Ahrefs is one of the most complex and effective digital marketing tools available which also makes it the most well known and used. However, for anyone looking to learn about SEO and digital marketing, it can be a different tool, to begin with, and there are plenty of other options available. Here’s a look at 3 Ahrefs alternatives whether you’re a freelancer, working for a digital agency in Manchester or work in house in Leeds.
Mangools
If you’re familiar with the Ahrefs operating system then Mangools is certainly a big change. Rather than being one integrated platform, Mongools works as 5 separate tools which are neatly laid out on their system. The 5 main features include:
- Keyword Finder (review and analyse keywords)
- SERP Checker (Search engine research page analyse)
- SERP Watcher (Keyword rank tracker)
- Link Miner (Backlink checker tool)
- Site Profiler (Review SEO metrics and insights)
It’s a very organised tool with its options, but in some people’s views, it’s too organised. For example, if you’re looking at the keywords a competitor website ranks for you would use the keyword finder tool. But once you’ve found them and want to check out their backlinks, you can’t progress via this section, you have to return to the homepage and use the link miner option. It’s not a terrible system to use but it lacks a progressive, clever OS when diving into research.
But for first time users and people new to the SEO world, it’s easy to use and doesn’t get confused with some of the overly complicated features of Ahrefs.
In comparison to Ahrefs, Mangools simply lacks the sophistication of Ahrefs as its backlink analysis and filtering capabilities lack options. But again, like most of these alternative tools, Mangools, starts at around half the price of Ahrefs, making it a tempting choice for users new to the industry.
Moz Pro
Moz Pro is a good SEO tool but when it comes to the features of the platform, Moz Pro isn’t at the same level as its main competitors, Ahrefs and SEMrush. Its main problem is that in recent years it’s failed to keep up with the mentioned competitors and while it has all the fundamentals, it’s not as innovative.
Ahrefs and SEMrush continually release improvements to their platform in line with Google Algorithm updates and user feedback. But Moz Pro has only released one feature of improvement recently, which is their keyword tool “Keyword Explorer”.
It’s worth highlighting that Moz’s keyword tool is in-depth and good to use from a professional aspect. And if generating good long-tail keyword suggestions is something you’re looking for, Moz works really well. But this isn’t to say it’s better than SEMrush or Ahrefs, it just competes with them. There’s a lot of features such as the backlink check that also completes with the performance of the big two competitors, but as mentioned, it just lacks the same level of overall features.
Unless you have a specific reason for not using SEMrush or Ahrefs, isn’t a key selling point on Moz other than the convenient Domain Authority checker built into your webpage, but this wouldn’t make it worth the same price as the competition.
BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo isn’t the same kind of alternative mentioned above as BuzzSumo isn’t as SEO focused. It’s been designed to be a content marketing tool. But the reason it’s been listed here as an alternative for Ahrefs is that SEO and content marketing overlap a considerable amount.
As most will know in the SEO industry, a website can be optimized to perfection with keywords and backlinks, but Google now focuses on content as a main ranking factor so the content on the website needs to be great.
BuzzSumo also has some SEO-focused tools such as a backlink feature. But it would be better to use this tool alongside a platform like Ahrefs to better optimise your website. If your budget is tight and you’re a content-based site, then Buzzsumo will help to optimise your content and identify popular content online to help your research and analysis.
To summarise, if your primary focus is boosting SEO ranking, then it’s best to try one of the other 5 alternatives. But if you want you’re ranking to improve as a byproduct of your content marketing strategy BuzzSumo is a great tool.
Conclusion
As it’s been referenced many times, Ahrefs is likely to offer everything you need from an SEO perspective and comes highly recommended for its innovation, latest updates and user experience, but this does come at the higher price bracket. The majority of these tools do usually offer a free trial to give you an idea of their performance before you commit to a monthly plan, and you can also consider using white label SEO to help you learn and manage your clients. But without knowing your website’s specific needs, you’ll have to decide what you think best suits you.
There are plenty of other options to check out but the majority will pull their data through from other reliable sources such as Moz, Ahrefs and SEMrush, which is why they are the most popular and first choice for SEO industry professionals.