How to fix site audit issues on Ahrefs
Quick Answer
Access Site Audit in Ahrefs, review the Overview for Errors first, drill into Page Explorer for affected URLs, implement fixes on-site, and re-crawl to verify. Prioritize critical issues like broken links and duplicates using exports to task tools. Most high-priority fixes resolve in 1-2 weeks with planning.
Prerequisites
- Ahrefs account with Site Audit access
- Website ownership verification
- Google Search Console integration
- Access to website backend
- Task management tool like Jira or Asana
Step-by-Step Instructions
1
Access Site Audit and Run a Crawl
Navigate to Site Audit in the left sidebar. If no project exists, click + New project, enter your domain, authorize via Google Search Console by clicking Import, and start the crawl. Wait for completion (Ahrefs emails notification). Click a crawl entry in the audit log table to open the Overview tab showing Health Score, issue counts for Errors/Warnings/Notices, and affected URLs by category like Internal pages, Indexability, Links.
Integrate Google Search Console for faster, more accurate data.
2
Review Issues in Overview Tab
In Overview, scroll to issue lists grouped by type such as Redirects, Broken pages, Resources. Note totals like
X URLs affected. Click the question mark (?) icon next to any issue for official fix instructions, e.g., Image broken explains checking alt text and file paths. Prioritize Errors first like 4XX/5XX pages.3
Drill into Issues Using Page Explorer
Click View All Issues or a number next to an issue like
Meta description tag missing or empty to open Page Explorer. Filter by issue name, e.g., search hreflang for More than one page for same language in hreflang. View affected URLs with details like status code, inbound links. Use top bar filters for device (Desktop/Mobile) or Core Web Vitals (enable via free Google PageSpeed Insights API key in settings). Export CSV via Export button for dev team. Enable Core Web Vitals for performance insights.
4
Customize Crawl Settings
Click gear icon > Open project settings. Set Max number of internal pages (default unlimited, e.g., 5,000 for medium sites to control credits). Enable Core Web Vitals by pasting Google API key. Toggle Crawl only pages within a sitemap. Set crawl speed to medium (~100-200 pages/min) to avoid server overload. Save and re-crawl.
Exclude admin/staging areas in settings for cleaner audits.
5
Fix Broken Images and Links
In Page Explorer, copy affected URL. SSH to server and check with
curl -I https://example.com/broken-image.jpg<img src> in HTML. Compress large images (>100KB) flagged by default using ImageMagick: convert input.jpg -resize 50% -quality 85 output.jpg6
Handle Duplicate Content
Identify duplicates from parameters or variants in Overview. Choose one canonical version (prefer HTTPS) and set 301 redirects for others. Use server config or CMS plugins to implement:
Redirect 301 /old-page /canonical-page. Verify in Page Explorer post-fix. Add canonical tags to prevent future duplicates.
7
Resolve Redirect Chains and Loops
Fix chains (>5 hops) by replacing links with final URL via find/replace. For loops, change to 200 OK if no redirect needed or correct destination. Test with
curl -L -I https://example.com to trace redirects. Limit chains to 1-3 hops max.
8
Export and Prioritize Fixes
Export issues as CSV from Page Explorer. Create tasks in Jira/Asana/spreadsheet with affected URLs, issue type (e.g., 404s, duplicate titles), priority (P1 Errors, P2 Warnings, P3 Notices), and target fix date. Track progress and re-crawl batches.
Resolve P1 issues first within 1 week.
9
Verify Fixes with Re-Crawl
After batch fixes, trigger new crawl from Site Audit. Review updated Overview for reduced issue counts and improved Health Score. Repeat until Errors are zero.
10
Monitor Structured Data Issues
Check Structured data tab in URL details for Schema.org/Google errors like missing
@type or invalid properties. Fix JSON-LD in <head> or <body>, validate with Google's Rich Results Test. Use JSON-LD format as preferred by Google.
Common Issues & Troubleshooting
Duplicate content from parameters
Set canonical tags and 301 redirect duplicates to preferred HTTPS version.
Broken links (404/410)
Remove/update links or redirect to relevant pages.
Redirect chains (>5 hops)
Replace with direct final URL using find/replace.
Redirect loops
Set to 200 OK or fix single chain destination.
Orphan pages
Add internal links or noindex if not needed.
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