storytellingwithdata.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.

storytelling with data (SWD) offers three main ways to learn its approach: team trainings, public workshops, and an 8-week online course. Choose team trainings if you need to upskill a group with examples drawn from your own organization's data; public workshops if you want to learn as an individual alongside people from other roles and industries; and the online course if you want the deepest, most self-paced option combining lectures, reading, videos, podcasts, exercises, and a project. All three are built on the lessons in SWD's best-selling books, so the differences come down to format, customization, and time commitment rather than the underlying method.

The three options at a glance

Team trainings: best when the whole team needs to improve together

Team trainings are delivered as virtual or on-site sessions and range from short keynotes to full-day hands-on workshops. The distinguishing feature is customization: SWD tailors the training with examples from your organization and adapts it to your data communication needs. That means your team practices on graphs and presentations that resemble the work they actually produce.

Choose this option if you are responsible for a group's data communication and want the training to speak directly to your organization's data. Attendee feedback on the site describes seeing "examples of how you took our data and turned it into something so much more powerful and compelling," and one organizer called it "the perfect combination of instruction and hands-on practice."

Public workshops: best for individuals who want live practice with a mixed group

Public workshops are for individuals—you enroll yourself rather than bringing a team. You meet people from a variety of roles and industries while learning how to bring data to life and communicate a story confidently to an audience. The format is hands-on: attendees on the site highlight "breakout room group activities and discussions" and describe the workshop as "packed with practical tips that we can immediately incorporate in our work."

Choose this option if you want live instruction and peer discussion without committing to a multi-week program, and if you don't need the content customized to a specific employer's data.

Online course: best for depth and flexibility over eight weeks

The online course is an 8-week, in-depth, multi-media experience combining lectures, reading, videos, podcasts, exercises, and a course project. It is the most substantial of the three in terms of duration and self-directed work.

Choose this option if you want to build the skill thoroughly on your own schedule and are willing to commit to eight weeks of mixed-format learning. One student quoted on the site said the course "challenged my way of thinking for preparing and producing a quality presentation."

How to decide

• You're training a team and want your own data used as examples → team trainings.
• You're an individual who wants live, hands-on practice and cross-industry discussion in a single session → public workshops.
• You're an individual who wants the deepest, most structured program and can spread learning over 8 weeks → online course.

If you're unsure, the site suggests getting a feel for the teaching style first by exploring SWD's free graph and slide makeovers and learning videos before committing to a paid format. You can also sign up for the newsletter to stay informed about upcoming sessions and course dates.

You can preview the teaching style of storytelling with data (SWD) for free through the graph and slide makeovers and the learning videos linked from its homepage. The site explicitly invites visitors to "get a feel for our teaching style by exploring our graph and slide makeovers & learning videos." These are the resources to browse before deciding whether to pay for a public workshop, team training, or the 8-week online course.

What the free resources are

The homepage presents two free entry points into SWD's method:

• Graph and slide makeovers — before-and-after examples showing how a real chart or slide was reworked. These demonstrate the concrete editing decisions SWD teaches, not just abstract principles.
• Learning videos — short instructional content that conveys the team's approach to communicating data.

Both sit alongside the paid offerings, so they function as a sample of the same teaching philosophy that runs through the books, workshops, and course.

Why preview before paying

SWD's paid options are structured and time-intensive:

Because the online course alone asks for eight weeks, and team trainings are tailored to your organization, it makes sense to confirm the style fits before committing. The makeovers and videos let you do that at no cost.

How to use them to judge fit

1. Open the homepage and locate the graph and slide makeovers and learning videos.
2. Work through a makeover and ask whether the before/after reasoning matches how your team actually presents data.
3. Watch a learning video and note whether the pace and level suit your audience — the site describes its teaching as "a straightforward process to communicate data effectively."
4. If the style resonates, move to the paid options; if not, you have lost only browsing time.

What the paid options add

The free resources show the method; the paid options add structure, feedback, and customization. Team trainings are built around examples from your own organization. Public workshops put you among individuals from a variety of roles and industries. The online course combines multiple media with a project. Attendee feedback on the site describes the workshops as "the perfect combination of instruction and hands-on practice" and "packed with practical tips that we can immediately incorporate in our work" — claims you can partly test against the free material first.

A note on cost and access

The site's homepage lists a newsletter sign-up but does not publish prices for the workshops, team trainings, or online course. Treat the free makeovers and videos as the no-cost preview; for pricing and enrollment details on the paid options, you will need to follow the "Learn more" links for each program.

storytelling with data (SWD) is a training and education organization that teaches people to communicate data effectively—specifically, to create graphs that make sense and present compelling, action-inspiring stories rather than simply showing charts. The site is best suited for professionals and teams who need to present data to an audience and want a practical, structured process for doing it well. Its teaching is based on the lessons in its best-selling books, and it offers a range of free and paid resources spanning books, podcasts, videos, articles, courses, and training.

What the site is about

The core premise, stated directly on the homepage, is: "Don't just show data, tell a story with it!" SWD positions itself as "the team who wrote the book on it," and its instruction centers on a straightforward process for communicating data effectively, drawn from its books.

The emphasis is on two connected skills:

• Making graphs that make sense — clear, well-designed data visualizations.
• Presenting compelling, action-inspiring stories — turning those visuals into a narrative that moves an audience to act.

If your goal is simply to learn chart-building software, this is a different kind of resource: it focuses on the communication and design decisions around the data.

What resources the site offers

SWD describes a number of resources for building data storytelling skills:

Two free entry points are highlighted for getting a feel for the teaching style: graph and slide makeovers and learning videos. These let you sample the approach before committing to a paid option.

Training and course options

SWD offers multiple ways to develop skills, aimed at both individuals and teams:

Team trainings

Customized virtual and on-site sessions ranging from short keynotes to full-day hands-on workshops. The training is tailored with examples from your own organization and adapted to your data communication needs.

Public workshops

Individual enrollment in a workshop where you learn alongside people from a variety of roles and industries. The focus is on bringing data to life and communicating a story confidently to an audience.

Online course

An in-depth 8-week course described as a multi-media experience combining lectures, reading, videos, podcasts, exercises, and a course project—for those who want to dedicate more time to developing their skills.

Who it's for

SWD is aimed at professionals and teams who communicate with data. The testimonials on the site come from team training attendees, public workshop participants, online course students, and a team training organizer—suggesting the audience spans individual learners and organizations.

The site states it has "experience with all types of data from a variety of industries," so the material is not limited to one sector. Typical fit:

• Analysts and individual contributors who need to present findings.
• Managers and teams who want a shared approach to data communication.
• Anyone preparing a data-driven presentation who wants it to be clear and persuasive.

How to get started

1. Sample the free material first. Explore the graph and slide makeovers and learning videos to see whether the teaching style fits how you learn.
2. Choose a format based on your time and setting. Short keynote or full-day workshop for a team; public workshop for individual skill-building; the 8-week online course if you want a deeper, structured commitment.
3. For team training, expect customization. Sessions are tailored with examples from your organization, so the content is adapted to your context rather than generic.
4. Sign up for the newsletter via the subscribe page to stay informed about resources and offerings.

What to keep in mind

• The site does not publish pricing on the pages reviewed here, so costs for trainings, workshops, and the online course are not stated—check the individual offering pages for details.
• The free resources (makeovers, videos, articles, podcast) are a reasonable way to evaluate the approach before paying for a course or training.
• The teaching is grounded in SWD's books, so the site and the books reinforce each other; if you prefer structured reading, the books are the natural companion to the online material.

You can sign up for the storytelling with data newsletter from the site's subscribe page at storytellingwithdata.com/subscribe. The homepage links to it with the label "Sign up for our newsletter." If you want a low-commitment way to keep getting practical data communication tips, this is the entry point the site itself provides.

What the newsletter connects you to

storytelling with data describes itself as the team "who wrote the book on it," and its site is built around teaching "a straightforward process to communicate data effectively based on the lessons in our best-selling books." The newsletter sits alongside that wider set of resources, which the site lists as books, podcasts, videos, articles, courses, and training options.

So the newsletter is best understood as a recurring touchpoint for the same teaching approach you'd find in the site's other materials — not a separate product with its own curriculum.

Who it's for

The subscribe page is a reasonable fit if you:

• Want ongoing tips rather than a one-time course or workshop
• Are exploring the site's approach before committing to paid training
• Already follow the books or podcast and want updates in one channel

If you're looking to build skills in a structured way, the site also offers virtual and on-site sessions (from short keynotes to full-day hands-on workshops), public workshops, and an in-depth 8-week online course. The newsletter is the lightest-weight option of these.

How to subscribe

1. Go to storytellingwithdata.com/subscribe.
2. Enter your email address in the sign-up form.
3. Submit the form and check your inbox for a confirmation or welcome message.

The exact form fields and any confirmation steps aren't detailed in the site information available here, so treat the steps above as the general flow rather than a verified click-by-click path.

What to expect, and what isn't stated

The site describes the newsletter as a way to "sign up for our newsletter" but doesn't specify frequency, content format, or whether any parts of the site require an account. Pricing for the newsletter isn't mentioned in the available information, so don't assume it's free or paid — check the page itself.

If your goal is to sample the teaching style first, the site points to free graph and slide makeovers and learning videos, which you can explore before or instead of subscribing.