Using Ahrefs: Outsourcing SEO Research

Introduction

If you’re running a B2B sales org in 2025, you’re selling into buyers who Google everything before they talk to you.

Organic search now drives roughly 53% of all website traffic, making it the single biggest digital channel for most businesses. BrightEdge, WiFiTalents. On top of that, 81% of B2B buyers start their journey with a Google search and are 57-70% of the way through research before they ever engage a salesperson. SEO Sandwitch, SellersCommerce.

So yeah-what shows up on page one when your prospects search their problems, your category, or your competitors? That’s already shaping your deals before your SDRs ever hit "send".

Ahrefs is one of the best tools on the planet for answering that question. It’s also a massive time sink if you don’t live and breathe SEO.

In this guide, we’ll break down how to use Ahrefs effectively by outsourcing SEO research, and then plug those insights straight into your B2B sales engine:

• Why Ahrefs matters for sales development-not just marketing
• What an outsourced SEO research setup actually looks like
• The specific Ahrefs reports you should care about (and which to ignore)
• How to convert SEO data into better lists, messaging, and meetings
• How SalesHive fits alongside your SEO partner to turn insights into pipeline

By the end, you’ll know how to treat Ahrefs as a revenue intelligence engine, without forcing your SDRs to become amateur SEOs.

Why Ahrefs Matters to B2B Sales (Not Just Marketing)

Buyers are doing their homework without you

Modern B2B buyers don’t wait for your SDR to cold call them. Research shows:

• 81% of B2B buyers start their purchase journey with a Google search. SEO Sandwitch
• Buyers are 57-70% through their research before contacting sales. SellersCommerce
• Organic search contributes around 53% of website traffic and is widely seen as the top inbound channel for lead generation. BrightEdge, Digital World Institute

Translation: by the time your SDR finally gets someone on the phone, that buyer has already read articles, reviews, and comparison pages. They’ve seen your competitors’ positioning and probably formed a shortlist.

Ahrefs shows you exactly what those pages look like and which keywords led buyers there. That’s gold for sales.

Ahrefs is where serious SEO lives

Ahrefs has become a default tool in the SEO world:

• 82% of SEO professionals say Ahrefs is part of their weekly routine, and 64% trust its backlink index more than any other tool. Digital World Institute
• Surveys find 59% of SEOs rank Ahrefs as the best all‑in‑one SEO tool. SQ Magazine
• Ahrefs holds around 18-23% market share in the SEO/SEM tools category, depending on the dataset, making it one of the most widely adopted platforms. My Codeless Website, SQ Magazine

So when you outsource SEO research, chances are your partner is already deep in Ahrefs every day. The real question is: are they turning that data into anything your sales team can use?

SEO isn’t just “more traffic”-it’s better sales conversations

A lot of sales leaders mentally bucket SEO as “marketing’s problem.” That’s a miss.

Well-executed SEO does three very sales‑centric things:

1. Sets the narrative before first contact

If prospects mostly find competitor A’s "Definitive Guide" and competitor B’s "ROI Calculator" when they search your problem space, those narratives shape the questions they bring to your reps.

1. Reveals real buyer language

Ahrefs shows the exact phrases prospects type into Google. When your cold emails and call openers mirror that language, you sound relevant instead of generic.

1. Highlights the real competitive battlefield

You’ll see which competitors are dominating specific topics or features. That’s instant ammo for outbound sequences and call talk tracks.

In other words, Ahrefs is market intel-if you translate it correctly.

Why Outsource Ahrefs SEO Research Instead of Doing It In‑House?

Ahrefs is powerful… and deep

Ahrefs can:

• Analyze billions of keywords
• Surface every backlink to your site and your competitors
• Show you exactly which pages rank for which search terms in which countries
• Map out content gaps, SERP features, and intent

It’s also easy to burn 5 hours playing with filters and come away with nothing actionable for sales.

Most B2B companies don’t have the luxury of a seasoned in‑house SEO who can live in Ahrefs full‑time. Even if marketing owns a license, they’re juggling 20 other things.

Outsourcing is usually cheaper than hiring SEO talent

SEO expertise is not cheap. Recent pricing data shows:

• 70% of businesses spend between $1,000 and $5,000/month on SEO services, with the average retainer at about $2,819/month. Digital World Institute
• Industry surveys and pricing guides converge on retainer ranges of $1,500–$5,000/month for most small to mid‑sized businesses. Digital World Institute, Growth Catalyst Crew
• Ahrefs’ own pricing survey found agencies averaging $3,209/month and consultants $3,250/month on retainers. Ahrefs

Compare that with the fully loaded cost of hiring a solid SEO lead (salary, benefits, tools, etc.), and outsourcing purely the research and strategy layer often looks like a bargain-especially if your primary goal is to arm sales with better intel, not build a full media machine.

Your SDRs don’t need another complex tool

Giving SDRs direct access to Ahrefs sounds empowering, but in reality:

• They don’t have the time to learn it.
• They’ll likely misinterpret a lot of the data.
• You’ll end up paying for seats that barely get used.

You’re better off outsourcing Ahrefs expertise to specialists and having them deliver sales‑friendly outputs: keyword clusters, competitor summaries, and 1‑page insight briefs.

What to Actually Ask For When You Outsource Ahrefs SEO Research

Let’s assume you hire an SEO consultant or agency that uses Ahrefs. What should you put in the scope so the output helps sales, not just “organic traffic”?

1. Keyword research mapped to personas and buying stages

Don’t settle for a 3,000‑row spreadsheet of keywords.

Instead, ask your provider to segment Ahrefs keyword data into something like this:

• Persona: VP Sales, RevOps, CMO, IT, etc.
• Buying Stage:
• Awareness (problem‑focused: “how to improve outbound reply rates”)
• Consideration (solution‑focused: “cold email software for B2B SaaS”)
• Decision (brand/feature‑focused: “SalesHive reviews”, “SalesHive pricing”, “[Competitor] vs [You]”)
• Priority: A/B/C based on search volume, difficulty, and commercial value

Then, condense these into a Top 20-40 keyword list per persona with notes your sales team can actually use:

• Plain‑English description of what searchers want
• Example email subject lines using that language
• Call opening questions that mirror the query

This way, Ahrefs keyword data jumps straight into sequences and talk tracks.

2. Content gap analysis that feeds outbound angles

Ahrefs’ Content Gap tool lets your provider compare what you rank for against competitors. Instead of a generic “you’re missing these keywords” output, ask them to focus on:

• Gaps that map to common sales objections

e.g., Competitors have content on “ROI of outsourced SDRs for mid‑market SaaS” and you don’t, even though you constantly get ROI questions in late‑stage deals.

• Gaps that align with profitable verticals

e.g., You’re winning deals in fintech, but competitors dominate “B2B lead generation for fintech” terms.

For each high‑value gap, have your provider propose:

• A content idea (guide, case study, calculator)
• The primary keyword and related terms
• A sales play: how SDRs could reference or use that asset in outreach once it’s live

3. SERP intent breakdowns for your most important topics

Search volume alone is almost useless to sales. You need to know intent.

Ask your Ahrefs partner to:

• Pull the top 10-20 keywords that are most commercially important to you.
• For each, look at the current top 10 SERP results.
• Classify them:
• Mostly educational? (blogs, guides, how‑tos)
• Category/solution overviews?
• Product or feature pages?
• Comparison or alternative pages?

Then you’ll know which topics are better for top‑of‑funnel thought leadership and which scream "demo now".

Sales can use that intel to:

• Match outreach tone to the buyer’s likely stage.
• Decide when to push for a meeting vs. share content first.

4. Competitor intelligence that turns into battlecards

Ahrefs is a beast for competitor research. Have your provider:

1. Identify your top 3-5 search competitors (not just who you think they are, but who actually ranks next to you).
2. Pull their top pages by organic traffic and by keyword clusters.
3. Summarize what each competitor is:
• Leaning on as their main differentiator
• Bad‑mouthing about your category
• Emphasizing that you’re not talking about yet

From there, build simple search-informed battlecards for your reps:

• “When a prospect mentions [Competitor A], they’ve probably seen content about [X,Y,Z]. Here’s how to respond.”
• “If they’ve been reading about ‘[keyword cluster]’ they will care about [feature/benefit].”

5. Quarterly “for-sales” SEO report (2-3 pages max)

Instead of yet another 40‑slide deck, require a short quarterly report that answers sales‑centric questions:

• Which 5-10 topics grew most in search demand this quarter for our ICP?
• Which 3 competitor pages are surging and could show up in deals?
• Which of our pages are now ranking and should be used in outbound?
• What 2-3 new sequences or campaigns do you recommend based on Ahrefs data?

That’s the kind of SEO reporting your VP of Sales will actually read.

Turning Ahrefs Data into Sales Plays

Now the fun part: how do we actually use all this research to get more meetings and deals?

Use keyword intent to shape cold email angles

Let’s say your outsourced SEO partner comes back with this Ahrefs insight:

• High‑intent keyword: “outsource SDR team”
• Monthly volume: decent but not huge
• SERP intent: mostly comparison and pricing pages

You could build a micro‑sequence around that exact intent:

• Subject: “Thinking about outsourcing SDRs?”
• Opening line: “A lot of teams we talk to started by Googling ‘outsource SDR team’ when their in‑house reps hit a wall…"
• Body: Briefly share a relevant case study, then invite a call to talk through trade‑offs.

Because your language and angle literally match what your ICP types into Google, reply rates almost always beat generic “quick question about your Q4 pipeline” emails.

Use content gaps to justify new enablement assets

Your SEO partner flags that competitors are cleaning up on searches like “cold email benchmarks for B2B SaaS” and “outbound appointment setting ROI”. You have no comparable guides.

Marketing creates two strong, Ahrefs‑informed assets:

1. A benchmark report using anonymized data from outbound programs.
2. A calculator or one‑pager on ROI from outsourcing SDR teams.

Sales then:

• Uses the benchmark as a lead magnet for outbound campaigns.
• Sends the ROI piece as a follow‑up to meetings where cost is the main objection.

Ahrefs tells you the content topics the market cares about; your outsourced SEO partner and your outbound engine (e.g., SalesHive) make sure those topics actually drive meetings.

Use SERP competitors to prepare reps for what prospects have seen

If Ahrefs shows that for “B2B lead generation agency”, your top competitors’ pages emphasize specific angles-like multi‑channel outreach or US‑based SDRs-your reps should assume prospects have already read those claims.

You can arm reps with:

• Talk tracks addressing each competing narrative.
• Questions that reframe the conversation (e.g., “You’ve probably seen a lot of ‘omnichannel’ promises-what’s frustrated you most about past outbound programs?”).

Now, instead of being surprised by what prospects bring up, your reps are ready for it.

Align SEO and outbound around the same account universe

Your SEO partner might find, via Ahrefs and analytics, that certain verticals (say, cybersecurity SaaS or industrial manufacturing software) disproportionately hit your high‑intent pages.

Feed that intel into SalesHive or your internal SDR team to:

• Build target lists in those verticals.
• Customize messaging with industry‑specific pains.
• Reference SEO‑driven resources that already resonate in that niche.

This creates a tidy loop:

1. SEO reveals where you’re winning attention.
2. Outbound focuses there intentionally.
3. Win‑rates & meetings in those verticals go up.
4. You feed new closed‑won data back into keyword and content strategy.

How This Applies to Your Sales Team

For Heads of Sales / CROs

Here’s the blunt version: if you’re not using SEO research, your reps are flying blind.

You may not care about keyword rankings, but you should care about:

• Which problems your buyers Google before they talk to you
• Which competitors dominate those conversations
• Which content topics consistently draw in your best‑fit accounts

Outsourcing Ahrefs research gives you those answers without asking your team to become SEOs. Your job is to:

• Insist that SEO deliverables tie back to pipeline and revenue.
• Show up to quarterly SEO x Sales syncs.
• Green‑light outbound experiments that use SEO insights.

For SDR / BDR leaders

Your reps don’t need Ahrefs logins. They need:

• New angles grounded in the problems prospects are already Googling.
• Fresh talk tracks based on competitor pages your buyers have read.
• Content and tools (guides, calculators, benchmarks) that map to real search demand.

Work with marketing and your outsourced SEO partner to build a simple intake:

• Once a month, you get a 1-2 page Ahrefs summary.
• You choose 1-2 insights to turn into new email threads or call openers.
• You test them for two weeks and share performance back.

For Marketing and RevOps

You’re the connective tissue.

• Make sure the people doing Ahrefs work are actually talking to sales.
• Translate SEO jargon (“KD”, “DR”, “SERP features”) into what matters for revenue.
• Build simple dashboards that connect search metrics with meetings and opportunities-ideally by campaign or theme.

You’re also in a prime spot to coordinate between your SEO partner and lead gen partner (like SalesHive) so everyone works off the same playbook.

SalesHive + Outsourced Ahrefs Research: What It Looks Like in Practice

Here’s a simple operating model that works well for a lot of B2B teams.

Step 1: Hire an SEO partner that lives in Ahrefs

You bring on an SEO consultant or agency whose remit is research and strategy, not just content volume. In their scope, you explicitly include:

• Quarterly keyword and intent maps aligned to your ICP
• Content gap analysis tied to objections and verticals
• SERP competitor breakdowns and battlecard inputs
• Short, sales‑friendly summaries every month or quarter

Step 2: Plug those insights into SalesHive

You then work with SalesHive to:

• Turn high‑intent keyword clusters into tailored outbound sequences.
• Use competitor SERP intel to refine messaging and objections in cold calls.
• Focus list building on industries and company profiles that repeatedly hit your most valuable SEO pages.

SalesHive’s SDR teams-US‑based or Philippines‑based-can then execute that strategy at scale using:

• Multi‑channel outbound (cold email, cold calling, LinkedIn where appropriate)
• AI‑assisted personalization (including tools like eMod)
• Continuous A/B testing on messaging derived from your Ahrefs data

Over time, you create a closed loop where:

1. Ahrefs shows what the market is searching for and which pages (yours and competitors’) are resonating.
2. SalesHive tests messaging against those themes with real prospects.
3. Winning themes feed back into content and keyword priorities.
4. Your organic and outbound performance ratchet up together.

Step 3: Measure what matters

Instead of obsessing over rankings alone, you track:

• Meetings and opportunities created from campaigns that explicitly use SEO‑informed messaging.
• Close rates for deals where prospects engaged with SEO‑driven content vs. those that didn’t.
• Lift in reply and meeting rates whenever you roll out new Ahrefs‑based sales plays.

That’s how you justify both the SEO retainer and the outbound investment: they’re two halves of the same revenue engine.

Conclusion + Next Steps

You don’t need your SDRs poking around Ahrefs dashboards. You do need someone who lives in Ahrefs to tell you:

• What your buyers are actually searching for
• Which competitors they’re seeing first
• Where your content and messaging are missing the mark

Given that most businesses today are spending $1,000–$5,000 per month on SEO services and the average retainer lands near $2,819, outsourcing this Ahrefs‑driven research is usually more efficient than hiring in‑house. Digital World Institute.

From there, the playbook is straightforward:

1. Define sales‑aligned SEO outcomes. Make “better pipeline” the goal, not just “more traffic.”
2. Scope your SEO partner to deliver Ahrefs insights in sales‑friendly formats. Think 1-2 page briefs, not CSV dumps.
3. Loop in a specialist outbound partner like SalesHive. Use those insights to fuel targeted cold email, calling, and multichannel campaigns.
4. Measure, iterate, repeat. Treat SEO research and outbound outreach as one integrated motion.

If you want to stop guessing what your buyers care about and start seeing SEO show up in your pipeline reports, this is the way: let specialists own Ahrefs, let SalesHive own outbound execution, and keep your internal team focused on strategy and closing.

That’s how you turn outsourced SEO research from a marketing line item into a sales development superpower.