how-to-type.com

If you're new to Ahrefs and want to run your first SEO audit, the fastest path is: open Site Explorer, enter your target URL, review the Overview for a health snapshot, then dig into Organic Keywords, Top Pages, and Site Audit to find specific problems. From there, build a short prioritized to-do list instead of trying to fix everything at once.

This tutorial walks through that workflow using a realistic starting scenario, explains what the numbers mean, and shows how to turn findings into actions.

Before You Start: Pick a Narrow Scope

A common beginner mistake is auditing an entire large website on day one. The reports become overwhelming, and you can't tell which issues matter.

Instead, choose one of these starting points:

• A single important page (your homepage or a key product/service page)
• A small site (under ~50 pages, e.g., a personal blog or small business site)
• One section of a bigger site (e.g., /blog/)

For this tutorial, assume you're auditing a small business site with about 30 pages. The same steps scale up later.

You'll need an Ahrefs account to follow along. Ahrefs offers paid plans, and pricing and feature limits change over time, so check the current Pricing page for what's included in each tier before committing.

Step 1: Enter Your Target in Site Explorer

Site Explorer is Ahrefs' core tool for analyzing any website or URL.

1. Open Site Explorer from the top navigation.
2. In the search box, paste your domain (e.g., example.com).
3. Choose the Exact URL or Domain mode depending on scope. For a full-site view, use Domain or Prefix; for a single page, use Exact URL.
4. Press Enter.

You'll land on the Overview report. Don't try to absorb everything — focus on four numbers first.

Reading the Overview Snapshot

Important caveat: Ahrefs' traffic and keyword numbers are estimates based on its own data. They won't match Google Search Console or your analytics exactly. Treat them as directional, not absolute.

Step 2: See What You Already Rank For

Go to Organic Keywords in the left sidebar. This shows queries where your site appears in search results.

Sort by Traffic (descending) to see which pages bring the most estimated visitors. Then look for:

• Keywords ranking in positions 4–15 — these are often the easiest wins. A small content or on-page improvement can push them onto page one.
• Keywords with high volume but low position — potential opportunities if the topic is relevant.
• Irrelevant keywords — if you rank for something off-topic, it may signal thin or mismatched content.

Write down 5–10 of the position 4–15 keywords. These become your first optimization targets.

Step 3: Find Your Best and Weakest Pages

Open Top Pages. This ranks your URLs by estimated organic traffic.

Look for two things:

1. Your top performers — understand what topics and formats work. Can you create more content like this?
2. Pages with traffic but poor rankings — these may need on-page fixes (title, headings, internal links).

If a page gets zero traffic and targets a topic you care about, it's a candidate for a rewrite or consolidation.

Step 4: Run a Technical Site Audit

Now move to Site Audit. This crawls your site and flags technical and on-page issues.

1. Click Site Audit → New project.
2. Enter your domain and set crawl settings (default is usually fine for a small site).
3. Start the crawl and wait for it to finish.

Once complete, you'll see a Health Score and a list of issues grouped by category.

Which Issues to Fix First

Not all issues are equal. Prioritize in this order:

Ignore low-impact warnings (like minor meta description length) until the big items are handled.

Step 5: Turn Findings Into a To-Do List

You now have raw data. Convert it into a short, actionable list. Example:

1. Fix 3 broken links found in Site Audit.
2. Rewrite title tags on 5 pages with duplicate titles.
3. Improve 4 pages ranking in positions 6–12 by adding missing subtopics and internal links.
4. Remove or update 2 thin pages with no traffic.

Keep the list to 5–10 items max for your first audit. Finishing a short list beats starting a long one.

Common Beginner Mistakes

• Chasing every red flag. Site Audit flags many minor issues. Fix what affects rankings and users first.
• Trusting estimates as exact numbers. Ahrefs data is modeled, not measured from your analytics.
• Auditing a huge site too early. Start small to learn the interface.
• Ignoring search intent. A page can be technically perfect but still fail if it doesn't match what searchers want.
• Forgetting to re-crawl. After fixes, run Site Audit again to confirm improvements.

Where to Go Next

Once your first audit is done:

• Compare with competitors using Site Explorer's Competing Domains and Content Gap reports.
• Track keyword rankings over time with Rank Tracker.
• Explore backlink opportunities in the Backlinks and Link Intersect reports.
• Set up recurring Site Audit crawls so new issues surface automatically.

Your first audit isn't about perfection — it's about building a repeatable habit: enter a target, read the key reports, pick the highest-impact fixes, and act. Do that once a month and your site's health compounds.

Typing books practice means retyping real book chapters—full prose with punctuation and dialogue—instead of drilling random word lists. It suits you if your goal is to build lasting speed and accuracy rather than just get a quick speed snapshot. Typersguild is one platform built around this idea: it offers 100+ classic books such as Pride and Prejudice, 1984, and Alice in Wonderland, with live WPM and accuracy tracking and n-gram analysis of the letter pairs that slow you down. Short timed tests still have a role—they measure; books improve.

How typing books practice works

The core loop is simple: open the library, pick a title you already want to read, and type the next paragraph. A session is a chapter, not a timer. As you type, the platform shows live WPM and accuracy, and it tracks digraph and trigraph patterns (letter pairs and triples like "th," "he," "er," "in," "an," "st") so you can see exactly which combinations cost you speed.

That feedback loop is the point. You are not just repeating keystrokes—you are working through the same letter patterns that appear in real English, long enough for them to stick.

Books vs. timed typing tests: a side-by-side comparison

The comparison on Typersguild frames it directly: "Use tests to measure. Use books to improve." A 60-second word list never shows you commas, dialogue, or the letter pairs that actually trip you up in real writing. A chapter keeps those patterns in front of you long enough to train them.

Why real prose matters

Random word lists skip punctuation, dialogue, and the letter-pair patterns of real English. Typing a book keeps them in the drill. That means you practice pacing across sentences, handling quotation marks and commas without breaking rhythm, and building muscle memory for the exact combinations that show up in everyday writing—not a sanitized subset of them.

When to use each

• Use a short timed test when you want a quick snapshot of your current speed, or to benchmark progress at a point in time.
• Use book typing when you want to actually change how you type—improving punctuation handling, pacing, and weak letter pairs over sustained sessions.
• Combine them: test periodically to measure, and spend the bulk of your practice time typing chapters.

What to expect from the platform

Typersguild's public catalog is free every day, and the site describes the product as "free forever." Beyond the core typing loop, the platform lists:

• 100+ classic books from 50+ authors, with 10M+ words to type
• Smart mistake analysis via digraph and trigraph tracking
• Real-time feedback with live WPM and accuracy plus XP
• Daily activity heat map to build consistent habits
• Configurable widgets for a floating stats card (WPM, accuracy, and other metrics)
• 25+ themes and a typing leaderboard

A premium tier exists—the site links to "Get Premium" and full pricing details—so check the pricing page if you want to know what sits behind it. The public catalog itself is described as free daily.

A practical way to start

1. Pick a book you genuinely want to read—engagement is what keeps you coming back for chapters.
2. Type one chapter per session rather than watching a timer.
3. After a few sessions, review your n-gram data and note the letter pairs that slow you down.
4. Periodically run a short timed test to measure whether the chapter work is translating into speed.

The whole product, as the site puts it, is: "Open the library, pick a title you already want to read, and type the next paragraph."