Ahrefs vs. Matomo Analytics

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

If you want to balance data-driven marketing and a privacy-minded approach to analytics, Matomo Analytics is for you. It's easy to be compliant with GDPR and other regulations while still having detailed (anonymized) analytics that help inform what content is resonating vs what content is not resonating. And of course you also get all of the rich referral, campaign, and goal conversion data to help you optimize your marketing.

Incentivized

• 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

• One of Piwik's strengths is the provision of customizable widgets for different bits of analytics data. The ability to add and remove them, change dates and more makes this a flexible way to visualize data.
• The visitor log section is also rich, providing date, keywords, actions and more in a single table, which makes it easy to identify your most effective content.
• And the visitor actions table includes both bounce rate and time on site, so you can quickly tell which pages have the most engagement.
• Data display is a strength for Piwik, as you have access to overview charts while simultaneously being able to drill deeper.

• 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

• From a user security standpoint it would be useful to provide users the ability to have two-factor authentication. While stats data is not necessarily sensitive in aggregate, some users may feel that certain portions need to be more secure.
• It would be nice if there was a tighter integration with the Google search/referrer API so that "keyword not defined" would be replaced more often with the actual keyword that is being used to send a visitor to a site.
• An easier branding method, maybe in the form of an API function set, that pulled branding URLs from a set of database fields would be great as well.

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

At this point, there is not a single conceivable reason as to why we would not renew and continue to use Piwik Analytics. Especially since it is a free program and open source. The product will only get better over time as more people look into it and donate to cause so that development can continue.

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.

Piwik succeeds in presenting me (and my associates and my clients...) large amounts of data in a user friendly way. The interface and functionality can easily be customized. While some enhancements do need technical background (API calls by programming language from the webserver or javascript), others are easy to use (goal / event tracking)

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

The best thing about the Matomo support is that they have a forum which basically you can find the answer to almost all of your questions and most of the time you don't need to contact them regarding your questions and problems but if you need help they will answer in a reasonable time slots.

Incentivized

Only one hiccup when we were using a beta installation. Other than that, smooth sailing.

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

It is much more robust out of the box, easier to set up and more intuitive to use. The reports are set up already and it requires little to no setup after installation to start gathering insights.

• 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

• We can see the analytics of our web applications and thus having the insight of the systems' behavior.
• It helps in improving the performance and scalability of our web application.
• It helps us improve the user experience on our sites; seeing the user's activity we can take decisions to make it better.
• A cost-effective tool, since it is free.

Incentivized