Ahrefs vs. Google Tag Manager

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Ahrefs
Score 9.0 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 Tag Manager
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
From Google, the Google Tag Manager is a tag management application that facilitates creating, embedding, and updating tags across websites and mobile apps. It is a free option, vs. the company's enterprise-tier Google Tag Manager 360.
$0
Pricing
AhrefsGoogle Tag Manager
Editions & Modules
Lite
$99.00
per month
Standard
$179.00
per month
Advanced
$399.00
per month
Agency
$999.00
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AhrefsGoogle Tag Manager
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AhrefsGoogle Tag Manager
Considered Both Products
Ahrefs
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…
Google Tag Manager
Chose Google Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager is a little different than the other software we've used. This not only gives us the means for tracking our websites but it also tells us if we've implemented the tag correctly and how well the website has been performing after the tag has been implemented …
Features
AhrefsGoogle Tag Manager
SEO
Comparison of SEO features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
7.9
72 Ratings
2% above category average
Google Tag Manager
-
Ratings
Keyword analysis9.669 Ratings00 Ratings
Backlink management9.170 Ratings00 Ratings
SERP ranking tracking8.868 Ratings00 Ratings
Page grader6.462 Ratings00 Ratings
Competitive analysis9.170 Ratings00 Ratings
Site audit / diagnostics7.165 Ratings00 Ratings
Site recommendations6.461 Ratings00 Ratings
Task management7.033 Ratings00 Ratings
SEO Channels
Comparison of SEO Channels features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
6.8
63 Ratings
11% below category average
Google Tag Manager
-
Ratings
Local SEO7.151 Ratings00 Ratings
Social SEO6.048 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile SEO6.047 Ratings00 Ratings
Global SEO7.957 Ratings00 Ratings
SEO Platform & Account Management
Comparison of SEO Platform & Account Management features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
7.8
60 Ratings
8% below category average
Google Tag Manager
-
Ratings
Multi-domain support7.357 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with web analytics tools8.429 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
-
Ratings
Google Tag Manager
6.4
56 Ratings
24% below category average
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings6.456 Ratings
Tag Management
Comparison of Tag Management features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
-
Ratings
Google Tag Manager
8.1
67 Ratings
0% above category average
Tag library00 Ratings8.162 Ratings
Tag variable mapping00 Ratings8.654 Ratings
Ease of writing custom tags00 Ratings5.666 Ratings
Rules-driven tag execution00 Ratings6.761 Ratings
Tag performance monitoring00 Ratings10.056 Ratings
Page load times00 Ratings8.148 Ratings
Mobile app tagging00 Ratings10.033 Ratings
Library of JavaScript extensions00 Ratings8.137 Ratings
Data Management & Integrity
Comparison of Data Management & Integrity features of Product A and Product B
Ahrefs
-
Ratings
Google Tag Manager
7.3
67 Ratings
10% below category average
Event tracking00 Ratings8.764 Ratings
Mobile event tracking00 Ratings8.146 Ratings
Data distribution management00 Ratings8.641 Ratings
Universal data layer00 Ratings8.158 Ratings
Automated error checking00 Ratings3.045 Ratings
Best Alternatives
AhrefsGoogle Tag Manager
Small Businesses
Nozzle
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Score 10.0 out of 10
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Score 7.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Advanced Web Ranking
Advanced Web Ranking
Score 8.2 out of 10
Adobe Experience Platform Launch
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Score 7.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Conductor
Conductor
Score 9.2 out of 10
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Score 8.5 out of 10
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User Ratings
AhrefsGoogle Tag Manager
Likelihood to Recommend
9.3
(77 ratings)
9.0
(71 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(5 ratings)
7.0
(7 ratings)
Usability
9.1
(5 ratings)
8.1
(16 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.8
(14 ratings)
2.0
(12 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.8
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
AhrefsGoogle Tag Manager
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
I use Google Tag Manager (GTM) daily and create tags/triggers for all of our client's websites. It is easy to set up but for some of my tasks, the process does get repetitive so it'd be nice to have a default setting I can use when I have to create accounts, and then tweak/add things to them as needed. It is a great way to collect data and have code on the site without having to log into the site builder all the time. It makes it convenient to make edits or add code after our client's sites go live with us.
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
  • Selecting elements on a site [object, class, cookie, etc] (to later fire an event, send some data, etc) is very easy with triggers. Want to add an event when someone clicks on a button? Super easy. It was many many DOM selectors and you can even add custom functions if you need to do something more specific
  • In general, firing events in different circumstances is very easy mixing triggers and tags. You can track almost any element of the DOM and do whatever you want with it.
  • Testing is a great functionality. Only you can see what's on the site and you can debug it easily by seeing which events or tags were triggered and all the DOM elements involved (and why they matched the trigger).
  • Working in environments (staging, production) and versioning is easy to do, deploying changes in 2 clicks.
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
  • There are several good integrations, but there can always be more. Native tracking for call tracking solutions, analytics providers, non-Google advertisers would be top of my list.
  • Documentation is just dreadful. Luckily there are some awesome folks out there doing crowdsourced tutorials (shout out to Simo Ahava) but by and large the Google Tag Manager instructions are worth what you pay for them.
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
Google Tag Manager makes tracking traffic to our websites effortless, which enables our developers to focus on other tasks. Setting up a new instance takes only minutes and additional scripts can be added/modified without touching the source code of a site in production. This enables our marketing directors to coordinate tests and experiments with minimal effort.
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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.
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Google
No difficult obstacle to overcome but Google Tag Manager can still be difficult for many users to deploy. Sure the basic HTML script can be deployed quite easily, but when you start to require triggers, variables, etc, it can be a little daunting.
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.
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Google
GTM does not provide support. This is one of GTM's biggest issues but it's due to the level of customization for each website. If your team thinks they would heavily rely on the need for a support staff it is probably better to invest in a paid service with a team that can support your needs.
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Online Training
Ahrefs
No answers on this topic
Google
I thought there was a little bit too much emphasis on AdWords stuff, not enough on the generic application of GTM.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Ahrefs
No answers on this topic
Google
Planning and communication will help greatly with an in-house implementation. If there are large teams, try to limit the number of people involved to 1-2 developers (back-end dev may be necessary depending on your platform), one analytics marketer and one project manager.
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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.
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Google
We moved to GTM from a standard Google Analytics implementation. GTM is much more flexible and easier to make changes, especially as the changes relate to multiple sites and environments. While there is a learning curve when figuring out how to use GTM, I believe the change has been worth it because it helps us understand at a more fundamental level how our tracking works and gives us a lot more control over what we track and how.
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
  • GTM is very useful to determine if a particular element on the site is useful (i.e. is it being watched, is it being clicked, does it help customers navigate through more pages). As an SEO person, I can use this information to decide what to optimize for but also to track progress and see improvements in engagement.
  • With the use of Google Tag Manager, I was able to easily inject an A/B testing tool which lead to several improvements in lead generation.
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