You verified your site in Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, ran the free Site Audit, and now you are staring at a health score next to an issue list hundreds of rows long. The list mixes missing meta descriptions, slow pages, redirects, and orphaned content, and nothing tells you which ones actually matter. That is the real problem behind an ahrefs free audit: the data is free and fast, but deciding what to do with it is the work.
This 7-point checklist orders those issues by how much they move rankings, with the specific fix for each one. Work through it once and you can turn that raw issue list into a prioritized action plan in a single afternoon, knowing what to fix first, what to skip, and why.
When the audit flags thin or duplicated copy, Word Spinner handles the rewrite: the platform's AI rewriter turns flagged pages into fresh, readable versions that keep the original meaning, so you can rerun the audit and see a cleaner score.
What does the Ahrefs free audit checklist cover?
The Ahrefs free audit direct answer is a seven-point checklist that targets crawl errors, title tags, meta descriptions, heading structure, broken links, page speed, and mobile usability. Prioritize crawl errors and broken links first because they block search engine indexing entirely. This direct answer focuses your limited audit time on what actually moves organic traffic.
Ahrefs free audit vs paid Ahrefs vs Search Console
The practical choice is between four ways to run the same check, compared on three criteria: best for, strength, and limitation. Here is how the real options stack up.
| Option | Best for | Strength | Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs free Site Audit | A one-time health check on a site you already verified | Runs the full seven-point checklist, including crawl errors and mobile usability | Limited crawl volume per scan, no scheduled re-crawls on the free level |
| Ahrefs Webmaster Tools | Ongoing monitoring of one verified site | Free audits plus backlink and index monitoring after verification | Requires domain verification and only covers sites you own |
| Paid Ahrefs Site Audit | Agencies and sites large enough to need daily scans | Larger crawl budgets, historical issue tracking, and team seats | Monthly subscription with plan-level project and crawl limits |
| Google Search Console | Free validation straight from Google | Shows exactly which pages are indexed and which are erroring | Does not inspect on-page SEO factors such as title tags or heading structure |
Read the table as a starting-point trade-off. The free audit is the best first move because it returns a concrete issue list you can act on in minutes. If you already pay for Ahrefs, the free scan still works as a second checkpoint; if you run on no budget, Search Console validates indexing but leaves on-page checks to you.
Crawl coverage and index status come first
The Ahrefs free audit starts by checking whether Google can actually find and crawl your pages. If the crawler hits a 4xx or 5xx error on a page you need ranked, nothing else on that URL matters. Ahrefs walks through the process in their Site Audit walkthrough video. The audit surfaces these errors grouped by response code and by the page count affected.
This is also where you spot pages Google found but chose not to index. The audit flags pages with noindex tags, canonical conflicts, or redirect chains that waste crawl budget. Fixing these first prevents you from optimizing pages Google will never serve.
- [] Open the "Crawl Errors" report and fix all 4xx and 5xx errors on important pages
- [] Check the "Indexability" report for pages blocked by Robots or missing a clear index directive
- [] Review the "Redirects" report for chains longer than two hops and replace them with direct 301s
- [] Confirm your XML sitemap is submitted to Search Console and matches the pages you want crawled
- [] Look for orphan pages in the audit that have no internal links pointing to them
Pair crawl data with content planning using the free SEO audit tools collection from Word Spinner. Skip these crawl checks and you are optimizing pages Google may never reach.
Ahrefs free audit: what to fix and how to verify each fix
Once you have the Ahrefs free audit report open, the 70+ found issues can feel overwhelming. Start with the six checks below. Each one targets a fix you can confirm without guessing.
| Task | Why it matters | Done |
|---|---|---|
| Confirm all important pages are crawled | Unindexed pages cannot rank no matter how good their content is | |
| Fix missing or duplicate title tags | Titles are the single strongest on-page signal; duplicates confuse both users and Google | |
| Write unique meta descriptions for each page | Descriptions do not boost rankings directly, but they determine whether someone clicks your result | |
| Verify heading (H1) structure per page | A missing or multiple H1s tells Google your content hierarchy is broken | |
| Replace every broken internal link | Broken links waste crawl budget and frustrate users; Ahrefs flags the exact URL | |
| Check page load time on mobile | Google uses mobile-first indexing; slow pages lose visitors before they read a word |
The Ahrefs free audit does not suggest fixes on its own. That is where a tool like the free SEO tools no signup collection helps you act: you can rewrite titles and meta descriptions right in a text editor, or use a keyword clustering tool to reorganize content by topic. The keyword clustering tool is especially useful when you find duplicate title tags you need to differentiate.
If you fix all six items and rerun the audit, your health score will climb. One pass is rarely enough, so repeat the cycle until the only issues left are deliberate choices (like intentionally blocking a tag page from indexing).
| Check canonical tags on every page | Ahrefs warns on pages that lack a self referencing canonical; duplicates can confuse Google into indexing the wrong URL | |
|---|---|---|
| Flatten redirect chains longer than two hops | Each extra redirect loses a fraction of link equity and adds load time; the Ahrefs report shows you the full chain so you can skip the middle step | |
| Add descriptive alt text to images | Google uses alt text for image search and as a content signal; missing alt text is flagged in the "Images" section of the audit | |
| Review pages under 300 words of body text | Thin content rarely ranks; Ahrefs does not flag this directly, but you can sort by the "Words" column in "All pages" to find candidates |
On that last point, the Ahrefs free audit leaves you to discover thin content yourself. Any page with fewer than 300 words that is not a clear navigation hub or a video page needs expansion. The rewrite tool in our free SEO tools collection can take a short stub and grow it to 500 words while keeping your original angle and tone. That turns a weak page into something you would actually click.
After fixing these additional items, rerun the audit. A few warnings may remain by design, for example a tag page you deliberately block with noindex or a canonical tag that points to an external URL you are syndicating. Everything else should turn green. You now have a repeatable cycle: audit, fix, verify, repeat.
Each pass moves you closer to a site that passes an Ahrefs free audit with only intentional issues left.
| Find pages blocked by Robots that should be indexed | Ahrefs shows which pages are disallowed; if a money page is blocked, Google cannot crawl or index it | |
|---|---|---|
| Confirm every important page is listed in your XML sitemap | Pages not in the sitemap may still be found, but you lose a strong crawl signal; Ahrefs lists pages missing from the sitemap under "Sitemap" | |
| Recover orphan pages that have no internal links | No link means no crawl path; Ahrefs flags these under "Internal pages" > "Orphan pages" |
The Robots check is easy to misinterpret. Ahrefs reports all disallowed URLs. You want to block admin directories and duplicate parameter pages, but if a landing page you spent weeks writing is disallowed, that is a bug. Review each disallowed URL and decide whether it belongs there.
The sitemap mismatch report is more subtle. Ahrefs compares the URLs in your sitemap against the URLs it crawled. If your sitemap omits a page that exists and is linkable, you are telling Google it is less important. Add it.
Conversely, if a URL in the sitemap returns a 404, remove it immediately.
Orphan pages are the ones that feel sneaky. A seasonal promotion, an old blog post, or a landing page created during a campaign can live on your server for years without any internal link pointing to it. Ahrefs shows you the exact URL. The fix is usually a single link from a relevant category page or a related post.
After adding the link, rerun the audit to confirm the page is no longer orphaned.
Post-launch SEO issues the Ahrefs free audit catches
Once a page is published, new problems appear that didn't exist in staging. Redirects that worked during development now point to pages that were moved. Images that were placeholder-sized get replaced with full-resolution files that load in four seconds. The Ahrefs free audit flags these live-site issues in the Health Score breakdown.
You do not have to guess which pages are broken. The audit lists every URL that fails a check, sorted by severity.
The biggest post-launch sink is missing or generic title tags. When you publish a new product page or blog post and forget to set the title, Ahrefs shows a red "missing title" warning. The same happens for meta descriptions that default to "Home" or a snippet of random body text. These two fixes alone bring most sites above a 70 Health Score.
- [] Every live page has a unique title tag under 60 characters that matches the page topic, verified in the audit's "Title Tags" report
- [] Every page includes a meta description that mentions the primary keyword without stuffing, checked under "Meta Tags" in the report
- [] Zero broken internal or external links on any published URL, confirmed in the "Broken Links" section (Ahrefs crawl tests each link)
- [] Page load time on mobile under 3 seconds as measured by the audit's "Page Speed" check (Ahrefs uses Lighthouse data)
- [] Heading hierarchy is logical: one H1, followed by H2s, then H3s, with no empty heading tags, visible in the "Content" tab per page
Skipping these checks means publishing pages with errors that accumulate across the site. The Ahrefs free audit surfaces every one in a single click, so you can fix them before the next crawl.
Expert tip: Prioritize Ahrefs free audit errors by page intent
The Ahrefs free audit flags every technical issue it finds, but not all issues matter equally. A missing meta description on a transactional "thank you" page is not a problem. The usual advice to fix every error leads to wasted effort. Instead, filter the audit results by page traffic or intent.
Focus on errors that affect pages actually driving organic visitors. For example, a duplicate title tag on a product variant page matters less than the same error on your top landing page.
The rule changes when your site exceeds 500 pages. At that scale, you cannot manually review every flagged URL. Use the Ahrefs free audit export to group errors by the number of affected pages. A single error hitting 500 pages is more urgent than 50 different errors each appearing on one page.
Prioritize templated fixes: if the same missing alt text pattern repeats across product images, fix the template rather than each page individually. That approach saves hours and prevents the audit from becoming an endless checklist.
Frequently asked questions about the Ahrefs free audit
Is the Ahrefs free audit limited to a certain number of pages?
Yes. Ahrefs Webmaster Tools crawls up to 150 pages per project in the free plan. That covers small to medium sites, but if your site has 500+ pages, the audit only samples a portion. You can create multiple projects to crawl different subfolders separately, but the 150-page cap applies per project.
How often does the Ahrefs free audit recrawl my site?
The free audit recrawls your site once every 30 days. After the first crawl completes, Ahrefs queues the next scan automatically. You can also trigger a manual recrawl from the dashboard if you have made significant fixes and want to verify them sooner. The paid version offers faster recrawl intervals.
Do I need to verify my site to use the Ahrefs free audit?
Yes. You must verify ownership through one of three methods: add a DNS TXT record, upload an HTML file to your root directory, or paste a meta tag into your site's `<head>`. The verification step is handled inside Ahrefs Webmaster Tools and takes about five minutes. Without verification, the tool cannot crawl your site.
Can the Ahrefs free audit check competitor websites?
No. The free audit only works on sites you have verified ownership of. For competitor analysis, Ahrefs offers the Site Explorer tool, which requires a paid subscription. The free audit is specifically a diagnostic tool for your own domain, not a competitive research feature.
What happens to old audit data in Ahrefs Webmaster Tools?
Ahrefs keeps the results from your last five crawls in the dashboard. Each new crawl replaces the oldest snapshot, so you can compare the past few reports to track progress. If you stop logging in for more than six months, the data may be removed from the free tier, but you can re-verify and recrawl at any time.
Yes. The crawl report includes a Link Issues section that flags broken links (4xx and 5xx status codes) and excessive redirect chains (more than three hops). Each issue links to the source page so you can fix the broken URL or simplify the redirect path. The free plan does not show the destination of corrected redirects, but the paid Health Score tool does.
Can I export the audit report to share with my team?
Yes. The Ahrefs Webmaster Tools dashboard lets you export the full crawl data as a CSV file. You get columns for page URL, title tag, meta description, headings, response status, load time, and the list of detected issues. Export is available from the "Export" button at the top of each section.
The CSV includes only the last crawl snapshot, not historical comparisons.
Final verdict on the Ahrefs free audit
The Ahrefs free audit is the fastest way to find the technical reasons your pages are not ranking, and the seven-point checklist above turns its raw issue list into a fixed order of work. Start with crawl coverage, move through titles, meta descriptions, headings, broken links, page speed, and mobile usability, then re-run the audit after each round of fixes to confirm the health score moved.
The concrete next step is to set a monthly reminder and make the audit part of your publishing routine. When the audit flags thin or duplicate copy, which it will, use Word Spinner to rewrite those pages in a natural voice before resubmitting them. A crawler tells you the copy is weak; it does not write the fix. That content work is what Word Spinner handles.
Choose differently only if your site exceeds the 150-page crawl limit of the free plan. At that size, a paid Ahrefs subscription with uncapped crawling is worth the money, and the same checklist still applies.