TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Ahrefs

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/AAhrefs 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.”

    $127

    per month

    Google Ads

    Score8.3 out of 10
    N/AGoogle 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
    $129.00
    per month
    Standard
    $249.00
    per month
    Advanced
    $449.00
    per month
    Enterprise
    $1499.00
    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 DetailsDiscount available for annual billing.
    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, …
    Incentivized
    Chose Ahrefs
    Semrush and BuzzSumo are also good tools. Semrush is hardcore and technical; if you outgrew Ahrefs as an SEO practitioner and were doing intense work for one big client, I'd highly recommend it. BuzzSumo is more for a social media manager; it provides huge shortcuts for …
    Incentivized
    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…
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    Google
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    95%
    Would buy again
    38 Answers
    81%
    Would buy again
    42 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    34 Answers
    76%
    Delivers good value for the price
    37 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    39 Answers
    79%
    Happy with the feature set
    41 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    33 Answers
    69%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    34 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    36 Answers
    70%
    Implementation went as expected
    35 Answers
    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 Ahrefs and Google Ads
    Feature
    Ahrefs
    8.3
    72 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Google Ads
    -
    Ratings
    Keyword analysis9.869 Ratings00 Ratings
    Backlink management9.470 Ratings00 Ratings
    SERP ranking tracking8.668 Ratings00 Ratings
    Page grader7.462 Ratings00 Ratings
    Competitive analysis9.270 Ratings00 Ratings
    Site audit / diagnostics7.465 Ratings00 Ratings
    Site recommendations7.461 Ratings00 Ratings
    Task management7.033 Ratings00 Ratings
    SEO Channels
    Comparison of SEO Channels features of Ahrefs and Google Ads
    Feature
    Ahrefs
    6.5
    63 Ratings
    16% below category average
    Google Ads
    -
    Ratings
    Local SEO6.751 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social SEO6.048 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile SEO6.047 Ratings00 Ratings
    Global SEO7.157 Ratings00 Ratings
    SEO Platform & Account Management
    Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of Ahrefs and Google Ads
    Feature
    Ahrefs
    7.4
    60 Ratings
    13% below category average
    Google Ads
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-domain support6.457 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with web analytics tools8.429 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad Campaigns
    Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Ahrefs and Google Ads
    Feature
    Ahrefs
    -
    Ratings
    Google Ads
    7.2
    11 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Ad campaign creation00 Ratings7.911 Ratings
    Ad deployment00 Ratings7.510 Ratings
    Display advertising00 Ratings7.410 Ratings
    Ad display and retargeting segmentation00 Ratings7.511 Ratings
    Sequence targeting00 Ratings6.810 Ratings
    Contextual advertising00 Ratings7.210 Ratings
    Social advertising00 Ratings6.25 Ratings
    Ad Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Ahrefs and Google Ads
    Feature
    Ahrefs
    -
    Ratings
    Google Ads
    7.3
    11 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Ad dashboards00 Ratings7.511 Ratings
    Ad performance reports00 Ratings7.911 Ratings
    Ad conversion tracking00 Ratings7.311 Ratings
    Ad attribution reporting00 Ratings7.211 Ratings
    Ad forecasting and optimization00 Ratings6.911 Ratings
    Ad Auctions
    Comparison of Ad Auctions features of Ahrefs and Google Ads
    Feature
    Ahrefs
    -
    Ratings
    Google Ads
    7.9
    10 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Ad bidding00 Ratings7.910 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    AhrefsGoogle Ads
    Small Businesses
    Serpstat
    Score9.9 out of 10
    WordStream
    Score6.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Yoast
    Score8.5 out of 10
    WordStream
    Score6.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Google Trends
    Score8.6 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    AhrefsGoogle Ads
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (77 ratings)
    8.7
    (126 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    9.6
    (21 ratings)
    Usability
    9.1
    (5 ratings)
    7.7
    (17 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    Google Ads is a useful advertising tool to build brand exposure and generate lead volumes for your chosen product. Whilst it can be costly at times due to competitor bidding strategies and requires constant monitoring to ensure campaigns perform as expected, it typically provides the desired quality and quantity of leads for custom budgets.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    • Automated targeting via Smart Shopping campaign. It's one of the best campaign types in Google Ads. In the beginning, you may see lower revenue and ROAS, but once you give some meaningful time to your campaign, it is most likely to perform well.
    • Smart bidding strategies: Google Ads has developed some really great bidding strategies such as maximizing conversion and maximizing conversion with ROAS settings. Based on one's requirement and their goal with revenue and target ROAS, they can choose the appropriate bidding strategy.
    • Reporting: A business owner and advertising must know about their audiences, how their campaigns have been performing, what's working and what's not, and for that reason, powerful, effective reporting is needed, and Google Ads provides rich details reporting that covers almost every aspect of a business.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    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
    This is more of a subjective rating, because I think it can be increased with how much our ad spend is. The more of an ad spend, the more visibility we can get, and therefore all features can climb. With an overall larger presence the usability is that where we can get messages out quick, and that's the main thing we try to do with our campaigns.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    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
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    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