Breaking down the estimation process
Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2025 9:53 am
Traffic estimation divides search rankings into ranking buckets, applying specific click-through rate benchmarks to calculate potential traffic. CTRs reflect the reality that not everyone clicks on the first result. Higher-ranked keywords generally get more clicks, and CTRs help the bot account for this.
The bot simulates optimistic, realistic, and pessimistic ranking scenarios to show how different positions impact traffic.
The bot is designed for proprietary Ahrefs metrics:
Traffic potential. Shows the total organic traffic the #1 ranking page for your target keyword receives from all the keywords it ranks for. Since a page can rank for hundreds of keywords and get traffic from all of them, traffic potential is often a better metric to consider than search volume alone.
Parent topic. Determines if you can rank for your target physical therapist email list keyword while targeting a more general topic instead. To identify the Parent Topic, Ahrefs takes the #1 ranking page for your keyword and finds the query responsible for sending the most search traffic to that page.
Keyword difficulty. Gives an estimation of how hard it’ll be to rank in the top 10 organic search results on Google for a given keyword. It’s measured on a scale from 0 to 100, with the latter being the hardest to rank for.
How to calculate SEO potential for existing content
It’s important to note that the bot doesn’t consider your website’s current rankings. Instead, it focuses on the overall potential of your target keywords. However, you can still use it to estimate potential traffic from the keywords you’re already targeting.
Export your target keywords from Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker or another tool of your choice and paste them into Keywords Explorer. The tool will find relevant parent topics based on your target keywords. Export the results and pass them to the bot.
Extracting target keywords from Rank Tracker.
For example, this site could get the highest traffic lift by focusing on the easiest keywords.
Example estimation based on target keywords.
Tip
Another helpful method is to use ChatGPT to identify groups of terms that have the most potential for improvement. Here’s my colleague Patrick Stox explaining the method (and a few other cool prompts).
Search Volume and Clicks by Tag
How to achieve your SEO potential
SEO is a long-game strategy. Expect:
Incremental improvements rather than overnight miracles.
Consistent effort trumps sporadic bursts. First-page rankings typically come from persistent, strategic execution.
Competition trying to take your place in the SERPs.
The more high-quality content you produce and the more high-quality links you build, the further you move from a pessimistic to an optimistic scenario.
As with pretty much all marketing strategies, there are basically two ways you can do SEO: DIY and outsourcing.
Do it yourself if you:
Have a limited budget.
Are patient with learning.
Have time to invest.
Check out our free beginner-friendly SEO courses in Ahrefs Academy, covering everything from keyword research to link building.
Outsource to an agency or a freelancer if you:
Have a high-value business.
Need immediate results.
Have a budget that allows expert intervention.
See how much you can expect to pay for SEO services.
The bot simulates optimistic, realistic, and pessimistic ranking scenarios to show how different positions impact traffic.
The bot is designed for proprietary Ahrefs metrics:
Traffic potential. Shows the total organic traffic the #1 ranking page for your target keyword receives from all the keywords it ranks for. Since a page can rank for hundreds of keywords and get traffic from all of them, traffic potential is often a better metric to consider than search volume alone.
Parent topic. Determines if you can rank for your target physical therapist email list keyword while targeting a more general topic instead. To identify the Parent Topic, Ahrefs takes the #1 ranking page for your keyword and finds the query responsible for sending the most search traffic to that page.
Keyword difficulty. Gives an estimation of how hard it’ll be to rank in the top 10 organic search results on Google for a given keyword. It’s measured on a scale from 0 to 100, with the latter being the hardest to rank for.
How to calculate SEO potential for existing content
It’s important to note that the bot doesn’t consider your website’s current rankings. Instead, it focuses on the overall potential of your target keywords. However, you can still use it to estimate potential traffic from the keywords you’re already targeting.
Export your target keywords from Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker or another tool of your choice and paste them into Keywords Explorer. The tool will find relevant parent topics based on your target keywords. Export the results and pass them to the bot.
Extracting target keywords from Rank Tracker.
For example, this site could get the highest traffic lift by focusing on the easiest keywords.
Example estimation based on target keywords.
Tip
Another helpful method is to use ChatGPT to identify groups of terms that have the most potential for improvement. Here’s my colleague Patrick Stox explaining the method (and a few other cool prompts).
Search Volume and Clicks by Tag
How to achieve your SEO potential
SEO is a long-game strategy. Expect:
Incremental improvements rather than overnight miracles.
Consistent effort trumps sporadic bursts. First-page rankings typically come from persistent, strategic execution.
Competition trying to take your place in the SERPs.
The more high-quality content you produce and the more high-quality links you build, the further you move from a pessimistic to an optimistic scenario.
As with pretty much all marketing strategies, there are basically two ways you can do SEO: DIY and outsourcing.
Do it yourself if you:
Have a limited budget.
Are patient with learning.
Have time to invest.
Check out our free beginner-friendly SEO courses in Ahrefs Academy, covering everything from keyword research to link building.
Outsource to an agency or a freelancer if you:
Have a high-value business.
Need immediate results.
Have a budget that allows expert intervention.
See how much you can expect to pay for SEO services.