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Hack The Box used Ahrefs to execute multiple SEO initiatives for their website, including a site-wide content refresh initiative in 2023. Their most prominent achievement is a 600% increase in keywords ranking on the first page of Google in just 4 months.
In addition, they also achieved a 211% YoY increase in ranking globally on the first page of Google for relevant keywords:
“Ahrefs is the top content marketing and SEO tool for tracking and improving SEO performance. I’ve tried plenty of tools, and this is the closest thing to an “SEO marketing Swiss Army Knife.”
Hack The Box: the Cyber Performance Center, provides a human-first platform to create and maintain high-performing cybersecurity individuals and organizations. They work with business and tech leaders to develop their workforce with plans aligned with cybersecurity organizational objectives.
Problem: Multiple product lines lead to SEO complexity
Hack The Box needed a way to audit and track organic performance across multiple products – from beginner friendly cybersecurity courses to platforms for advanced security professionals – that are tailored to different customer segments.
This required them to keep tabs on different topic clusters, landing pages, target audiences, while also ensuring that the content resources made to support their expansive product range are technically sound.
To handle the complex needs of their business, HackTheBox knew they had to decide on a single solution, and not continue to manage multiple sources of truth for monitoring SEO performance.
Solution: Choose Ahrefs for comprehensive feature coverage that handles complexity well
“We’ve used Similarweb & Semrush in the past alongside Ahrefs. When I joined the company as Content & SEO manager in May 2022, I analyzed all the platforms and decided to keep Ahrefs over all the other competing solutions. It offered the most comprehensive list of tools that would help align “product-led” content marketing, SEO, and even PR reporting efforts using DR/backlink reporting.”
Hassan shared the top 3 of the tools he finds most useful at Ahrefs to this day:
1. Keywords Explorer - to find valuable content and business opportunities
Hack The Box regularly uses Keywords Explorer to support content creation, optimize on-page SEO, and lend overall SEO support to other teams. Content could be created without “shoehorning” on-page SEO late into a product strategy.
Hassan particularly liked Ahrefs’ feature of storing and comparing historical SERPs. This feature helps him outrank competitors in three steps:
- Determine the search intent of nuanced, industry specific keywords
- Check the changes made by pages that continuously rise in rank over time. This uncovers what content or features match search intent closer.
- Find gaps in content which can help them outrank the current top pages and steal featured snippets.
2. Rank Tracker - to consistently monitor keyword rankings across all product lines
Hack The Box uses Rank Tracker to monitor keywords rankings for the breadth of their content: from conversion-oriented product landing pages to bottom-of-funnel blog posts. Accurate month-month reporting and tracking allows them to regularly identify pieces to prioritize content refreshing, or perform further investigation if there are sudden drops in ranking.
Hassan explains this tool has become a “daily driver” in their content creation workflow & editorial management.
3. Site Audit - to maintain their website’s technical health with ease
Site Audit makes technical audits easy for Hack The Box: they analyze the top technical issues, prioritize them in an exported google sheet, and then share what needs to be fixed with web development and product teams. Not needing to set up a custom crawl or use a separate tool makes it fast and easy to routinely keep their website’s technical SEO health well optimized.
