How to Use Ahrefs Site Audit to Fix On-Page SEO Issues (2025 Guide)

Technical SEO isn’t glamourous, but it’s the bedrock that determines whether your content marketing efforts succeed or fail. Without a solid technical foundation, even the most brilliant content can languish in the digital shadows, unseen by your target audiance. As someone who’s spent years in the trenches, from the analytical rigor of McKinsey to the strategic investments at Bain Capital, I can tell you this: data-driven action is paramount. In this comprehensive guide, I’ll walk you through exactly how to leverage Ahrefs Site Audit to identify and fix the most common on-page SEO issues that could be holding your website back from its full potential. This isn’t about theory; it’s about practical, actionable steps that drive real results.

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The Unseen Battle: Why Technical SEO is Your Most Important Foundation

Think of your website as a physical store. You might have the best products and the most engaging displays, but if the doors are locked, the aisles are blocked, or the lighting is poor, customers won’t come in. Technical SEO is precisely that: ensuring the ‘doors’ are open, the ‘aisles’ are clear, and the ‘lighting’ is optimal for search engine bots – and by extension, for your human users. Ignoring this foundational layer is like trying to build a skyscraper on a swamp. It will eventually sink.

In my experience, many businesses, especially those focusing heavily on content creation, often overlook the technical underpinnings. They invest heavily in blog posts and articles, only to wonder why their traffic isn’t growing. The truth is, Google’s algorithms are increasingly sophisticated, prioritising user experience and site health alongside content quality. If your site is slow, broken, or difficult for bots to crawl, your content will struggle to rank, regardless of its brilliance. It’s a harsh reality, but one that presents a clear opportunity for those who get it right.

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What Makes Ahrefs Site Audit Essential for Technical SEO

Ahrefs Site Audit is more than just a scanner; it’s a diagnostic tool that mimics how search engines perceive your site. It crawls your website like a search engine bot, analyzing over 100 different SEO factors across six critical areas. This comprehensive approach is what sets it apart and makes it an indispensable asset in your SEO toolkit.

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Step-by-Step: Running Your First Ahrefs Site Audit

Getting started with Ahrefs Site Audit is straightforward, but setting it up correctly ensures you get the most accurate and useful data. Think of this as laying the groundwork for a critical business intelligence report.

Setting Up Your Audit: Precision is Key

1. 1Access Site Audit: Log into your Ahrefs account. From the main dashboard, you’ll find “Site Audit” prominently displayed in the top menu bar. Click on it to begin.
2. 2Create New Project: Once in Site Audit, click the “New Project” button. A pop-up will appear prompting you to enter your website URL. Ensure you use the exact canonical URL (e.g., `https://www.yourdomain.com`).
3. 3Configure Crawl Settings: This step is critical for a relevant audit.
   • Set crawl limit: For most small to medium-sized sites (up to a few thousand pages), starting with 10,000 pages is a good baseline. Very large enterprise sites might need more. Understanding your site’s scale is key here.
   • Choose crawl speed: “Normal” is generally fine. If your server resources are limited or you notice a performance dip during the crawl, choose “slow.” This is about being a good web citizen.
   • Enable JavaScript rendering: This is paramount if your site heavily relies on JavaScript to display content (e.g., single-page applications, dynamic content loading). If you skip this, Ahrefs might miss a significant portion of your content, leading to an incomplete audit.
   • Consider inclusion/exclusion rules: For highly specific audits, you can tell Ahrefs to only crawl certain subfolders (e.g., `/blog/`) or exclude others (e.g., `/staging/`). This is an advanced tactic for highly targeted analysis.
4. 4Start the Crawl: Click “Start Audit” and wait for completion. The time this takes varies significantly based on your site’s size and the crawl speed settings, typically ranging from 10 minutes for smaller sites to several hours for very large ones. You’ll receive an email notification when it’s done.

Reading Your Health Score Dashboard: Your SEO Report Card

Once the crawl is complete, your dashboard becomes a high-level report card, providing an immediate overview of your site’s technical health. Don’t get overwhelmed; focus on the actionable insights.

• Health Score (0-100%): This is your primary indicator. While 100% is ideal, a realistic and excellent target for most active websites is 90%+. Anything below 80% signals significant issues that are likely impeding your SEO performance.
• Issues by Priority: Ahrefs categorizes issues into Errors (most critical, fix immediately), Warnings (important, address soon), and Notices (minor, worth reviewing). This prioritization is invaluable for resource allocation, a principle I lived by as a CFO at companies like Kyx and Fusion Transport – focus on the highest impact items first.
• Pages Crawled: This tells you the total number of pages Ahrefs analyzed. Ensure this number aligns with your expectations for the size of your website. Discrepancies might indicate crawl issues.
• Top Issues: A quick glance at this section highlights the most prevalent and critical problems requiring your immediate attention. These are often low-hanging fruit for significant impact.

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The 8 Most Critical On-Page SEO Issues (And How to Fix Them)

Having conducted well over 500 website audits in my career, I’ve observed patterns. Certain issues surface repeatedly, and addressing them consistently yields the most significant improvements in organic performance. This isn’t just about fixing errors; it’s about optimizing for Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) guidelines, which directly impact how your site is perceived and ranked.

1. Broken Internal Links (404 Errors)

Why It Matters: Broken links are digital dead ends. They waste your crawl budget—meaning Googlebot spends time trying to access non-existent pages instead of indexing your valuable content. More importantly, they create a terrible user experience, leading to higher bounce rates and a perception of a neglected, untrustworthy site. I’ve personally seen businesses lose 15-20% of their organic traffic due to widespread 404 errors, often after a poorly executed site redesign. It’s like having a beautiful store, but half the products are out of stock and the shelves are empty.

How to Fix:

• Export all 404 errors from the Ahrefs Issues report under the “Internal pages have 4xx status code” category. This gives you a clear list to work from.
• For each 404, assess if the missing page should be restored (if it was a critical page) or if a 301 redirect to a relevant, existing page is more appropriate. A 301 redirect passes most of the link equity, preserving your SEO value. Avoid 302 redirects for permanent changes.
• Implement the 301 redirects on your server or via your CMS. If you’re on WordPress, plugins like Redirection can simplify this.
• Update the internal links on your site that point to the old, broken URLs. This is often overlooked but crucial. Use tools like Screaming Frog SEO Spider to crawl your site locally and identify these internal links.
• After implementing fixes, re-crawl your site in Ahrefs to verify the issues are resolved.

2. Missing or Duplicate Title Tags

Why It Matters: Title tags (the <title> element in your HTML) are arguably one of the strongest on-page ranking signals. They tell search engines and users what your page is about at a glance. Pages without unique, descriptive titles miss crucial ranking opportunities and appear unprofessional in search results. Duplicate titles confuse search engines, making them unsure which version to rank, effectively splitting your potential SEO power.

How to Fix:

• In Ahrefs Site Audit, navigate to the “HTML tags” report. This will clearly identify pages with missing or duplicate titles.
• For each problematic page, create a unique, descriptive, and compelling title. Aim for a length of 50-60 characters (including spaces) to ensure it displays fully in search results.
• Always include your primary target keyword near the beginning of the title tag if possible, but ensure it reads naturally.
• Don’t just optimize for search engines; write titles that encourage clicks from users. Think about their intent and what problem your page solves. This is where the human element, understanding audience pain points, becomes critical.

3. Slow Page Loading Speed

Why It Matters: Page speed is no longer just a ranking factor; it’s a critical component of user experience. Google explicitly uses it as a ranking signal, and slow sites invariably have higher bounce rates and lower conversion rates. Amazon famously found that every 100ms delay in page load time cost them 1% in sales. Imagine the impact on your business if your site is consistently taking 5+ seconds to load. Users simply won’t wait. This is a direct impact on your bottom line, something I always focused on as a CFO.

How to Fix:

• In Ahrefs, go to the “Performance” report to identify your slowest pages. Aim for a loading time of under 3 seconds, ideally closer to 1-2 seconds.
• Optimize images: This is often the biggest culprit. Use modern formats like WebP, compress existing JPEGs/PNGs without losing quality (tools like TinyPNG are excellent), and lazy-load images not immediately in the viewport.
• Enable browser caching: This allows repeat visitors to load your site faster by storing elements locally.
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): For global audiences, a CDN distributes your content across multiple servers worldwide, reducing latency.
• Minimize HTTP requests: Combine CSS and JavaScript files where possible. Remove unused CSS/JavaScript to reduce file sizes.
• Consider upgrading your hosting: If your server response time is consistently slow (Time To First Byte – TTFB), your hosting provider might be the bottleneck. Invest in reliable hosting.
• Leverage Core Web Vitals: Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights to get detailed recommendations for improving these critical user experience metrics.

4. Poor Mobile Usability

Why It Matters: Over 60% of searches happen on mobile devices. Google uses mobile-first indexing, making mobile optimization critical. The shift to mobile is complete. Over 60% of all searches now happen on mobile devices, and for some industries, it’s significantly higher. Google’s mobile-first indexing means that the mobile version of your site is the primary version used for ranking. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re essentially invisible to a vast segment of your potential audience. This is not just an SEO issue; it’s a fundamental business imperative. A frustrating mobile experience drives users away instantly.

How to Fix:

• Review the “Mobile usability” section in your Ahrefs Site Audit report. It will highlight specific issues like small font sizes, unclickable elements, or content too wide for the screen.
• Ensure tap targets (buttons, links) are easily clickable. Google recommends a minimum size of 48px x 48px and sufficient spacing between them to prevent accidental clicks.
• Implement a responsive design that adapts fluidly to all screen sizes, from small smartphones to large desktops. This is the industry standard.
• Test your site on actual mobile devices (various models and operating systems), not just browser developer tools. Real-world testing often uncovers issues simulated environments miss.
• Verify that content doesn’t extend beyond the viewport width, forcing users to scroll horizontally. This is a common and highly annoying mobile usability flaw.
• Ensure your images and media are responsive and load efficiently on mobile networks.

5. Thin or Duplicate Content

Why It Matters: Google’s core mission is to provide the most relevant and high-quality information to its users. Pages with little unique value or “thin content” rarely rank well because they don’t meet user intent or demonstrate expertise. Duplicate content, on the other hand, confuses search engines, making them unsure which version of a page to rank. This can lead to your desired page being outranked by an identical or near-identical copy, or worse, both versions being demoted. This is a direct hit on your E-E-A-T. As the former CEO of Ideascale, a company built on capturing valuable ideas, I understand the importance of unique, high-quality input.

How to Fix:

• Identify thin content pages in Ahrefs (typically under 300 words for informational pages, though this isn’t a hard rule—value matters more than word count, but low word count often correlates with low value). Look for pages with high bounce rates and low time on page in Google Analytics.
• For thin content: Expand the content with valuable information, unique examples, case studies, expert insights, data, and actionable advice. Answer common questions comprehensively.
• For duplicate content:
  • If one version is clearly superior, use a rel="canonical" tag on the duplicate pages pointing to the preferred version.
  • If two pages are very similar but offer distinct value, try to consolidate them into one comprehensive, stronger resource page and redirect the old URLs.
  • For boilerplate content (e.g., product descriptions appearing on many e-commerce pages), ensure your unique content on those pages is substantial enough to overcome the duplication.
• Consider merging similar, low-value pages into fewer, highly comprehensive resource pages. This creates stronger content assets.

6. Missing Meta Descriptions

Why It Matters: While meta descriptions (the <meta name="description"> tag) are not a direct ranking factor, they are critically important for Click-Through Rate (CTR) from search results. A compelling meta description acts as your ad copy in the SERPs, enticing users to click on your listing over a competitor’s. Missing or generic meta descriptions are a missed opportunity to communicate value and drive traffic.

How to Fix:

• Use the Ahrefs “HTML tags” report to find pages with missing or auto-generated meta descriptions.
• Write unique, engaging meta descriptions for all important pages. Aim for 150-160 characters (including spaces) to ensure full display on desktop. Mobile snippets can be shorter.
• Naturally include your target keyword or a related keyword. While it won’t directly boost rankings, it can make your listing bold in the SERPs if it matches a user’s query, which helps with visibility.
• Focus on compelling copy that highlights the value proposition of the page and encourages clicks. Think about what pain point you’re solving or what benefit the user will gain.
• Avoid keyword stuffing; prioritize user value and readability.

7. Improper Heading Tag Structure

Why It Matters: Heading tags (<h1>, <h2>, etc.) are crucial for two main reasons: they help search engines understand the structure and main topics of your content, and they significantly improve content readability and accessibility for users (including those using screen readers). A messy heading structure can make your content seem disorganized and less authoritative, impacting E-E-A-T.

How to Fix:

• In Ahrefs, check the “Content” section for heading-related issues (e.g., multiple H1s, empty headings).
• Ensure you use only one H1 tag per page. This should be your main headline, summarizing the primary topic of the page. Think of it as the title of your book.
• Follow a logical hierarchy: H1 should be followed by H2s, then H3s, and so on. Don’t skip levels (e.g., going directly from H1 to H3).
• Include keywords naturally in your headings. This helps reinforce the topic to search engines and users, but avoid keyword stuffing.
• Make your headings descriptive and useful for readers. They should function as a mini-table of contents for your content, allowing users to quickly skim and understand the main points.

8. Redirect Chains and Loops

Why It Matters: A redirect chain occurs when a URL redirects to another URL, which then redirects to a third, and so on. A redirect loop is an endless circle of redirects. Both are problematic: they slow down page loading significantly as the browser has to make multiple requests, and they can dilute or even prevent the passing of “link equity” (PageRank) to the final destination page. This affects crawl budget, user experience, and ultimately, your rankings. It’s like being given incorrect directions multiple times before finally reaching your destination—frustrating and inefficient.

How to Fix:

• In Ahrefs, check the “Redirects” report to identify any redirect chains or loops. Ahrefs provides the full path of the chain, making it easy to diagnose.
• The primary fix is to update all internal and external links to point directly to the final destination URL. This eliminates the need for multiple hops.
• If direct linking isn’t immediately possible, try to limit redirect chains to a maximum of 1-2 hops. More than that significantly impacts performance.
• Fix redirect loops immediately. These prevent users and bots from accessing the page entirely, resulting in a completely inaccessible page.
• When performing site migrations or URL changes, meticulously plan your redirects to ensure direct 301s from old to new URLs. This proactive approach prevents future chains.

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Advanced Ahrefs Site Audit Techniques: Beyond the Basics

Once you’ve mastered the basics, Ahrefs offers powerful capabilities for deeper analysis and ongoing monitoring. This is where you move from reactive problem-solving to proactive, strategic SEO management—a mindset cultivated through years of financial analysis and strategic leadership.

Custom Crawl Settings for Targeted Analysis

For larger, more complex websites, a single, comprehensive audit can be overwhelming. Targeted audits allow you to focus your efforts and resources on specific sections or issues.

• E-commerce Sites: Perform separate audits for different sections—product pages, category pages, blog content. Each has unique SEO considerations. For instance, product pages might focus on duplicate content and schema markup, while blog content emphasizes internal linking and content depth.
• Large Enterprise Sites: Don’t try to fix everything at once. Focus your initial audits and efforts on high-traffic sections, conversion-critical pages, or areas identified as having severe issues. Prioritization is key.
• New Launches/Migrations: Crucially, run audits both before and immediately after launching new site sections or performing migrations. This allows you to catch issues before they impact live traffic, preventing costly rollbacks.
• Exclude Irrelevant Sections: Configure Ahrefs to exclude development environments, internal tools, or very low-priority sections to conserve crawl budget and focus your reporting.

Integrating with Google Analytics and Search Console

While Ahrefs provides excellent technical data, linking it with your Google Analytics and Search Console accounts provides crucial context and helps prioritize fixes based on real-world impact.

1. 1Link Your Accounts: Ahrefs allows direct integration with Google Analytics (GA4) and Google Search Console (GSC). Do this from your Site Audit project settings.
2. 2Prioritize by Traffic: With GA data integrated, Ahrefs can show you which problematic pages also have high organic traffic. Focus your fixing efforts on these pages first; their positive impact will be immediate and significant. As a CFO, I always looked for the highest return on investment, and this applies directly to SEO.
3. 3Monitor Impact: After implementing fixes, use both Ahrefs and Google Analytics to monitor how technical improvements correlate with user behavior metrics like bounce rate, time on page, and conversion rates. Did reducing page load time lead to more conversions? Quantify your success.

Setting Up Monitoring and Alerts: Staying Ahead of the Game

Technical SEO isn’t a one-and-done task. Websites are dynamic; new content is added, old content is removed, and platforms evolve. Regular monitoring is essential to catch new issues before they escalate.

• Schedule Weekly Audits: For active sites that regularly publish content or undergo updates, schedule weekly Ahrefs Site Audits. This provides a consistent pulse check on your site’s health. Monthly might suffice for very static sites.
• Set Up Email Alerts: Configure Ahrefs to send you email notifications for critical new issues (e.g., sudden spikes in 404 errors, indexing issues). This allows for immediate response.
• Create Custom Reports: Ahrefs allows you to create custom reports tailored to different stakeholders. A high-level summary for leadership, a detailed report for your dev team, and a focused report for your content team. This ensures everyone gets the information they need to act.

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Measuring Success: What to Track After Implementation

As a former CFO, I know that if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. Fixing technical SEO issues is an investment, and like any investment, you need to track its return. Here’s what to monitor to quantify your success and prove the value of your efforts:

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Common Mistakes to Avoid: Lessons from the Trenches

While the path to technical SEO success seems clear, there are common pitfalls that can derail your efforts. Having witnessed and corrected these mistakes countless times, I can tell you they often stem from a lack of strategic prioritization or an incomplete understanding of how search engines truly work.

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Taking Action: Your Next Steps to SEO Mastery

Technical SEO success comes from consistent execution, not perfect knowledge. The theoretical understanding is valuable, but it’s the disciplined, iterative application of these principles that yields tangible results. Don’t get paralyzed by the scope; simply start with these immediate, actionable steps:

Remember: a 90%+ health score is achievable for most websites with dedicated effort. Focus on user experience first—when you make your site better for users, search engine rankings typically follow as a natural consequence. This is the core principle of modern SEO.

The technical foundation you build today determines your SEO success tomorrow. Don’t let your valuable content be hampered by technical debt. Start your audit now, systematically work through the issues, and measure your progress. Your future organic traffic—and your bottom line—will thank you.