tahatu.govt.nz

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.

Start with the Interest quiz to surface your top interests, then use Path Finder to turn those interests into career directions. From there, browse the 800+ career ideas and job videos to test what appeals to you, and use the skills and values guides to narrow your shortlist. This works best if you treat it as a sequence — quiz first, exploration second, narrowing third — rather than jumping straight into a career list with no starting point.

Step 1: Take the Interest quiz

The Interest quiz (Kairoro Kaingākau) is the site's entry point for people with no clear direction. The premise is simple: answer questions about what you like doing, and the quiz returns your top interest areas along with career ideas connected to them.

• Input: your honest reactions to the quiz questions — not what you think you should be interested in.
• Action: complete the quiz in one sitting if you can; scattered answers tend to produce a muddled result.
• Expected result: a set of top interests plus suggested career ideas to explore.

If the results feel wrong, retake it. A quiz is a starting signal, not a verdict.

Step 2: Use Path Finder to connect interests to options

Path Finder (Tiro Whetū) is the site's tool for moving from "here's what I'm interested in" to "here's a path." Use it after the quiz, when you have at least a rough sense of your interests and want to see where they lead.

The value here is structure: instead of scrolling an undifferentiated list of 800+ careers, you're filtering by what you've already identified about yourself. Note down two or three directions that surprise you — those are often the most useful leads.

Step 3: Browse career ideas and job videos

The site hosts 800+ career ideas and a video library (Puna ataata). This is where you go from abstract direction to concrete day-to-day reality.

A practical way to use this stage:

1. Pick three careers from your Path Finder results.
2. For each, read the career idea page and watch a related job video.
3. Write one sentence per career on what the actual work looks like day to day.

That third step matters. Videos show the environment, pace, and tasks in a way a description doesn't — and it's often where you discover a career is nothing like you imagined.

Step 4: Check skills and values before committing

The "Discovering who you are" guide (Te tūhura haere i a koe anō) helps you examine your skills and values. Use it once you have a shortlist, as a filter rather than a starting point.

Ask of each shortlisted career:

• Which of my skills would I actually use here?
• Does the work environment match what I value (e.g. autonomy, helping people, stability)?

A career that matches your interests but clashes with your values tends to stall. This step catches that early.

Step 5: Move into study and training decisions

Once a direction holds up, the site's study and training section covers comparing options, how to apply, and ways to pay for study and training. The "How to choose study or training" guide is the natural next read, followed by the application guide when you're ready to act.

What to expect — and common sticking points

When this approach fits

This sequence suits anyone at the start of a career decision — school leavers, career changers, or people returning to work — who genuinely doesn't know where to begin. If you already have a target career, skip to the study and training guides. If you're only mildly curious, the Interest quiz alone is a low-effort way to get a few ideas worth a second look.

Tahatū Career Navigator (the site formerly known as Careers New Zealand) offers free, self-service job-hunting help in four main areas: a Job Hunters' Workbook of practical tips and activities, CV templates and job videos, interview tips, and guides for planning your next steps when you're looking for work. It suits anyone job-hunting in New Zealand who wants structured, do-it-yourself guidance rather than one-on-one coaching. The site doesn't state that you need an account to browse, but it also doesn't say the tools are downloadable without one — check each page as you go.

Job Hunters' Workbook: your starting point

The Job Hunters' Workbook (He Puka Rapu Mahi) is the site's main practical tool for people actively looking for work. According to Tahatū, it contains "practical tips and activities that will help you figure out your next steps when looking for a job."

How to use it:

1. Open the Job Hunters' Workbook from the "Top tools and topics" section of the homepage.
2. Work through the activities in order — they're designed to move you from "what do I want?" to "what do I do next?"
3. Treat it as a working document: complete the activities with your own details rather than just reading them.

Expected result: a clearer picture of the roles to target and the concrete next steps to take. The site doesn't specify a page count or format, so check the page itself for what you'll actually get.

CV templates and job videos

The site's own description lists "CV templates, job videos" among its resources, and the homepage links to a Video Library (Puna ataata). The video library sits alongside the career-ideas section, so it's most useful for seeing what a role actually involves before you apply — for example, watching a job video for a trade or service role before writing a CV tailored to it.

The site doesn't publish details of how many CV templates exist or what formats they come in. If you need a specific format (for example, a New Zealand-style CV), check the templates page directly before relying on it.

Interview tips

Tahatū has a dedicated "Tips for interviews" (He kupu āwhina mō ngā uiui) page, linked from the homepage's popular content. It's a guide rather than a mock-interview tool — expect advice you read and apply yourself, not practice sessions or feedback.

A practical way to use it: read the tips, then prepare answers to the questions you're most likely to face, using the site's career-idea pages to check what skills and entry requirements matter for the role you're interviewing for.

Planning your next steps when you're looking for work

Beyond the workbook, the site's "Get advice" section includes a guide called "Discovering who you are" (Te tūhura haere i a koe anō), which helps you explore your skills and values. That's useful when you're job-hunting but unsure what to aim for: identifying your skills and values first makes it easier to decide which jobs to apply for and how to present yourself.

The Interest Quiz (Kairoro Kaingākau) is another option at this stage — it surfaces your top interests and suggests career ideas, which can widen or narrow your job search.

What the site doesn't cover

Tahatū is a government career-information site, not a recruitment service. Based on the site's own description, it doesn't list job vacancies, and there's no indication of personalised coaching or CV feedback. For those, you'd need a different service. What it does well is give you structure and information to work through on your own.

A simple plan to follow

Start with step 1 if you don't know what you're aiming for; skip straight to steps 3–5 if you already have a target role and are ready to apply.

Tahatū Career Navigator is the official New Zealand careers information website that replaced Careers New Zealand. It is a free public service for anyone exploring career ideas, study options, or job-search skills — from school students and career changers to parents and career guidance practitioners. You can use it to browse career profiles, compare qualifications and courses, take an interest quiz, and work through practical guides on study, training, and career decisions.

What you can do on the site

The homepage organises everything around four questions: interests and skills, career ideas, study and training, and planning and preparing. In practice, that means:

• Explore 800+ career ideas — profiles of jobs and career paths.
• Browse 4,000+ qualifications and courses — compare what providers offer.
• Take the Interest quiz (Kairoro Kaingākau) — identify your top interests and get matched career suggestions.
• Use Path Finder (Tiro Whetū) — a guided tool for planning your future direction.
• Watch job videos in the video library to see what roles are actually like.
• Download the Job Hunters' Workbook — practical tips and activities for a job search.
• Read guides on applying for study or training, ways to pay, apprenticeships, distance and online learning, learning support, and finding scholarships.

The site is bilingual, with English and te reo Māori labels throughout (for example, "Ako atu" for "Find out more"), and it includes a section of Kaupapa Māori career ideas.

Who it is for

The Career Practice Hub (Pokapū Tikanga Aramahi) is a distinct area for people who advise others — it collects activities, strategies, insights, and reports that support career guidance practice, rather than being aimed at individual career explorers.

Is it official and is it free?

Yes to official: the site describes itself as formerly Careers New Zealand, which makes it the government-backed careers service for New Zealand. The available site information does not list prices, subscriptions, or login requirements for the core tools, so treat the public content as openly accessible — but check any specific tool or provider course page for its own conditions before relying on it.

How to get started

1. Clarify your starting point. If you don't know what direction to take, begin with the Interest quiz; if you already have a field in mind, go straight to career ideas.
2. Shortlist careers. Open a few career profiles and note the entry requirements and typical pathways.
3. Check the study route. Use the qualifications and courses search to see which providers offer relevant programmes, then read "How to apply for study or training."
4. Plan the money. Read "Ways to pay for study and training" and look into scholarships before committing.
5. Prepare to apply. Use the Job Hunters' Workbook and the interview tips when you reach the job or course application stage.

Expected result: a shortlist of careers, a matching study option with entry requirements, and a clear next action — not a single definitive answer. The site is built for exploration and decision support, so expect to move between sections rather than follow one linear path.

Common sticking points

• Too many options. With 800+ career ideas, browsing without a filter gets overwhelming. Start with the quiz or Path Finder to narrow the field first.
• Confusing the site with a course provider. Tahatū helps you compare and choose; enrolment and fees are handled by the individual providers, so confirm details on their pages.
• Expecting personalised advice. The tools give suggestions and information, not individual career counselling. For one-to-one guidance, the Career Practice Hub is aimed at practitioners who provide that support.

The Career Practice Hub (Pokapū Tikanga Aramahi) is a section of Tahatū Career Navigator aimed at career practitioners and advisors rather than job seekers or students. According to the site, it holds "activities, strategies, insights and reports that support career guidance, development and best practice." It sits alongside the public tools — the 800+ career ideas, 4000+ qualifications and courses, the Interest quiz, and the Job Hunters' Workbook — but serves a different audience: people who deliver career guidance, not people receiving it.

Who the Hub is for

Use the Hub if your work involves helping others with career decisions — for example, a school careers advisor running a class, a tertiary staff member supporting students, or a community advisor guiding clients. If you are exploring your own career options, the public sections are the better starting point:

What you'll find there

The site describes the Hub's content in four broad categories:

• Activities — exercises you can run with the people you advise.
• Strategies — approaches to structuring career guidance and development.
• Insights — observations and perspectives on career practice.
• Reports — documented findings and best-practice material.

The page evidence does not list individual Hub resources, so treat the categories above as the scope rather than a catalogue. To see what is currently available, open the Career Practice Hub from the Tahatū home page.

How it fits with the rest of Tahatū

Tahatū (formerly Careers New Zealand) is a government career site. Its public side covers interests and skills, career ideas, study and training, and planning and preparing — including guides on how to apply for study or training, ways to pay, apprenticeships, distance and online learning, learning support, and finding scholarships. The Hub is the practitioner-facing layer on top of that material. A practical use is to draw on public guides when advising someone, then use the Hub for the method behind that advice.

Getting started

1. Go to tahatu.govt.nz.
2. Find the Career Practice Hub (Pokapū Tikanga Aramahi) link on the home page.
3. Review the activities, strategies, insights and reports listed there and pick what matches your current work — for example, a group activity for a class session or a report to inform how your organisation structures guidance.

The site does not state access restrictions for the Hub, so check whether it is openly available or requires a login when you visit.