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Batch Analysis lets you pull DR, UR, traffic, and backlink counts for up to 200 URLs at once. The skill is what you do with the export — most teams stop at 'I have a CSV.'
Who this is forMarketers running outreach, link-prospect qualification, or competitive content audits. If you're staring at a list of 500 URLs wondering which are worth your time, this is the workflow.
What you'll need
Step 1
Define the evaluation goal first. Link prospects? Content competitors? Toxic backlinks? The goal dictates what metrics matter.
Before opening Ahrefs, write down the evaluation goal. 'I want to qualify these 150 URLs as link outreach prospects' is a usable goal. 'See what these URLs look like' is not.
Compile the URL list in a clean CSV. One URL per row. No trailing slashes inconsistency, no http vs https mixups.
Cap the list at 200 URLs per batch (Ahrefs hard limit). If your raw list is larger, split into multiple batches and label them.
Pre-dedupe. Run a quick check for duplicate URLs or near-duplicates (example.com/page vs example.com/page/). Batch Analysis treats them as distinct rows.
Step 2
Ahrefs → More → Batch Analysis. Paste URLs, select metrics: DR, UR, Referring Domains, Traffic, Traffic Value, Top Keyword.
Open Ahrefs → More (top nav) → Batch Analysis.
Paste the URL list. Choose 'URL' mode (not 'Domain' mode) unless you specifically want domain-level aggregates.
Select the metrics you need: DR (domain authority), UR (URL authority), Referring Domains, Backlinks, Organic Traffic (US or global), Traffic Value, Top Keyword.
For link prospect evaluation, the must-haves are: DR, Referring Domains, Organic Traffic, Top Keyword.
For content benchmarking: UR, Backlinks, Organic Traffic, Traffic Value, Top Keyword.
Click Analyze. Ahrefs processes 50-200 URLs in 1-3 minutes.
Step 3
Decide your tiers: A (top 10%), B (next 20%), C (rest). Define what metric thresholds put a URL in each tier.
Don't open the CSV yet. First, define the scoring framework.
For link prospects (example framework): Tier A = DR 50+, Traffic 5,000+/mo, Topic-relevant. Tier B = DR 30-49, Traffic 1,000-5,000/mo. Tier C = below either threshold.
For content benchmarks: Tier A = Traffic Value $5,000+/mo. Tier B = $1,000-5,000. Tier C = below.
Write the framework down before you see the data. Looking at the data first introduces confirmation bias — you'll set thresholds that produce the answer you want.
Step 4
Export the Batch Analysis as CSV. Open in Sheets. Add a Tier column. Apply your framework to score each row.
Export → CSV. Open in Google Sheets or Excel.
Add columns: Tier (A/B/C), Relevance (1-5, manual), Action (Reach Out / Defer / Skip).
Apply your scoring framework via formula. Sort by Tier descending.
Manually rate Relevance on the top 50 URLs only — anything in Tier C doesn't deserve manual review yet.
Tier A + Relevance 4-5 = action this week. Tier A + Relevance 1-3 = defer. Tier B = next week. Tier C = archive.
Step 5
For the top 10 Tier A targets, open Site Explorer one-by-one to validate. Batch metrics miss context that Site Explorer surfaces.
Batch Analysis gives aggregates. Site Explorer gives context.
For each of your top 10 targets, open Site Explorer → click into the URL → check: recent backlink growth (declining = stale), top organic pages (matches your niche?), and top keyword (is it relevant traffic or accidental traffic?).
If a URL passes the batch but fails Site Explorer's deeper check, downgrade it. Common cases: high traffic from one viral post (won't help your link), declining domain authority (Google starting to discount), or off-topic traffic mix.
Site Explorer takes 90 seconds per URL. 15 minutes total for top 10 saves 10+ hours of wasted outreach.
Step 6
Top 20 targets go to your outreach tool, content planning doc, or competitor benchmark sheet. Tier C goes to the archive.
Pull the top 20 Tier A + Relevance 4-5 URLs into your action tool: HubSpot, Pitchbox, BuzzStream for outreach; Notion or Airtable for content briefs.
Include the relevant context from Batch Analysis: top keyword, traffic estimate, why this URL.
Archive Tier B and C URLs — but keep the export. Re-run the batch quarterly; URLs move between tiers as their site grows or declines.
Set a recurring calendar reminder to re-run the same URL list quarterly. Batch Analysis is most powerful as a recurring check, not a one-off pull.
Common mistakes
Running Batch Analysis without a goal
What goes wrong: You pull metrics on 200 URLs, scroll through the CSV for 20 minutes, then close the tab. Hours of credit usage with zero action.
How to avoid: Write the evaluation goal before opening Ahrefs. 'I'm qualifying these 150 URLs for outreach' or 'I'm benchmarking these 100 content competitors.' Specific goal, specific metrics, specific action.
Including duplicate or non-canonical URLs
What goes wrong: Your batch includes example.com, www.example.com, and example.com/page. Three rows for what should be one analysis. Wasted credits and confused output.
How to avoid: Normalize URLs before uploading. Pick canonical protocol (https), canonical host (www or apex), and remove trailing slashes consistently.
Not building the scoring framework in advance
What goes wrong: You score after looking at the data. Your thresholds drift to match whatever distribution you see. The scoring becomes meaningless and the prioritization is post-hoc rationalization.
How to avoid: Define A/B/C tiers in writing before you look at the export. The framework should be reusable across batches.
Skipping Site Explorer validation on top targets
What goes wrong: You blast outreach to 50 batch-validated URLs. Half are stale sites with declining authority. Reply rate is 1%. The batch said 'green' but the deeper data said 'no.'
How to avoid: Always do 90-second Site Explorer checks on your top 10-20 targets. Batch is the filter; Site Explorer is the qualifier.
One-off batches instead of recurring
What goes wrong: You run a batch once and never again. Six months later, half your prospects have moved tiers but you don't know — you're still chasing the old top 20.
How to avoid: Set a quarterly recurring reminder. Re-run the same URL list. Update the action list based on new tier movements.
Recap
Done — what's next
How to run an Ahrefs backlink gap analysis (and get usable targets)
Read the next tutorial
Hand it off
Batch Analysis is a power-user tool that compounds when run on a cadence. A vetted technical SEO specialist on EverestX will run weekly batches, qualify prospects, and feed your outreach or content team — typically $400-800/mo at $14-16/hr.
See specialist rates
Up to 200 URLs per batch on Standard and higher plans. Lite plan caps at 100. Running batches sequentially is fine — most teams process 600-1,000 URLs/week across 3-5 batches.
Each URL in URL-mode costs 1 row credit. 200 URLs = 200 credits. Domain-mode batches are slightly more expensive (1.5x). Standard plan includes 500/month; Advanced includes 2,000/month.
Yes — Batch Analysis works on any URL. But for internal-site work, Site Audit is the better tool. Use Batch Analysis when you need authority/traffic context across external URLs.
URL-mode returns metrics for the specific page (UR, page traffic, page backlinks). Domain-mode returns root-domain metrics (DR, total domain traffic, total domain backlinks). Use URL-mode for content prospects, Domain-mode for link prospects.
Three causes: (1) the page is recent and Ahrefs hasn't indexed traffic yet (24-72 hour delay), (2) the page redirects and Ahrefs is showing the redirect target's traffic, (3) the page is noindexed. Cross-check in Site Explorer for the truth.
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