Ahrefs SEO Competitor Analysis Training Course
| Course code | SD-DM-020 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 5 days |
| Level | Intermediate |
| Category | Digital Marketing |
| Delivery | Classroom or live online |
| Language | English |
| Certificate | Certificate of completion |
Course overview
Organic search teams often know who their competitors are commercially but cannot explain why rival domains outrank them, which topics are genuinely worth pursuing, or where link-building effort will produce defensible gains. Ahrefs contains the evidence needed to answer these questions, but value depends on disciplined interpretation rather than exporting large keyword lists. This course equips practitioners to turn Ahrefs data into focused competitive SEO decisions, prioritised content work and credible recommendations for stakeholders.
Participants work through a structured competitor-analysis workflow using Ahrefs Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, Content Gap, Link Intersect, Rank Tracker and Site Audit. They learn to distinguish true search competitors from business competitors; benchmark visibility, referring domains and content performance; identify keyword gaps by intent and ranking difficulty; analyse competitor pages and SERP features; investigate link acquisition patterns; and build a practical response plan. The course also connects Ahrefs findings with Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4 data so recommendations are based on both market opportunity and site performance.
Instructor demonstrations are followed by guided analysis of realistic B2B and ecommerce search scenarios, with time to apply each method to a participant's own domain or an assigned case-study site. Participants leave with a documented Ahrefs competitor-analysis pack: competitor set, keyword-gap prioritisation, content opportunity backlog, link-prospect rationale, technical comparison notes and a 90-day SEO action plan. This provides an immediately usable deliverable for planning conversations with marketing leaders, content teams and agencies.
The course is designed for intermediate SEO, content and digital marketing professionals who already work with websites, keyword research or performance reporting and need a repeatable Ahrefs-led process for competitive organic-growth planning.
Course objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Define a validated organic-search competitor set using Ahrefs Competing Domains and keyword-overlap evidence
- Benchmark competitor visibility, traffic-value estimates, referring-domain profiles and top-performing pages in Site Explorer
- Prioritise keyword-gap opportunities using search intent, ranking position, Keyword Difficulty, traffic potential and business relevance
- Analyse competing SERPs to identify page formats, content angles, SERP features and ranking-page patterns
- Build a content-gap backlog that maps target keywords to new, improved, consolidated or protected pages
- Use Link Intersect and referring-domain analysis to create a qualified competitor-informed link-prospect list
- Compare technical SEO signals with Ahrefs Site Audit and translate findings into remediation priorities
- Produce a 90-day competitor SEO action plan with ownership, sequencing, evidence and success measures
Benefits of attending
For you
- Build confidence defending SEO priorities with competitor evidence rather than intuition or isolated keyword volumes
- Create board- and manager-ready competitor analysis packs using a repeatable Ahrefs workflow
- Strengthen content-strategy capability by connecting search intent, SERP evidence and page-level opportunity
- Gain practical link-analysis skills for evaluating competitor authority without copying low-quality backlink tactics
- Demonstrate intermediate Ahrefs proficiency through a documented 90-day SEO action plan
For your organisation
- Direct content and optimisation resources towards competitor gaps with measurable search-demand potential
- Reduce wasted SEO activity by separating commercially relevant organic competitors from superficial rivals
- Improve agency governance through clearer benchmarks, evidence requests and prioritised recommendations
- Create a shared process for linking Ahrefs intelligence with Search Console and GA4 performance data
- Identify link, content and technical priorities early enough to protect organic visibility against competitor moves
Target competencies
Who should attend
- SEO Specialists — who need to convert Ahrefs data into prioritised organic-search actions
- Digital Marketing Managers — who must justify SEO investment against competitor activity and commercial goals
- Content Strategists — who plan editorial roadmaps and need evidence for topic, format and optimisation choices
- In-house Marketing Executives — who manage websites or agencies and need to challenge SEO recommendations confidently
- Ecommerce Managers — who need to identify category, product and comparison-page opportunities against rival retailers
- Agency Account Managers — who must present defensible competitor findings and action plans to client stakeholders
Requirements and prerequisites
Participants should understand basic SEO concepts including keywords, search intent, rankings, on-page optimisation, backlinks and referring domains. Experience using a website CMS, spreadsheet software and either Google Search Console or Google Analytics is expected. Access to an Ahrefs account with Site Explorer, Keywords Explorer, Rank Tracker and Site Audit permissions is strongly recommended; a shared training account or case-study data can be used where this is not possible. Participants should bring a laptop and, ideally, a domain they can analyse. Advanced SQL, programming, paid-search expertise and prior agency experience are not required.
Training methodology
The five days combine instructor-led Ahrefs demonstrations with individual, paired and small-group analysis. Participants interrogate assigned competitor domains in Site Explorer, test keyword hypotheses in Keywords Explorer, review live SERPs, and compare referring-domain evidence rather than relying on pre-prepared screenshots. Short case studies cover B2B lead generation and ecommerce category competition. Each day closes with a working artefact that feeds the final competitor-analysis pack. On day five, participants present and refine a 90-day action plan, including assumptions, owners, dependencies and reporting measures.
Course outline
Day 1: Establishing the competitive search landscape
- Organic-search competitors versus commercial competitors
- Ahrefs interface, metrics and data limitations
- Site Explorer Overview and Organic Competitors reports
- Domain-level visibility and traffic-value benchmarking
- URL, subfolder and subdomain comparison methods
- Brand versus non-brand keyword segmentation
- Competitor scorecard design and baseline capture
Workshop: Participants build a competitor scorecard for a case-study domain, selecting and evidencing its most relevant organic-search competitors.
Day 2: Finding and prioritising keyword opportunities
- Keywords Explorer metrics and database selection
- Search intent classification and commercial relevance
- Content Gap configuration for multiple competitors
- Missing, weak and shared keyword opportunity types
- Keyword Difficulty, traffic potential and parent-topic interpretation
- Ranking-position filters and quick-win identification
- Keyword clustering and opportunity scoring models
Workshop: Participants produce a ranked keyword-gap worksheet with intent labels, target pages and a justified priority score.
Day 3: Analysing competitor content and SERPs
- Top Pages and Top Subfolders competitor analysis
- Competing-page identification at keyword level
- SERP Overview interpretation and ranking-history review
- Search-result formats, SERP features and content intent
- Page-level content angle and information-gain analysis
- Content decay, cannibalisation and consolidation signals
- Content backlog decisions for create, improve, merge or protect actions
Workshop: Participants analyse three competing ranking pages and create a page-by-page content opportunity brief for their highest-value topic cluster.
Day 4: Benchmarking authority and technical performance
- Referring domains, backlinks and link-attribute interpretation
- Link Intersect for competitor-informed prospect discovery
- Best by Links and broken-backlink opportunity analysis
- Link-growth velocity and suspicious-link pattern assessment
- Ahrefs Site Audit crawl configuration and project scope
- Technical issue prioritisation by impact and effort
- Competitor technical comparison across indexability, internal links and page performance signals
Workshop: Participants create a qualified link-prospect rationale and a technical comparison log with recommended remediation priorities.
Day 5: Turning Ahrefs research into an SEO action plan
- Integrating Ahrefs findings with Google Search Console queries
- Validating opportunity assumptions with Google Analytics 4 outcomes
- Rank Tracker setup, tags and competitor tracking
- Looker Studio reporting structure for competitor SEO
- Ninety-day roadmap sequencing and dependency mapping
- SEO forecast assumptions and stakeholder communication
- Governance cadence for monitoring competitor movement
Workshop: Participants assemble and present a 90-day Ahrefs competitor SEO action plan containing priorities, owners, milestones, KPIs and reporting cadence.
Tools & standards covered
Ahrefs, Google Search Console, Google Analytics 4, Looker Studio
A typical training day
| 08:30 – 10:30 | First session |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | Refreshment break |
| 10:45 – 12:30 | Second session |
| 12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch and networking |
| 13:30 – 15:00 | Third session |
| 15:00 – 15:15 | Refreshment break |
| 15:15 – 16:30 | Workshop and daily review |
Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.
What the fee includes
- Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
- Full course workbook and materials
- Exercise files, templates and case studies
- Certificate of completion
- Refreshments and lunch (classroom deliveries)
- Post-course application plan
- Facilitator follow-up on request
- Group rates from five participants
How you can take this course
Classroom
Scheduled sessions in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kigali, Dar es Salaam, Dubai and Cape Town.
Live online
The same facilitator and materials, delivered live for distributed teams and individuals.
In-house
Delivered privately for your team, at your offices or a venue of your choice, tailored to your context. Request a proposal.
Certification
Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.
Frequently asked questions
Upcoming sessions
New dates are being scheduled. Ask us about the next session or an in-house delivery for your team.
Ask about datesGroup of 5+?
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