In the competitive world of affiliate marketing, mastering keyword research is essential. Ahrefs, a powerful tool renowned for its deep analytical capabilities, offers a unique advantage. This guide delves into how to harness Ahrefs to uncover valuable keywords that align with your marketing goals, analyze your competition, and refine your content strategy to boost visibility and drive conversions. Whether you’re new to affiliate marketing or looking to enhance your existing efforts, this article will equip you with the knowledge to leverage Ahrefs effectively for optimal results.
1. Overview of Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a powerful tool designed to aid in keyword research and SEO analysis, making it an indispensable resource for affiliate marketers. Known for its extensive database and precise tracking capabilities, Ahrefs offers a suite of features that cater specifically to the needs of those looking to optimize their affiliate marketing efforts. Key functionalities include the Site Explorer, which allows users to analyze their competitors’ backlink profiles and organic search traffic. Additionally, the Keywords Explorer provides insightful data on keyword difficulty, search volume, and the potential traffic a keyword might bring. Another crucial feature is the Content Explorer, which helps identify content opportunities by highlighting the most popular articles within a specific niche based on backlinks and social shares. By utilizing these tools, affiliate marketers can develop more informed strategies that align with their goals, ensuring their content reaches the intended audience effectively and efficiently.
2. Preparation for Keyword Research:
Before diving into keyword research with Ahrefs, it is essential to set up your account and familiarize yourself with the necessary tools available on the platform. Starting with account setup, ensure that you have access to Ahrefs by subscribing to one of their plans, which provides various features based on your needs and the scale of your projects.
Once your account is active, familiarize yourself with the dashboard and the main tools you will be using, such as the Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, and Content Explorer. Understanding how to navigate these tools effectively will streamline your keyword research process.
Next, clearly define the goals and objectives of your keyword research. Are you aiming to identify low-competition keywords that drive high traffic, or are you looking for keywords that have a high commercial intent? Establishing clear goals will guide your research process, helping you to focus on finding keywords that are most relevant to your affiliate marketing campaign’s needs.
By preparing thoroughly, you ensure that your keyword research using Ahrefs is both efficient and tailored to support your affiliate marketing objectives, ultimately leading to more targeted and effective marketing strategies.
3. How to Use Ahrefs for Keyword Research
Step-by-Step Using Ahrefs
Getting Started with Ahrefs
Sign Up and Login
- Sign Up: Create an account on the Ahrefs website. They offer a trial period which you can use to get started.
- Login: Once signed up, log in to your Ahrefs account.
Ahrefs Dashboard
- Dashboard: The main dashboard provides an overview of your projects, showing key metrics like Domain Rating (DR), URL Rating (UR), number of backlinks, and organic search traffic.
Keyword Research
Using Keywords Explorer
- Keywords Explorer: Navigate to the Keywords Explorer tool.
- Enter Keywords: Type in the keywords you want to research.
- Analyze Results: Review the results, which include metrics like Keyword Difficulty (KD), search volume, clicks, and global volume.
Finding Keyword Ideas
- Keyword Ideas: Explore related keyword ideas, questions, and newly discovered keywords.
- SERP Overview: Analyze the current top-ranking pages for the keyword to understand the competition.
Backlink Analysis
Using Site Explorer
- Site Explorer: Enter a URL to analyze its backlink profile.
- Backlink Profile: Review the total number of backlinks, referring domains, and the distribution of follow vs. no-follow links.
- Top Pages: Identify the top-performing pages based on backlinks and traffic.
Competitor Backlink Analysis
- Compare Competitors: Enter competitor URLs to compare their backlink profiles against yours.
- Link Intersect: Use the Link Intersect tool to find websites that link to your competitors but not to you.
Site Audit
Setting Up a Site Audit
- Site Audit: Navigate to the Site Audit tool and set up a new project.
- Configuration: Configure the audit settings, including the crawl scope, speed, and schedule.
- Running the Audit: Run the audit to identify SEO issues on your website, such as broken links, duplicate content, and slow pages.
Reviewing Audit Results
- Health Score: Check the overall health score of your site.
- Issues: Review the specific issues identified, categorized by severity (errors, warnings, notices).
- Fix Recommendations: Follow the recommendations provided to fix the identified issues.
Content Explorer
Finding Content Ideas
- Content Explorer: Use this tool to find popular content in your niche.
- Search by Topic: Enter a topic or keyword to find content with high engagement (social shares, backlinks).
- Analyze Content: Look at the performance metrics of individual pieces of content to identify what works well.
Rank Tracker
Setting Up Rank Tracking
- Rank Tracker: Navigate to the Rank Tracker tool.
- Add Project: Set up a new project by entering your website URL and selecting the target keywords.
- Monitoring: Track your rankings over time and get alerts for significant changes.
Alerts
Setting Up Alerts
- Alerts: Set up alerts to get notified about new backlinks, lost backlinks, and changes in keyword rankings.
- Configuration: Configure the frequency and type of alerts you want to receive.
Reports
Generating Reports
- Custom Reports: Create custom reports based on your needs, whether it’s keyword rankings, backlink profiles, or site audits.
- Export Data: Export your data in various formats (CSV, PDF) for further analysis or sharing with your team.
Using Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer for Effective Keyword Research
To utilize Ahrefs for keyword research effectively, begin by accessing the “Keywords Explorer” tool. This powerful feature is essential for uncovering valuable insights about potential keywords. Start by navigating to the Keywords Explorer section from the main dashboard. Here, you can enter one or multiple keywords related to your affiliate marketing niche.
Once you input your keywords into Keywords Explorer, Ahrefs will generate a comprehensive report showcasing various metrics. These include search volume, keyword difficulty, click-through rates, and an overview of the current top-ranking pages. This data is crucial as it helps determine the feasibility and potential success of targeting specific keywords in your affiliate campaigns.
To refine your keyword list, use the filters available in Keywords Explorer. Filter options allow you to sort keywords based on search volume, keyword difficulty, and cost-per-click (CPC), which is particularly useful for evaluating the commercial potential of keywords. Low difficulty scores combined with high search volumes and favorable CPC values often indicate good targets for affiliate marketing.
Additionally, consider using Ahrefs’ “Questions” feature within Keywords Explorer to find long-tail keyword opportunities that are formulated as questions. These can be particularly effective for capturing traffic from informational searches related to your products.
By following these steps, you can effectively harness Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer to identify and analyze keywords that will enhance your affiliate marketing efforts, driving targeted traffic and increasing conversion opportunities.
My personal tips when I research keywords in affiliate marketing using Ahrefs
After analyzing the first steps
– Discover your strengths (refer to the detailed article here)
– Choose a niche market (refer to the detailed article here)
Step 1:
I put those seed keywords one by one into the “keywords-explorer” tab of Ahrefs.
Then, I will export the list of competitors ranking for the keyword: “AI Marketing Tool” and save it to a Google driver table.
Step 2:
Next, I will choose the competitor with the highest traffic and highest keyword ranking to export that keyword list. In this case, I choose the top 1 competitor: https://www.marketermilk.com/blog/ai-marketing-tools. They are in the top 2,598 keywords and this ladipage brings them 5,546 traffic a month.
If you find 2598 keywords is quite a lot, you can export less by using filters. Only take keywords where that landing page is in the top 10 or that keyword has search volume > 100, for example.
Next, choose to analyze the longtail keywords in that list. And remember, any keyword analysis requires exporting the top 10 competitors to a google driver file (I will explain this later). In this case, I further analyze longtail keywords, such as:
– best ai marketing tools
– free ai tools for marketing
– ai tools for digital marketing
– ai content marketing tools
Step 3:
Go back to the keyword explorer tab with the seed keyword: “ai marketing tool”. I continue to select the “Matching terms” tab. Here, Ahrefs will also list a lot of longtail keywords and you can analyze them similarly as above.
After analyzing a series of longtail keywords in steps 2 and 3, we will have a table of results as follows.
Column 1: List of longtail keywords
Column 2: Corresponding search volume of each keyword
Column 3: list of 10 competitors (top 1-10) that are ranking longtail keyword,
The next columns are the indicators of the competitor list, such as Backlinks, Referring Domains, URL rating, Domain rating, Traffic, and Keywords.
Step 4:
We will filter out keywords with low competition to conduct SEO first. In my opinion, keywords with low competition are those in the list of competitors with DR index <50.
Note that DR < 50 is applicable in this particular case.. Depending on your affiliate marketing niche, you can have your own selection criteria. In my point of view, the most effective criteria is DR<30.
For example, in this specific case, I will choose the keyword: “AI marketing automation” for SEO first because out of 10 of my competitors, there are 2 competitors with DR<50.
If you want a spreadsheet like the picture for reference, please leave your email and I will share it with you.
IV. Analyzing Competitors and Understanding the Market with Ahrefs:
To gain a competitive edge in affiliate marketing, it’s essential to understand not only your keywords but also those of your competitors. Ahrefs provides robust tools to analyze your competitors’ keyword strategies, which can be invaluable for refining your own approach.
Start by identifying your main competitors. These could be other affiliate marketers or websites ranking for the keywords you’re targeting. Once identified, use Ahrefs’ “Site Explorer” tool to enter their website URLs. This tool provides a detailed breakdown of their search traffic, the keywords they rank for, and the pages that bring in the most traffic.
Focus on the “Organic Keywords” report within Site Explorer to see a comprehensive list of keywords your competitors rank for, along with associated metrics such as search volume, keyword position, and the estimated traffic each keyword brings to their sites. This analysis reveals which keywords are successfully driving traffic to your competitors and may highlight opportunities you have overlooked.
Additionally, examine the “Content Gap” feature in Ahrefs. This tool allows you to compare your keyword profile with those of your competitors to identify keywords they rank for that you don’t. By inputting multiple competitors, you can find common keywords they are targeting, which might be valuable additions to your keyword strategy.
Utilize this competitor analysis to refine your keyword list by adding promising keywords your competitors are using and optimizing your content to compete more effectively. This strategic approach helps in crafting a more targeted and competitive SEO strategy for your affiliate marketing efforts.
Implementing Keywords into Content Strategy
Once you have a list of optimized keywords from your Ahrefs research, the next step is to integrate these keywords strategically into your content to maximize your SEO and affiliate marketing effectiveness. Here are some tips on how to incorporate keywords into various types of content effectively:
- Content Integration:
- Blog Posts and Articles: Use your primary keyword in the title, headings, and throughout the body where relevant. Make sure that the keyword usage is natural and helps to clarify the content’s message rather than disrupt it. Use related secondary keywords to support the main keyword and enhance the topic’s depth and reach.
- Videos: Include keywords in your video titles, descriptions, and tags. If you’re creating video content, verbally mention important keywords during the video, as this can help with SEO and context.
- Social Media: When sharing content on social platforms, use keywords in your posts’ captions and hashtags to enhance discoverability and engagement.
- On-Page SEO Optimization:
- Meta Titles and Descriptions: Incorporate your primary keywords into the meta titles and descriptions. These elements are crucial as they influence click-through rates from search engine results pages. Keep your meta titles under 60 characters and meta descriptions around 155 characters to ensure they display properly in search results.
- URLs: Include relevant keywords in your URLs to help search engines understand what your page is about. Keep URLs concise and avoid using unnecessary parameters.
- Alt Text for Images: Use keywords in the alt text of images to help search engines better index your images and improve the SEO of your page.
- Content Quality and Keyword Density:
- Ensure that the content is informative, engaging, and answers the questions that a searcher might have when they enter your target keywords. This approach helps in improving dwell time and reducing bounce rates, which are positive signals to search engines.
- Maintain a healthy keyword density. Overusing keywords can lead to penalties for keyword stuffing, while under-using them might result in lost opportunities to appear in search results. A good rule of thumb is to keep your primary keyword density around 1-2%.
By following these guidelines, you can effectively integrate researched keywords into your content and optimize your affiliate marketing strategies for better search engine visibility and user engagement.
V. Measuring and Adjusting Keyword Strategy
Using Ahrefs to track and refine your keyword strategy is an integral part of maintaining an effective affiliate marketing campaign. Here’s how you can measure the effectiveness of your keywords and optimize them over time:
Tracking Keyword Performance:
- Rank Tracking: Utilize Ahrefs’ rank tracker tool to monitor the positions of your keywords in search results. This tool allows you to see how well your keywords are performing over time and identify trends or shifts in rankings.
- Traffic Metrics: Look at the traffic data in Ahrefs to see how much traffic your keywords are driving to your website. Analyzing changes in traffic can help you understand which keywords are effective and which may need reevaluation
Evaluating Keyword Effectiveness:
- Conversion Rates: Beyond just tracking traffic, assess the conversion rates associated with each keyword. This involves understanding which keywords are not only bringing visitors to your site but also converting them into customers or leads.
- Engagement Metrics: Analyze bounce rates, average session duration, and pages per session from your Google Analytics to gauge how engaging your content is for the keywords you’re targeting. Lower bounce rates and higher engagement metrics typically indicate more relevant and effective content.
Optimization and Adjustment:
- Refine Keywords: Based on the performance data, refine your keyword list by focusing more on high-performing keywords and revising or replacing those that are underperforming.
- SEO Adjustments: Make on-page SEO adjustments to improve rankings for keywords that aren’t performing as well as expected. This might include optimizing meta tags, improving content quality, or increasing internal linking with those specific keywords.
- Content Updates: Update existing content to better align with the keywords that are driving traffic and conversions. This can involve adding new sections to articles, updating outdated information, or increasing keyword density where appropriate.
Continuous Learning:
- Competitor Analysis: Regularly review your competitors’ keyword strategies to see what is working for them. Ahrefs can provide insights into your competitors’ top keywords and help you discover gaps in your own strategy.
- Industry Trends: Stay updated with the latest trends in keyword optimization and SEO best practices. Implementing these can help you maintain a competitive edge in affiliate marketing.
By systematically tracking, evaluating, and adjusting your keyword strategy using Ahrefs, you can ensure that your affiliate marketing efforts are always aligned with the best opportunities to generate traffic and revenue.
VI. Conclusion
In summary, the process of keyword research using Ahrefs is a pivotal component of a successful affiliate marketing strategy. This article has outlined the essential steps for leveraging Ahrefs to uncover valuable keywords that can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. From setting up your account to applying keywords in content and adjusting strategies based on performance metrics, each step is designed to optimize your reach and conversion rates.
It is crucial for marketers in the affiliate domain to not only apply these strategies but also to continue learning and experimenting. The digital marketing landscape is continually evolving, and staying informed about the latest tools and techniques is essential. Ahrefs offers a robust platform for in-depth keyword research and competitor analysis, making it an invaluable resource for affiliate marketers aiming to stay ahead of the curve.
I encourage readers to delve deeper into the functionalities of Ahrefs and other SEO tools to tailor their keyword strategies to their specific marketing goals. Remember, the key to successful affiliate marketing lies in constant optimization and adaptation to the ever-changing online environment. Keep experimenting with different keywords and tactics to discover what works best for your campaigns and helps you achieve your desired outcomes.
You may want to refer to a few other keyword research tools when doing affiliate marketing
>Keyword Research for Affiliate Marketing Using SEMrush
>Keyword Research with Google Keyword Planner for Affiliate Marketing
