Trying to figure out why your competitors keep outranking you? Or maybe you’re just tired of guessing what works in your niche. If you want to see what kind of content brings your rivals real results—and how you can outdo them—this guide is for you. We’ll walk through how to use Ahrefs to dig up your competitors’ best-performing pages, spot real trends, and skip the guesswork.
No fluff. No “10x secrets.” Just a straightforward way to find the content you should actually care about.
Step 1: Know Who Your Real Competitors Are
Before you dive into Ahrefs, figure out who you’re actually competing with—online. Sometimes, it’s not the brand down the street, but the one ranking above you for your target keywords.
How to find them: - Google your main keywords. Who keeps popping up? - Plug your own site into Ahrefs’ “Site Explorer” and check the “Competing Domains” report. You’ll see which domains overlap with yours in search results. - Ignore big publishers or aggregators unless they’re directly in your niche. You probably won’t outdo Wikipedia or Forbes.
Pro tip: Don’t get distracted by “aspirational” competitors—focus on sites that are a step or two ahead of you, not giants in another league.
Step 2: Plug Competitor Domains into Site Explorer
Once you have a shortlist (3–5 is plenty), it’s time to get into Ahrefs’ “Site Explorer.” This is where the magic—and sometimes the cold, hard truth—happens.
What to do: 1. Enter your competitor’s domain into Site Explorer. 2. Head to the “Top Pages” report. This shows their highest-traffic pages based on Ahrefs’ estimates.
You’ll see a list of URLs, their estimated monthly organic traffic, top keyword, and the number of referring domains (links from other sites).
What actually matters here: - Pages with steady organic traffic (not just one-hit wonders from a viral spike). - Pages ranking for keywords you care about or could realistically target. - Pages getting links—these usually signal content that people actually care about.
Ignore: - Category/tag pages (unless you’re in ecommerce and want to analyze those). - Obvious “About Us” or legal pages.
Step 3: Sort and Filter for Real Insights
Don’t just copy the top three pages and call it a day. Dig deeper to see what’s really working.
How to filter: - Use the filters to exclude branded keywords (you don’t care about their “login” page). - Sort by “Traffic,” but also check “Referring Domains.” Pages with lots of links are often evergreen or especially useful. - Zero in on pages close to your site’s topic or audience. If they’re getting traffic for something unrelated, skip it.
Ask yourself: - Is this page getting traffic because it’s genuinely good, or because they have a massive domain? - Could you reasonably compete with this content, or are you years away? - Are there recurring themes? For example, are “how to” guides crushing it, or is it product reviews?
Watch out for: - Pages propped up by paid ads. Ahrefs focuses on organic, but always double-check—some competitors might still use tricks to inflate numbers. - Outdated pages still ranking well. This can be a chance for you, but don’t assume you’ll get the same results.
Step 4: Analyze the Content—Don’t Just Copy
Now it’s time to look at the actual content on those top pages. Don’t fall into the trap of just rewriting what’s already out there.
Checklist for analyzing a top page: - What’s the format? (Long guide, listicle, case study, comparison?) - How in-depth is it? Is it surface-level or does it actually solve the reader’s problem? - What’s the hook? (Original data, strong opinions, easy-to-use templates?) - How’s it structured? (Clear headings, images, video, downloadable resources?) - Are there lots of comments or shares? (Signals real engagement.)
Pro tip: Use the “Content Gap” tool in Ahrefs to spot keywords the competitor ranks for—but you don’t. This shows you topics or angles you’ve missed.
What to ignore: - Fluff. Just because a competitor wrote 5000 words doesn’t mean it’s good. - Keyword stuffing. If they’re ranking with spammy tactics, don’t follow their lead—it rarely works long-term.
Step 5: Check Who’s Linking to Their Top Content
Links are still a big deal—pages with lots of quality backlinks usually rank higher. Ahrefs makes this part straightforward.
How to do it: - In Site Explorer, find the top page you care about. - Click on the number under “Referring Domains” or head to the “Backlinks” report for that URL.
What to look for: - Are the links real (from blogs, news sites, or industry resources) or spam? - Are there patterns—like lots of guest posts, resource pages, or mentions in roundups? - Any opportunities for you to get similar links? For example, did they get picked up by a popular newsletter or industry site?
Don’t bother with: - Low-quality links. Tons of junky backlinks don’t help you. - Link schemes or networks. If it looks shady, steer clear.
Step 6: Track Patterns—Not Just Pages
After you’ve done this for a few competitors, you’ll start to see patterns.
Common things to spot: - Which topics always perform well? (e.g., reviews, tutorials, “best of” lists) - What content formats work? (Short vs. long, video vs. text) - Are there recurring keyword themes? (Some niches love “vs.” comparisons, others want step-by-step guides) - What’s missing? Sometimes, you’ll find high-traffic topics nobody’s covered well.
Write down what you see. Don’t get lost in the weeds—focus on repeatable trends, not outliers.
Step 7: Build Your Own Content Plan
Now that you know what works, it’s time to translate this into action.
How to do it: - List the topics and formats you want to tackle, based on your research. - Prioritize pages that: - Have proven demand (traffic + links) - Aren’t dominated by huge brands - Play to your strengths or unique angle
Be honest about your resources: If you’re a team of one, don’t plan to crank out mega-guides every week. Start with one or two pieces you can do well.
What Actually Works (and What Doesn’t)
Works: - Going after topics where you can add something new or better. - Focusing on evergreen content that people will care about next year, not just this month. - Learning from “why” a page ranks, not just “what” they wrote.
Doesn’t work: - Blindly copying competitors’ content without understanding why it works. - Chasing after every possible keyword. Spread yourself too thin and you’ll see weak results. - Ignoring your own strengths or unique perspective.
Ignore the hype: Tools like Ahrefs are powerful, but they’re not a magic bullet. You still have to do the work—and sometimes, the most successful content is the one that goes a little against the grain.
Keep It Simple—And Iterate
Don’t overthink it. Use Ahrefs to spot what’s working for your competitors, figure out why, and make something better (or at least different). Start small, track what’s working, and adjust as you go.
The goal isn’t to outdo your competitors at everything overnight—it’s to steadily build up content that actually matters to your audience. And if you hit a wall, come back to the data. The answers are usually right there, if you know where to look.