Tim Soulo
Singapore
CMO @Ahrefs // I tweet about our (fairly unconventional) approach to marketing... and a little bit about SEO. 🙂 // Born & raised in Ukraine 🇺🇦.
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Articles by Tim Soulo
Almost Half of Google Searches Are Branded. Here’s Why That Matters
When most marketers think about SEO, they jump straight to keywords like “best running shoes” or “how to do [whatever]”. Non-branded, high-intent, top-of-funnel stuff. But our latest study might surprise you: Nearly half of all Google searches (45.7%) are branded searches—meaning people are actively seeking out specific companies and products they already know. Yep, nearly half of what people type into Google includes a brand name or a product name.
74% of New Webpages Include AI Content (Study of 900k Pages)
We analyzed 900,000 newly created web pages in April 2025 and found that 74.2% of them contained AI-generated content. At Ahrefs, our machine learning team has built an AI content detector (codenamed bot_or_not). We’re about to release the AI content detector for Ahrefs customers to use, so we decided to put it through its paces with a question we’ve been dying to answer: What percentage of new content is AI-generated? Sidenote.
How Long Does It Take to Rank in Google? And How Old Are Top Ranking Pages?
Back in 2017, we conducted a study to answer a simple yet important question: How old are the top-ranking pages in Google? The results were eye-opening and became one of our most-referenced data studies. Clients and stakeholders often ask, “How long till my website (page) ranks on top of Google?” You could say “it depends” and give a lecture on all the variables like quality of the content, website strength, resources, competition… or you can use the data below.
How to Create Quality Content (Follow Our 5-Level Framework)
If you’ve spent some time in digital marketing, you’d think making quality content is the cure-all to every marketing woe. It’s in every SEO guide and content marketing playbook and tossed around like buzzwords from a management consultant’s presentation. But what does “quality” even mean? Some people think the Alchemist changed their lives, while others think it’s the worst thing ever written. What’s “quality” to one reader may be complete BS to another.
Is Your PPC Strategy Sabotaging Your SEO? 2.3M Keyword Study
We analyzed ~2.3 million keywords with ~4.99 million top ads to see how frequently businesses advertise on keywords where they already have an organic ranking in the top 10 positions. Here are some of the key statistics: 37.9% of advertised websites already rank in the top 10 organically for the same keyword. This indicates that a significant portion of businesses are paying for ads when they already have visibility for that term.
12 SEO Meetups You Should Have On Your Radar
Want to meet other people interested in SEO offline? Give an SEO meetup a go. In my experience, it’s one of the best ways to meet like-minded people and provides a more relaxed, informal setting than a bustling SEO conference. Who knows—you could make new friends at a meetup or even land new SEO clients. But with so many events worldwide, it’s impossible to mention them all. So, here are some of the most talked-about SEO meet-ups I think you should have on your radar.
How to Get Search Traffic Without Ranking for Anything
Getting to the top of Google can be quite slow. Especially so for small, new websites. And the competition can often be too strong, which makes it quite unlikely for you to outrank your rivals in the first place. Well… if you can’t win, change the rules. There’s a very simple trick for getting search traffic for the keywords that you want to rank for—without actually ranking for them.
Don’t Start a Podcast: 10 Lessons From 10K Downloads of Ahrefs Podcast Original
We’ve recently crossed 10k downloads for Ahrefs Podcast. And, to be honest with you, I thought this 10k would come easier. I mean, Ahrefs is a fairly mature brand in the SEO industry, and most of our channels are measured in millions: Millions of visitors to this blog, Millions of views on our YouTube channel, Millions of visits to our free tools, Etc. So when we reached that 10k milestone I felt both happy about it, and upset about the number being so low.
Unlocking Growth Through Enterprise SaaS SEO Original
Enterprise SaaS SEO is the practice of improving the visibility and rankings of an enterprise SaaS website in search engines. The goal is to attract people who are looking for solutions that your product can provide. It works like this: Let’s dive in. There are many reasons SaaS companies should focus on SEO. These include: Credibility. With every new touchpoint, you have the opportunity to be seen as the expert and dominant offering.
Enterprise Link Building & The Power Of Links
Enterprise link building is the process of acquiring links to a large, enterprise company’s website to improve its visibility and rankings in search engines. Enterprise companies get a lot of links naturally. While they may have some challenges with link building, these companies also have a ton of opportunities because of who they are and how much money is at stake. Links play a role in many of Google’s systems including Experience Expertise Authoritativeness Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).
There’s No Such Thing as “Accurate” Search Volume Original
I often post my favorite new Ahrefs features on X. And last time I announced our newest addition to Keywords Explorer, someone replied with this: I mean it is good for seasonal keywords but to be honest it would be great if the search volume in general would be more accurate… — Kim von Däniken (@KimvonDaniken) March 6, 2024 Which was not the first time I saw us being criticized for the accuracy of our search volume metric.
We Published a Children’s Book. Here's How to Get It. Original
The SEO industry is over 20 years old at this point. And it comes as no surprise that many of us are parents to little kids. I myself am a father of two. So we figured it would be cool to create a children’s book that both kids and their SEO parents could enjoy together. This book tells the story of Jessy: a curious little girl, who touched her mother’s computer and got teleported to the magical world of her work.
Best new Ahrefs features & use cases (2023)
2023 was an incredibly busy year for us at Ahrefs. We’ve been hard at work upgrading our infrastructure , improving our tools, and releasing tons of new features based on your feedback – fun fact, we had 130+ product updates in the last year alone. That’s quite a number, so we thought we’d pick out some of the best (and our favorite!) new features and show you what they can help you achieve.
6 Recent Improvements to Our Usage-Based Pricing
It’s been more than a year since we launched our usage-based pricing. In this article, we’ll explain the steps we took to make our pricing less confusing and even more transparent and fair for everyone. 1. Visual credits usage counter We wanted to make sure our users have a quick and easy way to see their monthly usage and understand different user types. Hence, we’ve completely redesigned the Credits usage counter next to your account name.
Find out how to Change into a Higher Author (Beginnner's Information)
Changing into a greater author takes time. From pitching your concept to getting printed—it’s a protracted course of. However what are the most effective methods to turn out to be a greater author, and how are you going to do it? Let’s begin with the fundamentals: Who’re you writing for? Are you aware your viewers? There could also be a distinction in who you suppose you’re writing for vs. who your precise viewers is. At Ahrefs, we publish polls on social media to be taught extra about our viewers.
Ahrefs’ Affiliate Program. Why We Don't Have One
While browsing search queries in our Google Search Console, we noticed that quite a few people search for “ahrefs affiliate program” each month. And, unfortunately, the pages that rank at the top seem quite sketchy (and misleading). So let’s set things straight. Ahrefs does not have an affiliate program We used to have one around five years ago, but we had to discontinue it for several reasons (see below). So today, in 2023, we don’t have an affiliate program.
Keyword Database & Traffic Estimations - June Update
We’re about to roll out a rather significant update to our keyword database, so we wanted to give you advance notice of what to expect from it. Here’s the short version (in case you don’t have time to read the whole thing): Our last keyword database update (in March) caused a noticeable decrease in search traffic estimations for many websites. The upcoming update (in June) will make our traffic estimations go back up (as well as substantially improve their overall accuracy).
How to Hire a Link Building Agency: A Step-by-Step Guide
We all know that link building is an integral part of any SEO strategy. But acquiring top-notch links is not as easy as it looks. It takes a lot of experience, skill, and time to do it well. So what if you can’t manage link building yourself but still want the best results? If you don’t have the experience to find high-quality link prospects or can’t spare hours doing outreach, now may be the time to hire a link building agency. A quality one can get the results you need without the headaches.
Here's What We Found
Every company on Twitter has the same features at its disposal to create a standout profile. Here are those features: But how many SaaS companies make use of them all? And are they using them well? To find out, we studied the Twitter profiles of 100 SaaS companies. Let’s start at the top. Sidenote. Thanks to my colleague, Rebecca Liew, for doing most of the research for this post.
25 Timeless Articles Every Content Marketer Needs to Read
Over the years, we’ve read (and written) some of the best marketing articles, making our judgment pretty great when it comes to determining value. We know what it takes to share insight that makes a difference. The best marketing articles are not only chock-full of valuable insight, but they also stand the test of time. As content marketing experts, we realize that not everyone has this superpower.
25 Timeless Articles Every Content Marketer Needs to Read
Over the years, we’ve read (and written) some of the best marketing articles, making our judgment pretty great when it comes to determining value. We know what it takes to share insight that makes a difference. The best marketing articles are not only chock-full of valuable insight, but they also stand the test of time. As content marketing experts, we realize that not everyone has this superpower.
¿Cómo de precisas son las estimaciones de tráfico en Ahrefs? (Nueva investigación)
Uno de los casos de uso más comunes de Ahrefs es comprobar cuánto tráfico orgánico de búsqueda recibe un sitio web (o una página concreta). Casi todo el mundo sabe que las cifras de tráfico de búsqueda en Ahrefs son meras estimaciones. Pero, ¿cuánto se desvían de las cifras de tráfico reales? Decidimos realizar un pequeño estudio para averiguarlo.
GSC vs. GKP: Comparando los Volúmenes de Búsqueda de 72.000 Keywords [Un Estudio de Ahrefs]
Hay dos fuentes de datos de volumen de búsqueda de keywords que vienen directamente de Google: Google Search Console (GSC) y Google Keyword Planner (GKP). Hemos decidido comparar los números entre los dos y ver cuánto se parecen. GSC se considera generalmente la “fuente única de la verdad” en lo que respecta a datos precisos de palabras clave, porque muestra el número exacto de veces que tu página apareció en los resultados de Google en una palabra clave específica.
Ahrefs’ Keyword Data: More Coverage, Accuracy, and Utility Than Ever Before
Article stats Monthly traffic 22 Linking websites 35 Tweets 5 Data from Content Explorer Shows how many different websites are linking to this piece of content. As a general rule, the more websites link to you, the higher you rank in Google. Shows estimated monthly search traffic to this article according to Ahrefs data. The actual search traffic (as reported in Google Analytics) is usually 3-5 times bigger. The number of times this article was shared on Twitter.
Outreach Efectivo por Email: 5 Lecciones de 111 Emails
El email outreach o contactar por email es uno de los básicos del link building por el que la industria SEO apuesta. Y aunque parece sencillo en la superficie, hay unos cuantos bloqueos no-tan-obvios que pueden evitar que te salga bien. Allá por 2016 escribí un artículo titulado “Acabo de Borrar tu Email de Contacto Sin Leerlo. Y, NO, No me Siento Culpable” (en inglés). A la gente le encantó. Ese post nació de mi frustración con plantillas de outreach pésimas.
How to Use Ahrefs: 11 Actionable Use Cases for Beginners
#Tech So if you lack experience in SEO tools like Ahrefs, I have selected 11 simple and super actionable use cases that you can try right now and get immediate value from. Here they are: See how much search traffic your … Read more › via https://AiUpNow.com November 18, 2021 at 07:37AM by Tim Soulo, Khareem Sudlow,
GSC vs. GKP: Comparing Search Volumes for 72k Keywords [A Study by Ahrefs]
Subscribe for weekly updates Leave this field empty if you're human: There are two sources of keyword search volume data that come directly from Google: Google Search Console (GSC) and Google Keyword Planner (GKP). We decided to compare the numbers between the two and see how much they align. GSC is widely considered the “single source of truth” for accurate keyword data because it shows you the exact number of times your page appeared in Google’s search results for a specific keyword.
Effective Email Outreach: 5 Lessons From 111 Emails
Article stats Linking websites 81 Tweets 34 Data from Content Explorer Shows how many different websites are linking to this piece of content. As a general rule, the more websites link to you, the higher you rank in Google. Shows estimated monthly search traffic to this article according to Ahrefs data. The actual search traffic (as reported in Google Analytics) is usually 3-5 times bigger. The number of times this article was shared on Twitter.
Leveling the playing field: Ahrefs' free product to help content creators compete in Google
30-second summary: Google antitrust, the market cases you need to know. Google’s featured snippets do not payback content creators. How to make content discoverable — no matter the marketing budget. Tim Suolo, Ahrefs’ Chief Marketing Officer explains how they intend to level the playing field for smaller players. While Google faces lawmakers with antitrust cases, it continues making billions from search result ads.
Behind The Scenes of “Strip The Blog” Tool First Upgrade
Woo-hoo! We’ve just rolled out an update of our “Strip The Blog” tool! We’ve improved it’s usability and added a few awesome features. You may go and play with it right away or stay here with me and get to know our thought process behind updating the tool. I think it might be quite interesting to you. Those of you, who’re just thinking of building their own tools will get some awesome advice from this article. And those, who already have that experience might give some awesome advice to myself.
How To Write Tweets That Get a Lot of ReTweets
ReTweets can greatly extend our reach and bring tons of new visitors to our blogs. That’s why we love them so much. We also love them because it feels great when people support our way of thinking. This keeps us motivated and makes us work even harder. So the question is: How do you get more of them? Is there some kind of a system to writing tweets that get a lot of retweets?
Introducing the NEW Ahrefs’ Domain Rating (and how to use it)
Article stats Referring domains 135 Data from Content Explorer tool. Domain Rating (or DR) is one of the most prominent metrics in Ahrefs that you can see in nearly every report we have. A lot of our customers track fluctuations of their websites’ DR almost religiously and quite often get very nervous if it drops by a few points. Well, next week we’re going to roll out a new and improved formula of how we calculate Domain Rating.
The Unspoken Golden Rule of Content Marketing
“What is your best advice on creating great content?” The question is asked loudly; eagerly. Five hundred expectant pairs of eyes turn on where I sit onstage at the Melbourne Convention Center, microphone in hand. I’ve known for a while now that my “breakthroughs” tend to occur in two specific situations: during shower time and when I’m struggling to fall asleep. I can now expand that list to include times like this one — under immense stress, with awkward silence looming and no time to think.
The 9-point blueprint for becoming a great marketer
Hi. I’m Tim, and my official job title is “Chief Marketing Officer and Product Advisor” at Ahrefs, an industry-leading SEO tool. I’ve been “CMO” for four years now. It’s a fancy title that calls to mind leading huge marketing and sales teams — but the truth is, I was a one-man show for a large part of my stint so far.
Ahrefs Content Explorer 2.0: Rebuilt From Scratch (With New Features)
In 2014, we released Content Explorer: a searchable and filterable database of hundreds of millions of web pages. It has since grown to over 1.1 BILLION web pages and today, we’re announcing the launch of the new and much improved Content Explorer 2.0. Before I talk about new features, let me stress that this is not a small update.
Ranking #1 on Google Is Overrated (Ahrefs’ Study of 100k Keywords)
Everybody wants to rank number one, but is this really the right goal to pursue? Our study of 100k keywords says not always. I haven’t done any client SEO work for many years, but I’m sure the gist is much the same as it was 5-10 years ago: Nothing is wrong with any of those questions, but they do demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of how SEO works in 2019. Why? Because ranking #1 doesn’t always equate to SEO success.
How to turn a failing marketing campaign on its head
His palms are sweaty. Knees weak; arms are heavy. There’s vomit on his sweater already. So raps Eminem in the film 8 Mile, describing his character’s nervousness while performing on stage. These opening lines perfectly represent how I felt before hosting my first webinar for Ahrefs — minus the vomit, thankfully. I’d decided to experiment with webinars as a marketing channel after hearing about their high potential to convert.
How to generate customers 24/7 with “The Marketing Flywheel”
“What’s your favorite marketing campaign of all time?” It was a simple question. But I didn’t have an answer. My brain shuffled through past campaigns like a deck of cards. The seconds passed like minutes, as I considered examples I had seen. However, none of the marketing campaigns from our SaaS company, our competitors or outside industries stood out. Occasionally, I’m invited to speak on podcasts. I’m accustomed to answering questions about SEO, content marketing and building marketing teams.
Do Links From Pages With Traffic Help You Rank Higher? [Ahrefs Study]
Ever since members of the the SEO community got their hands on Google’s Reasonable Surfer patent, there’s been no shortage of arguments about the value of links from pages with traffic. Some believe they’re worth more than those from pages without traffic, and others don’t.
How I built an 8-figure marketing team from scratch
Your blog traffic is plateauing. Can I take a stab at rewriting your homepage? The UI/UX of that feature could be better. These are the kinds of messages Ahrefs’ CEO and founder Dmitry received from me in 2015. The funny part? I wasn’t even an employee yet. I was a freelance marketer who wasn’t afraid to be honest with my clients, and Ahrefs was one of them. Dmitry got in touch with me while looking for marketers who would write quality content for his 8-figure SaaS company.
Why I stopped obsessing about our marketing funnel - and why you should, too
You or I could go to any marketing conference, anywhere in the world, and we’d hear about conversion funnels / sales funnels / marketing funnels… How to build them, how to measure every inch of them and how to use that data to surge your way to success. These funnels are seen as a fundamental marketing tactic; if you don’t use them, you’re missing out — big time.
DIY SEO: A Basic 5-Step Guide That Anyone Can Follow
Several years ago, I worked in a startup with no marketing budget. No one had any marketing experience either. Being the only person who had read a couple of marketing books, I was put in charge of the marketing strategy. Without any know-how or marketing dollars, I read a couple of SEO blogs and tried implementing their strategies. And it worked. Sidenote. Due to business challenges, the company no longer exists, which explains the sudden decline in traffic.
Reciprocal Links: Will They Hurt Your SEO? (A Study by Ahrefs)
“You link to me, and I’ll link to you.” Good link building tactic, or bad? Let’s find out. I must confess that I feel a certain attachment to reciprocal links (otherwise known as link exchanges). They were the first “SEO hack” that I ever applied in my career. Let me share that story real quick: Ten years ago, I was an EDM DJ with a growing interest in SEO. I knew some SEO theory, but I had yet to put it into practice.
Why I write for Medium (and other SEOs should too)
Margherita? Prosciutto? Funghi? I’m sitting in an Italian restaurant. But I’m not in Italy — I’m in Singapore. It’s my first time at Pizza Art, and I don’t know what to order. The crowded tables overlooking the river suggest the food is good. Before relocating to the island, I anticipated eating popular Asian dishes like Bak Kut Teh, Chicken Rice and Fish Head Curry; definitely not international dishes. I guess that’s what happens when you DM strangers on Twitter and let them pick the restaurant.
How we achieve +65% YoY growth by ignoring conventional startup advice
I closed my Macbook and sighed — it had been 6 months. Six months since I flew into Singapore’s Changi Airport. Six months since I anxiously waited to have my passport stamped. Six months since my routine turned upside down. I had traded my winter coat — a staple in my small Ukrainian town — for a new pair of swim trunks. Sadly, they would spend more time in my closet than on the beach. At least, I spared the locals from seeing my uber pale legs.
How to Get Backlinks: An Honest Answer
Let’s quickly check out three different examples of random people trying to get a backlink from us. First, we have someone offering us to pay for it: Then there’s someone else, framing their backlink request as a “guest post opportunity”: And finally, here’s the most professional one of the three.
How To Increase Blog Traffic With Contagious Content
Headline Analyzer The blog post headline analyzer will score your overall headline quality and rate its ability to result in social shares, increased traffic, and SEO value. Test every headline before you publish. Try the Headline Analyzer » Everyone wants to increase their blog traffic, right? It would be too discouraging to write articles, knowing that no one will ever read them. So whenever we write a new post, we’re secretly hoping that it will bring tons of new visitors to our blog.
Ahrefs’ SEO Metrics: A Glossary
Want to make sure that you have the right understanding of the SEO metrics in our tools? Here’s a centralized glossary of Ahrefs metrics and how they’re calculated, along with some other popular metrics in our toolset.
Ahrefs’ SEO Metrics: What They Mean and How to Use Them
Are you confused by some of the SEO metrics and abbreviated column headers you see in Ahrefs? This article is for you. In the 3+ years that I’ve been with Ahrefs, I’ve seen many seasoned SEOs overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of data they see inside our tools. So if you’re new to SEO, it’s perfectly normal to feel lost. That’s what our learning materials are here for. Now, here’s the good news: These SEO metrics aren’t as frightening as you might think. They’re quite easy to understand.
How Many New Backlinks Do Top-ranking Pages Get Over Time [New Data by Ahrefs]
Do top-ranking pages get new links at a faster pace than lower-ranking pages? Ask almost any experienced SEO, and they’ll almost certainly say “yes.” But nobody has been able to prove this claim… until now. In case you have no clue what I’m talking about, try this: Take the #1 ranking page for a popular keyword in your niche, and plug it into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer. Look at Referring domains report.
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