In the vast and intricate landscape of the internet, a multitude of digital entities work tirelessly behind the scenes to gather information, index content, and shape the online experience. One such digital detective that has become indispensable in the realm of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is AhrefsBot. In this blog post, we will unravel the mysteries surrounding AhrefsBot, exploring its role, significance, and the impact it can have on your website’s SEO.
Table of Contents
What is AhrefsBot?
AhrefsBot is a web crawling bot used by Ahrefs, a popular SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tool and website analysis service. It is designed to crawl and index web pages to gather data for Ahrefs’ extensive database of backlinks, keywords, and other SEO-related information. There are currently more than 12 trillion links in the database that AhrefsBot has crawled on the Internet.
Ahrefs is widely used by website owners, marketers, and SEO professionals to analyze their own websites or those of their competitors. The tool provides insights into various aspects of a website’s performance, such as the number and quality of backlinks, keyword rankings, and overall SEO health. AhrefsBot plays a crucial role in collecting the data that powers these analytics.
It is not your average web crawler; it’s a sophisticated tool employed by Ahrefs, a leading SEO platform, to traverse the vast expanse of the internet and collect valuable data. But what exactly is AhrefsBot, and how does it function? We’ll delve into the intricacies of this digital detective to uncover its purpose.
It’s worth noting that AhrefsBot is just one of many web crawlers used by different search engines and online services to index content on the internet. Website owners often encounter various bots as they crawl the web, and these bots help maintain up-to-date search engine indexes and provide valuable data for SEO analysis.
Simple Overview Of AhrefsBot
| Version |
7.0
|
|---|---|
| Bot type |
Good (Identifies itself, has an official moniker)
|
| Category |
Marketing
|
| Obeys robots.txt |
Yes
|
| Obeys crawl delay |
Yes
|
| User-agent string |
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; AhrefsBot/7.0; +http://ahrefs.com/robot/)
|
| Reverse DNS suffix |
ahrefs.com
|
The Role of AhrefsBot in SEO
This is the web crawling bot used by Ahrefs, which is a popular SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tool.
It’s the third most active crawler after Google’s and Bing’s, visiting over 8 billion web pages every 24 hours and updating its index every 15–30 minutes. (Source: Ahrefs )
Ahrefs is known for its comprehensive backlink analysis and SEO-related features. The AhrefsBot plays a crucial role in collecting data for Ahrefs’ index and providing valuable insights to users looking to improve their website’s SEO performance.
Here are some key aspects of the role of Ahrefs Bot in SEO:
Web Crawling
AhrefsBot is designed to crawl the web and index pages, similar to how search engine bots operate. It discovers and collects data from websites to build a comprehensive database that Ahrefs users can access.
Backlink Analysis
One of the main features of Ahrefs is its backlink analysis tool. It helps gather data on backlinks, including the number of backlinks, referring domains, anchor text, and more. This information is valuable for SEO professionals to understand their website’s link profile and that of their competitors.
Site Audit
Ahrefs provides a site audit tool that helps users identify and fix issues on their websites that may affect SEO performance. AhrefsBot is involved in crawling websites to discover issues like broken links, duplicate content, and other on-page SEO issues.
Keyword Research
Ahrefs offers a suite of tools for keyword research. AhrefsBot helps in discovering new and existing pages related to specific keywords, and it contributes to the data used in keyword analysis, including search volume, keyword difficulty, and click-through rates.
Rank Tracking
Ahrefs allows users to track their website’s rankings for specific keywords over time. AhrefsBot plays a role in collecting this ranking data by regularly crawling and indexing pages to determine their position in search engine results for targeted keywords.
Competitor Analysis
Ahrefs provides insights into the SEO strategies of competitors. AhrefsBot helps gather data on the backlink profiles, content, and keywords of competitor websites, allowing users to make informed decisions based on competitive analysis.
Content Explorer
Ahrefs’ Content Explorer tool helps users discover popular content in their niche. AhrefsBot is involved in crawling and indexing pages to provide data on the performance of different pieces of content, such as the number of social shares, backlinks, and organic traffic.
In summary, Ahrefs Bot plays a vital role in collecting and analyzing data related to backlinks, keywords, site health, and other SEO factors. The information provided by Ahrefs can be instrumental for website owners, digital marketers, and SEO professionals in optimizing their online presence and improving search engine rankings.
How Does AhrefsBot Work?
AhrefsBot operates as a web crawler, similar to other search engine bots like Googlebot or Bingbot. As per the Bot Traffic Report from Imperva Incapsula, AhrefsBot stands out as a highly active web crawler employed by businesses for website crawling and data retrieval in the realm of digital marketing.
Its continuous operation is dedicated to providing online marketers with an enhanced understanding of search engine indexing and ranking algorithms, including those of Google, Yahoo, and Bing. This persistent effort enables marketers to refine their websites and optimize SEO campaigns more effectively. Here’s an overview of how AhrefsBot works:
Crawling:
AhrefsBot starts by crawling the web, visiting websites, and requesting pages from their servers. The AhrefsBot crawls more than 6 billion web pages every 24 hours and updates the link index every 15-30 minutes. During the crawling process, it follows links on pages to discover new content. The goal is to build a comprehensive index of web pages.
Discovering New Pages:
AhrefsBot identifies new pages by following links from known pages in its index. This allows it to discover and index fresh content as it becomes available on the web.
Data Collection:
As AhrefsBot crawls pages, it collects data on various SEO-related metrics, including but not limited to:
-
-
- Backlinks: AhrefsBot identifies and records information about backlinks to a particular page, such as the linking domain, anchor text, and more.
- Keywords: It analyzes the content of pages to understand the keywords they are targeting.
- On-Page SEO Elements: AhrefsBot may also collect data on on-page elements like meta tags, headers, and other factors that contribute to SEO.
-
Site Audit:
AhrefsBot is involved in site audits, where it systematically analyzes websites for common SEO issues such as broken links, duplicate content, missing meta tags, and other on-page and technical SEO issues.
Indexing:
The data collected by AhrefsBot is then processed and indexed in the Ahrefs database. This indexed data is what Ahrefs users can access through the Ahrefs platform to gain insights into their own websites and those of their competitors.
Regular Updates:
Ahrefs Bot regularly revisits websites to update its index with new data. This ensures that Ahrefs users have access to the most recent information about their site’s performance and that of others in their industry.
Respect for Robots.txt and Noindex Meta Tags:
AhrefsBot, like other web crawlers, respects the rules set by websites through the robots.txt file and meta tags like “noindex” and “nofollow.” If a website instructs AhrefsBot not to crawl certain pages or sections, it will adhere to those directives.
It’s important to note that Bot is a tool used by the Ahrefs platform to gather data for SEO analysis, and it is not a search engine itself. The data it collects is made available to users through the Ahrefs interface, helping them make informed decisions about their website’s SEO strategy.
Managing AhrefsBot Access on Your Site
AhrefsBot is the web crawler used by Ahrefs, a popular SEO tool, to index and analyze web pages. If you want to manage AhrefsBot’s access to your site, you can do so by using the robots.txt file on your server. The robots.txt file is a standard used by websites to communicate with web crawlers and other web robots.
Here’s how you can manage AhrefsBot access:
Create or Edit robots.txt:
Open your website’s root directory on the server.
Look for a file named robots.txt. If it doesn’t exist, you can create one.
If it already exists, open it in a text editor.
Allow AhrefsBot:
To allow Ahrefs Bot access, add the following lines to your robots.txt file:
User-agent: AhrefsBot
Allow: /This indicates that AhrefsBot is allowed to crawl all parts of your site.
Disallow AhrefsBot:
If you want to disallow Ahrefs Robot from crawling certain parts of your site, you can use the Disallow directive. For example:
User-agent: AhrefsBot
Disallow: /private/This would prevent AhrefsBot from crawling any URLs that begin with “/private/.”
Wildcard Usage:
You can use the wildcard * to apply rules to all bots. For example, to disallow all bots from crawling a specific directory:
User-agent: *
Disallow: /restricted/
Testing:
After making changes to the robots.txt file, it’s a good practice to test it using Google’s robots.txt Tester in Google Search Console or other online tools. This helps ensure that the syntax is correct and that it will be properly interpreted by web crawlers.
Regularly Update:
Keep in mind that search engine bots may update their user-agent strings or behaviors. It’s a good idea to check Ahrefs’ documentation for any changes and update your robots.txt accordingly.
Remember that the robots.txt file relies on the honor system, and well-behaved bots will generally respect the rules you set. However, it’s not foolproof, and malicious bots may ignore these directives. If you have more advanced needs or concerns, you may want to consider other access control methods, such as using meta tags or HTTP headers.
AhrefsBot IP List
Ahrefs utilizes both IP ranges and individual IPs that can be included in Whitelists or Blacklists to control access for website crawling. The relevant IP information is provided below. If you require assistance with Blacklisting these IPs on your website, refer to our comprehensive guide. It includes sample code that you can easily copy and paste into the .htaccess file in your website’s root directory.
IP Ranges
| IP Range |
|---|
| 54.36.148.0/24 |
| 54.36.149.0/24 |
| 195.154.122.0/24 |
| 195.154.123.0/24 |
| 195.154.126.0/24 |
| 195.154.127.0/24 |
| 51.222.253.0/26 |
Source: Ahrefs Current IP List
AhrefsBot Individual IP Addresses
| IP Address | IP Address | IP Address | IP Address |
|---|---|---|---|
| 168.119.64.245 | 168.119.64.246 | 168.119.64.247 | 168.119.64.248 |
| 168.119.64.249 | 168.119.64.250 | 168.119.64.251 | 168.119.64.252 |
| 168.119.64.253 | 168.119.64.254 | 168.119.65.107 | 168.119.65.108 |
| 168.119.65.109 | 168.119.65.110 | 168.119.65.111 | 168.119.65.112 |
| 168.119.65.113 | 168.119.65.114 | 168.119.65.115 | 168.119.65.116 |
| 168.119.65.117 | 168.119.65.118 | 168.119.65.119 | 168.119.65.120 |
| 168.119.65.121 | 168.119.65.122 | 168.119.65.123 | 168.119.65.124 |
| 168.119.65.125 | 168.119.65.126 | 168.119.65.43 | 168.119.65.44 |
| 168.119.65.45 | 168.119.65.46 | 168.119.65.47 | 168.119.65.48 |
| 168.119.65.49 | 168.119.65.50 | 168.119.65.51 | 168.119.65.52 |
| 168.119.65.53 | 168.119.65.54 | 168.119.65.55 | 168.119.65.56 |
| 168.119.65.57 | 168.119.65.58 | 168.119.65.59 | 168.119.65.60 |
| 168.119.65.61 | 168.119.65.62 | 168.119.68.117 | 168.119.68.118 |
| 168.119.68.119 | 168.119.68.120 | 168.119.68.121 | 168.119.68.122 |
| 168.119.68.123 | 168.119.68.124 | 168.119.68.125 | 168.119.68.126 |
| 168.119.68.171 | 168.119.68.172 | 168.119.68.173 | 168.119.68.174 |
| 168.119.68.175 | 168.119.68.176 | 168.119.68.177 | 168.119.68.178 |
| 168.119.68.179 | 168.119.68.180 | 168.119.68.181 | 168.119.68.182 |
| 168.119.68.183 | 168.119.68.184 | 168.119.68.185 | 168.119.68.186 |
| 168.119.68.187 | 168.119.68.188 | 168.119.68.189 | 168.119.68.190 |
| 168.119.68.235 | 168.119.68.236 | 168.119.68.237 | 168.119.68.238 |
| 168.119.68.239 | 168.119.68.240 | 168.119.68.241 | 168.119.68.242 |
| 168.119.68.243 | 168.119.68.244 | 168.119.68.245 | 168.119.68.246 |
| 168.119.68.247 | 168.119.68.248 | 168.119.68.249 | 168.119.68.250 |
| 168.119.68.251 | 168.119.68.252 | 168.119.68.253 | 168.119.68.254 |
Source: Ahrefs Current IP List
AhrefsBot IP Addresses for Cloudflare
| IP Address | IP Address | IP Address | IP Address |
|---|---|---|---|
| 51.222.253.0 | 51.222.253.1 | 51.222.253.2 | 51.222.253.3 |
| 51.222.253.4 | 51.222.253.5 | 51.222.253.6 | 51.222.253.7 |
| 51.222.253.8 | 51.222.253.9 | 51.222.253.10 | 51.222.253.11 |
| 51.222.253.12 | 51.222.253.13 | 51.222.253.14 | 51.222.253.15 |
| 51.222.253.16 | 51.222.253.17 | 51.222.253.18 | 51.222.253.19 |
| 51.222.253.20 | 51.222.253.21 | 51.222.253.22 | 51.222.253.23 |
| 51.222.253.24 | 51.222.253.25 | 51.222.253.26 | 51.222.253.27 |
| 51.222.253.28 | 51.222.253.29 | 51.222.253.30 | 51.222.253.31 |
| 51.222.253.32 | 51.222.253.33 | 51.222.253.34 | 51.222.253.35 |
| 51.222.253.36 | 51.222.253.37 | 51.222.253.38 | 51.222.253.39 |
| 51.222.253.40 | 51.222.253.41 | 51.222.253.42 | 51.222.253.43 |
| 51.222.253.44 | 51.222.253.45 | 51.222.253.46 | 51.222.253.47 |
| 51.222.253.48 | 51.222.253.49 | 51.222.253.50 | 51.222.253.51 |
| 51.222.253.52 | 51.222.253.53 | 51.222.253.54 | 51.222.253.55 |
| 51.222.253.56 | 51.222.253.57 | 51.222.253.58 | 51.222.253.59 |
| 51.222.253.60 | 51.222.253.61 | 51.222.253.62 | 51.222.253.63 |
Source: Ahrefs Current IP List
AhrefsBot Position in Ranking
In the global Search Boot Ranking in 2023, Ahrefs Bot stands in the number 4 Position.
Bots ranked by number of requests. Data supplied as of April 2023 See full report
In SEO Bot Ranking Ahrefs Bot holds in number 1 Position.
In conclusion, our exploration of AhrefsBot in this comprehensive guide has provided a thorough understanding of this web crawler’s significance in the realm of SEO. We started by unraveling the fundamental question, “What is AhrefsBot?” and proceeded to offer a simple yet insightful overview of its key attributes.
Delving deeper, we examined the pivotal role that AhrefsBot plays in the field of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), emphasizing its impact on website rankings and visibility. By understanding the mechanisms behind Bot’s operations, we gained valuable insights into how it navigates the digital landscape and contributes to the indexing and ranking of web pages.
Furthermore, the discussion extended to practical considerations, including the management of AhrefsBot’s access to your website. Recognizing the importance of effective communication with web crawlers, we touched upon the significance of robots.txt and crawl delay directives in ensuring a harmonious relationship with Ahrefs Bot.
Finally, we considered AhrefsBot’s position in website rankings, highlighting its role as a reputable and widely recognized crawler in the SEO community. By acknowledging its presence and optimizing your site to accommodate AhrefsBot effectively, you stand to enhance your website’s visibility and performance in search engine results.
In essence, this journey from understanding the basics to exploring the intricate details of Ahrefs Bot has equipped you with the knowledge needed to navigate the dynamic landscape of SEO. As you implement these insights into your digital strategy, you are well-positioned to harness the full potential of AhrefsBot and optimize your online presence for success.