Analyzing year-over-year (YoY) performance is crucial for understanding your website’s growth and identifying areas for improvement. Ahrefs provides powerful tools to conduct this comparison effectively. This guide outlines how to leverage Ahrefs to compare your website’s performance this year to last year, enabling data-driven decisions for your SEO strategy.
Using Ahrefs’ Date Comparison Feature for YoY Analysis
Ahrefs incorporates a built-in date comparison feature across various reports, simplifying YoY analysis. This functionality allows you to select specific date ranges for comparison, such as the current year versus the previous year.
Steps to Compare Data:
- Navigate to the desired report: Choose the Ahrefs report relevant to your analysis (e.g., Organic Keywords, Backlinks, Site Audit).
- Select the date range: Utilize the date picker to specify the periods you want to compare. For a YoY comparison, select the current year to date and the same period from the previous year.
- Analyze the data: Ahrefs will display the data for both periods side-by-side, often with visual cues (e.g., arrows indicating increases or decreases) to highlight changes.
Key Metrics for YoY Comparison in Ahrefs
Focus on these crucial metrics within Ahrefs to gain valuable insights:
- Organic Traffic: Compare overall organic traffic volume and identify trends.
- Keyword Rankings: Track changes in ranking positions for target keywords.
- Backlinks: Analyze the growth or decline in your backlink profile.
- Domain Rating (DR): Monitor changes in your website’s authority.
- Referring Domains: Evaluate the number of unique websites linking to your site.
Interpreting YoY Data and Taking Action
Once you’ve compared the data, analyze the results to identify areas for improvement and adjust your SEO strategy accordingly. For instance:
- Significant traffic decline: Investigate potential causes like algorithm updates, increased competition, or technical issues.
- Drop in keyword rankings: Analyze competitor strategies and optimize content for improved ranking.
- Slow backlink growth: Implement a more proactive link building strategy.
By leveraging Ahrefs’ comprehensive data and comparison features, you can gain invaluable insights into your website’s YoY performance, enabling informed decisions to enhance your SEO strategy and achieve sustainable online growth.
