tutsplus.com

Envato Tuts+ is a self-learning resource for creative skills, taught by industry experts. If you want to know whether it covers your field before investing time, the short answer is: it spans design, illustration, web development, video, photography, and the business side of creative work — but the exact catalog shifts over time, so you should confirm current offerings on the site itself.

What Envato Tuts+ Is

Envato Tuts+ describes itself as an educational resource for documentaries, courses, books, reference material, or self-learning, with the stated goal of helping you "learn creative skills from leading industry experts." That framing matters: it positions itself as a broad creative-skills library rather than a single-topic school.

Two things follow from that positioning:

• Content comes in more than one format. The site's own description lists courses, books, and reference material alongside tutorials, so you can choose between structured learning and quick lookups.
• It's built for self-directed learners. There's no indication of cohort schedules or instructor-led classes in the available material, so expect to set your own pace.

Topic Areas You Can Expect

The site's stated focus is creative skills. Based on that scope, the areas most likely to be covered include:

Treat this as a directional map, not a confirmed course list. The site's own category pages and course listings are the authoritative source for what's actually available right now.

How to Check Whether Your Specific Skill Is Covered

Because the catalog changes, verify before committing. A practical sequence:

1. Go to the site and open its category or course listings. This shows the current topic structure rather than a historical one.
2. Search your specific skill term (for example, "After Effects" or "CSS grid") rather than browsing broadly — it's faster to confirm a match than to scan categories.
3. Check the format and depth of what you find. A short tutorial and a multi-part course serve different goals; match the format to whether you want a quick answer or a full skill build.
4. Note the publication or update date if shown. Creative tools change quickly, and older material may reference outdated interfaces or workflows.

Expected result: you'll know within a few searches whether your target skill has current, relevant coverage — or whether you need a different resource.

Common Sticking Points

• Assuming the catalog is static. A topic that was well covered years ago may not have recent material, and new tools may not be covered yet.
• Confusing Tuts+ with Envato's asset marketplace. The site links out to Envato Elements, a separate paid asset service (pricing shown from $16.50/m on the linked page). That's a different product from the learning content — don't assume access to one implies the other.
• Skipping the format question. If you need structured progression, a scattered set of tutorials won't substitute for a course.

Bottom Line

Envato Tuts+ is a reasonable starting point if your interest is in creative and web-related skills and you're comfortable learning independently. The available material supports the claim of expert-led, multi-format creative education. What it doesn't give you is a fixed guarantee of coverage for any one specific skill — so confirm your topic against the live catalog before you plan around it.

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.

Envato Tuts+ (tutsplus.com) is a self-directed learning site for creative and technical skills, aimed at beginners through intermediate learners who want practical tutorials, courses, and reference material rather than a formal degree. You use it by browsing topics, picking a course or tutorial, and working through it at your own pace. Whether you need to register or pay depends on the specific content, so confirm that on the page before you commit.

Who it's for

Envato Tuts+ fits people who want to build or sharpen a creative skill on their own schedule. Typical users include:

• Beginners starting in design, illustration, photography, video, code, or similar fields who want guided, project-based lessons.
• Intermediate learners filling specific gaps — a new tool, a technique, a workflow — without enrolling in a full program.
• Working creatives who treat it as a reference and tips library they return to when a task calls for it.

It is not a degree-granting institution. The site describes itself as an educational resource for courses, books, reference material, and self-learning, so treat it as skill-building and reference, not accredited education.

How to use it for self-learning

1. Pick a target skill. Decide what you want to be able to do — for example, "edit a short video" or "design a logo." A concrete outcome keeps you from drifting across topics.
2. Browse by topic. Use the site's categories to find courses and tutorials in that area. The catalog spans creative and technical subjects, so narrow to your goal rather than sampling everything.
3. Choose a format that matches your time. Longer courses suit structured learning; single tutorials and tips suit quick lookups. Match the format to whether you're building a foundation or solving one problem.
4. Work through it and apply it. Follow along with your own project so the lesson produces something you keep. This is where self-learning differs from passive watching.
5. Return as a reference. When a real task comes up, search the site for the specific technique instead of restarting a course.

Expected result: you end up with a usable skill and a set of reference material you can revisit, on your own timeline.

Free vs. paid: what the pricing links mean

The site surfaces pricing links that point to Envato Elements, a separate subscription service — one link shows "From $16.50/m," and others promote "unlimited creative assets" and "unlimited downloads." These refer to the assets subscription, not necessarily to every Tuts+ tutorial.

Because pricing and access rules vary by content, don't assume everything is free or that everything requires a subscription. Check the individual course or tutorial page to see what applies to it. The site's own description emphasizes free courses and tutorials, while the Elements links are a distinct, paid offering.

Common snags

• Assuming one price covers everything. The Elements subscription and Tuts+ content are different things; verify per item.
• Skipping the project. Watching without applying rarely sticks — build something alongside the lesson.
• No goal. Browsing without a target skill turns self-learning into endless sampling.

Quick take

Use Envato Tuts+ if you want flexible, practical creative and technical training and are willing to direct your own progress. Skip it if you need accredited credentials or a fixed curriculum. Before relying on any specific course, confirm its access and cost on its page.

Envato Tuts+ is positioned as a free educational resource: its own site title describes it as "Free Courses, Tutorials, Tips & Tricks," and the site describes itself as a place to "learn creative skills from leading industry experts." The pricing links you see on the page (for example, "From $16.50/m," "Get unlimited downloads," "Our Pricing & Plans") point to Envato Elements, a separate subscription product for creative assets — not to Tuts+ itself. In short: the tutorials are the free part; the paid links are an upsell to a different Envato service.

Why the pricing links appear on a free tutorial site

Envato Tuts+ and Envato Elements are two products from the same company, and the Tuts+ site carries promotional placements for Elements. That is why a page whose headline promise is free learning also shows subscription pricing.

The pricing links in the page data all resolve to elements.envato.com/pricing, tagged with UTM parameters that identify them as Tuts+ promotions (for example utm_source=tutsplus.com, utm_medium=promos, utm_campaign=elements_tuts-header_promo). The "From $16.50/m" figure and the "unlimited downloads" language belong to that Elements offer.

What Envato Tuts+ covers

The site is an educational resource for creative and technical skills, aimed at self-directed learning. Its own description frames it around learning from "leading industry experts." Typical subject areas for a resource like this include design, web development, code, photography, video, and business skills — the kind of practical, project-oriented tutorials the name "Tuts+" implies.

If you are trying to decide whether it fits your goal, the useful question is not "is it free" but "does it cover the specific skill I need." Browse by category or search for your topic before committing time.

What Envato Elements is, and when the subscription makes sense

Envato Elements is a subscription service for creative assets — the kind of thing you would use when you need ready-made files rather than instruction. The page data supports the subscription framing ("From $16.50/m," "unlimited downloads") but does not list specific asset types, so treat the exact catalog as something to confirm on the Elements pricing page itself.

Choose the subscription only if your need is assets, not learning:

• You need templates, graphics, or similar ready-to-use files on an ongoing basis.
• You would otherwise buy individual assets repeatedly.
• You do not primarily need tutorials — those are already free on Tuts+.

If your goal is to learn a skill, the free Tuts+ content is the relevant part, and the Elements pricing links are not a paywall on the tutorials.

How to tell which product a link belongs to

A quick check before you click anything on the site:

1. Look at the destination domain. Links going to elements.envato.com are Elements (paid subscription); content pages on tutsplus.com are the free learning material.
2. Read the link text. "Pricing," "plans," "unlimited downloads," and per-month figures signal Elements.
3. Ignore the promotional banner if you only want tutorials — it is an ad placement, not a gate.

One caveat: the page data does not state whether Tuts+ requires an account to access tutorials, so do not assume either way — check on the specific course or tutorial page you want.

Bottom line

Envato Tuts+ presents itself as a free learning resource, and the pricing you see on its pages belongs to Envato Elements, a separate subscription for creative assets. If you want to learn, start with the free tutorials; if you need downloadable assets at volume, evaluate the Elements subscription on its own pricing page.

Envato Tuts+ (tutsplus.com) is an educational resource for learning creative and technical skills, offering courses, tutorials, tips, and self-learning materials. It's aimed at people who want to build practical skills in design, code, and related creative fields, and it sits within the broader Envato ecosystem — the site promotes Envato Elements, a separate subscription service for creative assets.

What kind of site is it?

Envato Tuts+ describes itself as a place to "learn creative skills from leading industry experts." Its content is structured around self-directed learning rather than formal accreditation. If you're looking for a structured degree or a certification program, this isn't that — it's a library of instructional material you work through on your own schedule.

The site's own framing lists several content types:

• Courses — longer, structured learning sequences
• Tutorials — focused, task-oriented walkthroughs
• Tips and tricks — shorter practical guidance
• Books and reference material — supporting written resources

This mix means you can use it either for a deep dive (a full course) or for a quick answer to a specific problem (a single tutorial).

Who is it for?

The stated audience is learners and practitioners who want to pick up or sharpen creative skills. In practice that covers a few common situations:

• Beginners starting out in a creative or technical discipline who want guided instruction
• Working professionals filling a specific gap — for example, learning a tool or technique adjacent to their main work
• Self-learners who prefer to move at their own pace without a cohort or deadline

Because the material spans both creative and technical topics, it tends to suit people whose work crosses those lines — designers who need to understand code, developers who need design fundamentals, and similar hybrid roles.

How it relates to Envato

Envato Tuts+ is part of the Envato family, and the site surfaces promotion for Envato Elements, a subscription service for unlimited creative assets. The pricing entry points shown on the site reference Elements, with a displayed starting price of from $16.50/m and calls to "get unlimited downloads."

It's worth separating the two clearly:

The presence of Elements pricing on the Tuts+ site doesn't mean the learning content carries the same terms — the pricing signals in the available information relate to Elements, not to Tuts+ itself. If cost matters to you, check the specific page you're using rather than assuming the two share a model.

How to decide if it's useful for you

Use Envato Tuts+ if you want self-paced instruction in creative or technical skills and prefer browsing a library of courses and tutorials over committing to a formal program. It's a reasonable fit when you have a concrete skill to build and want material you can work through independently.

Look elsewhere if you need accredited qualifications, live instruction with a cohort, or a single structured curriculum with a defined end point. And if what you actually need is downloadable assets rather than instruction, that's a different Envato product — the Elements subscription — not the Tuts+ learning content.