs SEO tools. It’s the perfect plugin to help you do content audits, monitor backlinks, track keywords, and improve the performance of your content in the SERPs. 

In this guide, I will review the top features of the plugin and how you can use the software to optimize your content and grow organic traffic on your WordPress website.

Ready?

Introducing The Ahrefs SEO WordPress Plugin…

Let’s start by answering a few basic questions you might have about the Ahrefs SEO WP plugin.

What is Ahrefs SEO WordPress plugin?

It’s a lightweight SEO plugin for doing content audits so you can drive more traffic to your WordPress website.

What does the Ahrefs SEO plugin do?

The plugin helps you do three things well:

1. Perform content audits and get suggestions for improvement.
2. Monitor backlinks to your content assets.
3. See organic traffic and backlink numbers to your posts.

How much does the Ahrefs SEO WordPress plugin cost?

Nothing. It’s absolutely free. 

Does the Ahrefs SEO WP plugin work with other CMSs besides WordPress?

No. The plugin only works on WordPress sites.

Is the Ahrefs SEO plugin compatible with other SEO plugins?

Yes. The plugin works perfectly with the best WordPress SEO plugins like Yoast SEO, AIOSEO, and RankMath.

How do I set it up?

There are two ways to install the Ahrefs SEO plugin:

1. Via your WP website admin dashboard.
2. Via the WordPress.Org website.

Speaking of installation, let’s get to that in a bit more detail.

How To Install The Ahrefs SEO WordPress Plugin And Connect It To Your Website Step-By-Step 

You can install the plugin from your WP-admin dashboard in 9 simple steps.

Step #1: Click on Plugins > Add New.

Step #2: Type Ahrefs SEO into the search bar.

The plugin will appear underneath.

Step #3: Click on Install Now and Activate after you’ve installed the plugin.

You’ve successfully installed the plugin, but you still have to connect it to your website.

Hit Ahrefs SEO on the left to get to the Ahrefs/WordPress to move to the next step.

Step #4: Click on Get My Authorization Code and copy it.

Step #5: Paste the Authorization Code into the provided slot and hit Continue With Ahrefs.

Step #6: Click on Continue.

You’ve now connected Ahrefs SEO to your website. 

It’s time to move on to the last steps of connecting Google Analytics and Google Search Console to feed the plugin with the fresh data for accurate audits and content suggestions.

Step #7: Hit Get authorization code from Google.

Step #8: Check the two boxes and hit Continue.

Step #9: Hit Continue.

That’s it.

You are all set.

It’s now time to run your first content audit.

You can choose the posts or pages you want to audit. For instance, you can leave out non-SEO-related pages like Privacy Policy or Contact Us.

Let’s move on to what you can do with this powerful free SEO plugin.

How To Use The Ahrefs SEO Plugin For Content Audits And Optimization

There are many ways to benefit from this helpful plugin.

Here are the top 4 features to look out for.

1. Get An Overview Of SEO Article Performance

First, you get a bird’s-eye view of your content performance.

This gives you an idea of the overall quality and performance of your SEO articles. They rank the score from 0 to 100.

The plugin grades content by putting it into 4 buckets:

• Well-performing.
• Underperforming.
• Non-performing.
• Excluded.

2. Get SEO Statistics For Your Articles

Modern SEO is a numbers-based game. 

Thankfully, the Ahrefs SEO WordPress plugin allows you to drill down vital SEO numbers of your articles.

You will see an article’s numbers based on the target keyword:

• Ranking Position.
• Total Traffic.
• Organic Traffic.
• Number Of Backlinks.

You’ll quickly pick the winners and losers without the inconvenience of leaving your WordPress site.

3. Suggestions For Improving Content 

While article numbers are useful, they beg the question:

So what?

Luckily for you, the plugin makes practical suggestions on what exactly to do based on the quality of each page.

Let’s unpack these 5 suggestions:

1. Exclude: Leave out articles that are not in the top 20 positions but appear in position 50 or so when running a content audit. This helps boost your content score. You can always include it when it bursts into the top 3-20 positions.
2. Do Nothing: If your article ranks in the coveted top 3 positions for its target keyword, don’t touch it. Leave it as it is and enjoy the benefits of traffic, brand visibility, leads, sign-ups, and niche dominance that comes with occupying the apex of Google.
3. Update: Does your content piece rank within positions 4-20? Because the article has the potential to do better, they recommend you refresh it. Add new content, perspectives, examples, and data.
4. Merge: Is your SEO blog post or page ranking in the top 4-20 positions alongside similar pages? Then you should combine the similar articles into one unique piece instead of having several similar articles.
5. Rewrite: For a low-traffic article that doesn’t rank in the top 20 for its chosen keyword, review and rewrite it. A rewrite is more extensive than an update. Analyze the top 3 posts in the SERPs, match the search intent, rewrite, and republish the article. 

The best part?

You can click on each suggestion for a further breakdown of the action steps.

For instance here are concrete suggestions under the ‘Update’ advice.

This makes content optimization super easy. Plus, if you need further guidance, you can click the links under each recommendation to read detailed guides on the step from the renowned Ahrefs blog. 

4. Monitor Your Backlinks

Backlinks pointing to an article are a powerful ranking factor.

With the Ahrefs SEO WP plugin, you can monitor your article’s links. You get a snap of all links activity around your article:

• Links gained.
• Links lost.
• Referring page DR and UR.
• Link anchor text.

You can even blacklist specific toxic URLs or domains.

5 Tips For Maximizing The Ahrefs SEO Plugin

Here are quick tips on how to get the best from this new plugin.

1. Exclude pages that aren’t designed to drive SEO traffic from your content, e.g. About Us, Privacy Policy, Contact Us, etc. This will hike your content score.
2. Skip newly published pages when defining the scope of your audits. That’s simply because new content takes a while (around three months) to settle in its rightful position on the SERPs
3. Observe notifications that appear on top of your report. You get useful advice on issues like keyword cannibalization, new unapproved keyword suggestions, and more.
4. Schedule content audits to suit your preferences. You can set the plugin to run audits daily, weekly, or monthly.
5. Remember to reconnect the plugin once it expires after a few weeks if you don’t have a paid Ahrefs plan. The free Authorization code expires, so you need to grab a new one once the old one lapses to reconnect the plugin to your site. 
6. Update content as advised because content refreshes are an integral part of a smart digital content strategy. Content decay tanks your rankings and rewrites are the only way to overcome it.

Why Getting The Free Ahrefs SEO WP Plugin Is A No Brainer

The Ahrefs SEO WordPress plugin is beneficial in many ways.

1. It’s free.

You don’t pay a single penny for a useful plugin that packs a lot of SEO value. For example, dedicated keyword ranking trackers like Wincher charge anything from $30 per month to $100+. Not to mention content audits that cost thousands of dollars. You get content audits and keyword ranking tracking for free. What more could you ask for?

2. It integrates with other SEO plugins

If you are already using other SEO plugins like Yoast SEO, RankMath, and AIOSEO, you don’t have to worry about compatibility issues. The Ahrefs SEO plugin works perfectly with them all. It works with not against them. It pulls out and syncs keyword data from your favorite SEO plugins. 

3. It’s super fast and lightweight.

Plugins can be bloated and slow down your site. Not so with the Ahrefs SEO WordPress plugin. It works in a flash without negatively affecting your site speed because it’s crafted using the latest coding best practices.

4. It’s easy to set up.

The setup process is straightforward even for non-techies. You don’t need to pay a developer to do it for you. It’s so simple you can do it yourself and run your first content audit in minutes. 

5. It’s unique.

Ahrefs SEO is truly distinctive. It allows you to monitor backlinks to your content, run content audits, get content optimization tips, and see traffic/backlink numbers next to your articles. And you get all this without leaving your WordPress website dashboard.

With all these benefits, the plugin is worth considering.

Ahrefs SEO Plugin: Worth A Try

Yes, the jury is still out on this new kid on the block on the WordPress SEO plugins scene.

But early indications show the free Ahrefs SEO WordPress plugin is an outstanding content optimization tool. It has been well-received in the WordPress community. The plugin already boasts 9,000+ installations (and counting) a few days after launch. 

It’s a great fit if:

• You are on a shoestring budget and aren’t ready to pay for dedicated SEO tools yet.
• You want the SEO essentials minus the bells and whistles like fancy reports.
• You are new to SEO and don’t want to get overwhelmed by loaded, complex software.

Take the plugin for a spin today.

Who knows, it might help your content shoot up the rankings and increase your website traffic splendidly.

P.S. Have you tried the Ahrefs SEO WP plugin yet? What’s your first impression?

About The Author

Qhubekani Nyathi

Hi, I’m QT aka, the Click Guy.

I’m a pillar content specialist.

I get a kick out of creating authoritative data-heavy long-form pillar content that drives traffic, leads, sign-ups, and sales for B2B brands that get content marketing.

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