Ahrefs vs. Google Ads

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Ahrefs
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Ahrefs is an SEO tool providers. Ahrefs Site Explorer provides a suite of tools including a component for backlink & on-page SEO analysis, online brand mentions tracking, and domain comparison tool for competitor analysis, etc. They refer to themselves as “the largest index of live backlinks.”
$99
per month
Google Ads
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Google Ads (formerly AdWords) is Google's pay-per-click online advertising program. With Google Ads users set their budget and choose where their ads appear in search listings, and on partner websites. Google Ads uses cost-per-click (CPC) bidding.
$500
in Ads credit in the first 60 days
Pricing
AhrefsGoogle Ads
Editions & Modules
Lite
$99.00
per month
Standard
$179.00
per month
Advanced
$399.00
per month
Agency
$999.00
per month
Offer A
$500
in Ads credit in the first 60 days
Offer B
$1500
in Ads credit in the first 60 days
Offer C
$3000
in Ads credit in the first 60 days
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AhrefsGoogle Ads
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AhrefsGoogle Ads
Considered Both Products
Ahrefs
Chose Ahrefs
Ahrefs provides more accurate and important data compared to other services. It has become a very trusted service among the SEO community and collected tremendous amount of data over the years of operation. Ahrefs is designed to meet the needs of a very demanding SEO expert, …
Chose Ahrefs
As a backlink management tool, Ahrefs Site Explorer is the best out there. Being able to look into backlinks and check for any that may be harming our sites is a process that the Ahrefs Site Explorer makes possible. While it does offer keyword tracking as well, I've found the SE…
Chose Ahrefs
Ahrefs is the best tool I've used for link building reporting; however, other tools are better suited for things like keyword position tracking, keyword research, etc.
Google Ads

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
TrustRadius Insights
AhrefsGoogle Ads
Highlights

TrustRadius
Research Team Insight
Published

Ahrefs predominantly attracts marketing professionals and SEO specialists who utilize the tool to enhance their website’s organic reach through detailed SEO audits, backlink analysis, and competitive benchmarking. Users have appreciated Ahrefs’ capability to uncover competitor backlinks, optimize content, and gain comprehensive insights into website health, which aids in planning and executing result-driven marketing strategies. It particularly stands out for its depth in offering insights on backlinks and domain ratings, which are crucial for improving a website’s ranking and visibility.

Google Ads, on the other hand, is equally favored by marketing teams but caters to a broader marketing approach where immediate visibility and conversion are the focus, typically through pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns. Users value Google Ads for its effectiveness in driving targeted advertising campaigns that result in quick returns in terms of lead generation and sales conversions. The platform enables precise customer targeting based on the desired marketing funnel stages from brand awareness through the conversion which is enhanced by its advanced targeting and bidding options.

While both platforms serve critical roles in digital marketing, their primary uses and the outcomes they drive show distinct orientations: Ahrefs excels in in-depth SEO management and organic growth strategies, while Google Ads is pivotal for immediate market presence and direct response campaigns.

Features
AhrefsGoogle Ads
SEO
Comparison of SEO features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
7.6
71 Ratings
2% below category average
Google Ads
-
Ratings
Keyword analysis9.468 Ratings00 Ratings
Backlink management8.769 Ratings00 Ratings
SERP ranking tracking9.167 Ratings00 Ratings
Page grader5.561 Ratings00 Ratings
Competitive analysis9.169 Ratings00 Ratings
Site audit / diagnostics7.064 Ratings00 Ratings
Site recommendations5.060 Ratings00 Ratings
Task management7.132 Ratings00 Ratings
SEO Channels
Comparison of SEO Channels features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
7.5
62 Ratings
2% below category average
Google Ads
-
Ratings
Local SEO7.650 Ratings00 Ratings
Social SEO6.647 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile SEO6.646 Ratings00 Ratings
Global SEO9.256 Ratings00 Ratings
SEO Platform & Account Management
Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
8.6
59 Ratings
1% above category average
Google Ads
-
Ratings
Multi-domain support8.856 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with web analytics tools8.429 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad Campaigns
Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
-
Ratings
Google Ads
6.0
6 Ratings
32% above category average
Ad campaign creation00 Ratings7.36 Ratings
Ad deployment00 Ratings6.85 Ratings
Display advertising00 Ratings7.36 Ratings
Ad display and retargeting segmentation00 Ratings7.36 Ratings
Sequence targeting00 Ratings5.25 Ratings
Contextual advertising00 Ratings5.86 Ratings
Social advertising00 Ratings2.03 Ratings
Ad Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
-
Ratings
Google Ads
6.9
6 Ratings
33% above category average
Ad dashboards00 Ratings6.06 Ratings
Ad performance reports00 Ratings7.86 Ratings
Ad conversion tracking00 Ratings7.56 Ratings
Ad attribution reporting00 Ratings7.76 Ratings
Ad forecasting and optimization00 Ratings5.66 Ratings
Ad Auctions
Comparison of Ad Auctions features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
-
Ratings
Google Ads
8.2
5 Ratings
20% above category average
Ad bidding00 Ratings8.25 Ratings
Best Alternatives
AhrefsGoogle Ads
Small Businesses
Nozzle
Nozzle
Score 10.0 out of 10
Serpstat
Serpstat
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Advanced Web Ranking
Advanced Web Ranking
Score 8.2 out of 10
WordStream
WordStream
Score 6.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Conductor
Conductor
Score 9.2 out of 10
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Score 8.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
AhrefsGoogle Ads
Likelihood to Recommend
9.4
(76 ratings)
8.4
(121 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(5 ratings)
9.6
(21 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(4 ratings)
6.8
(12 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.8
(14 ratings)
9.0
(8 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
AhrefsGoogle Ads
Likelihood to Recommend
Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a must have in the SEO toolbox. It is one of the leading tools in the industry for serious SEO research. It can do almost everything you need on the non-technical side of SEO. In my opinion, it is not great if you need a detailed technical tool that identifies errors and helps with fix suggestions. In that instance, I think there are better tools on the market. But - for content and keyword related tasks, I think it's must have.
Read full review
Google
Clients who are selling products such as dresses, clothes, jewelry, beauty products, etc., generally work well. Also, in some cases, it doesn't fetch a good ROAS for very small business owners. If a client is already doing well in SEO, the probability for it to perform well over Google Ads is always enhanced, and if it doesn't have a good organic reach, Google Ads also suffers.
Read full review
Pros
Ahrefs
  • I have been using this platform in my organization to develop several SEO tools to help to grow our website much.
  • It has all the main features which include competitor research, keyword research, website audit, content research, and rank tracking.
  • I have been using all these functions in the organization for several purposes. It provides complete information and complete performance details of the SEO.
  • It provides us the detailed keyword research with volume, CPC, and other information.
Read full review
Google
  • Keyword Research - Google Ads has a handy built in tool that helps determine important keywords to target both for Ads & SEO
  • Intuitive Analytics Dashboad - Google Ads makes it fairly simple to see and analyze important metrics on how your ads are running week after week
  • Intuitive Setup - Google Ads makes it easy to figure out how to run ads with little to no training (although training is highly recommended to run effective ads), as their interface is clean and easy to figure out (unlike competing products).
Read full review
Cons
Ahrefs
  • Can't export graphs: some graphs within the tool would be useful as an export. Unfortunately, exporting them is not an option.
  • No "blanket" reporting options: though Ahrefs is excellent for gathering and exporting intel/data, there are no blanket SEO reports provided. Exporting data is great, but simple report exporting would make it better.
Read full review
Google
  • If you don't know what you're doing, it will be a costly mistake. You need to target ads, and it is difficult the first time to do that.
  • There isn't a feature to run an add for a couple set date spans, just hours you want to run them or a single date span.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Ahrefs
Their index is too vast to ignore when looking at a complete backlink profile. We find links in Ahrefs that do not appear in any other link detection tool. For this reason, it's a must for our agency to use for the foreseeable future. Plus, it's very affordable considering the data you get
Read full review
Google
I think Google Ads is good for getting your company out there and becoming more visible to potential customers in general. However, for specific product launches, social media advertising might be a better fit. Also, our user base is younger so social media is a better channel for our target audience.
Read full review
Usability
Ahrefs
Ahrefs is very easy to use - you can jump right in and understand most of the assets. Overall, the dashboard snapshots give a very good picture of inbound link activity. For deeper analysis of historical trends, the system can become cumbersome, making it hard to do full work without exporting and reformatting the data.
Read full review
Google
Google Ads is excellent. I wish there were a way to export a marketing report to present to my stakeholders, as right now I just need to present the analytics I get to my boss so I wish there was a way to make a PDF that I could share with me, stakeholders
Read full review
Support Rating
Ahrefs
Ahrefs has always been responsive when there's been a technical issue with the site. There are usually very little problems, but if there are, they announce it on their social media accounts which keeps its customers informed. Email support is prompt and the customer service people are very helpful, knowledgable and friendly.
Read full review
Google
We have not yet had an account rep who hasn't tried to bully me or other employees to raise our budgets. At the same time, several years ago, one attempted to help refine our ads and ended up changing the ads to be something we were not affiliated with
Read full review
Online Training
Ahrefs
No answers on this topic
Google
Daily use with advanced account structures. Familiarity with reporting/api and complex setups.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Ahrefs
Majestic and Ahrefs are really close in terms of tool. Ahrefs does offer competitive comparison and they do have a more up to date data base. Majestic however has a more comprehensive historical view of sites which is also extremely valuable. Majestic also offers a link velocity chart that is missing on Ahrefs. Ahrefs makes up for this with their links gained/lost calendar which Majestic is missing.
Read full review
Google
Our agency invests heavily in Google Ads (particularly paid search advertising) on behalf of our clients relative to competitors like Microsoft and Yahoo because Google is the top search engine in the world. Google collects the most search data which enables the company to improve its AI to drive better performance for agencies and brands. As such, our paid search and app install campaigns always start with Google. If a client has a large budget, we will allocate media dollars to other search engines, but in some cases, the entire search budget goes to Google because we see the best returns.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Ahrefs
  • Ahrefs Site Explorer has helped with any comprehensive backlink analysis and backlink profile management we've had.
  • Ahrefs Site Explorer has helped tremendously in getting manual penalties lifted for certain sites.
  • Aherfs Site Explorer has been helpful in identifying 404 error pages.
Read full review
Google
  • Google Ads is often one of our highest ROI channels, especially when you factor in branded ads.
  • Depending on the stage your business is in, search ads can be really powerful from an ROI perspective, providing an investment with a very high spend cap.
  • If you do not manage the campaigns well though, you can quickly spend a lot of money on nothing. So make sure someone is keeping an eye on your account.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Ahrefs Screenshots

Screenshot of Analyze backlinks and keywords of any website to find opportunities for your organic traffic growthScreenshot of Check your website for 100+ pre-defined SEO issuesScreenshot of Get relevant keyword ideas supported by accurate SEO metricsScreenshot of Find the most shared and linked-to content on any topicScreenshot of Track your and your competitors' search rankings