Hack The Box used Ahrefs to execute multiple SEO plans for their website, including a 2023 site-wide content refresh plan. 600%.
In addition, they also achieved Annual increase of 211% Global rankings 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 many tools and this is the closest thing to a “Swiss Army Knife of SEO marketing.”
About cracking the box
crack the box: The Cyber Effectiveness Center, which provides a people-centered platform to create and maintain high-performing cybersecurity individuals and organizations. They work with business and technology leaders to develop workforce development programs that align with cybersecurity organization goals.
Problem: Multiple product lines create SEO complexity
Hack The Box needed a way to review and track the organic performance of multiple products—from cybersecurity courses for beginners to platforms for advanced security professionals—that were tailored to different customer segments.
This requires them to pay close attention to different topic clusters, landing pages, target audiences, while also ensuring that the content assets produced to support their broad product range are technically sound.
To handle complex business needs, HackTheBox knew they had to decide on a single solution rather than continue to manage multiple sources of truth to monitor SEO performance.
Solution: Choose Ahrefs for comprehensive feature coverage that can handle complexity well
“We have used Similarweb and Semrush with Ahrefs in the past. When I joined the company as Content and SEO Manager in May 2022, I analyzed all platforms and decided to keep Ahrefs over all other competing solutions. It offers The most comprehensive list of tools to help coordinate “product-led” content marketing, SEO, and even PR reporting efforts using disaster recovery/backlink reporting.
Hassan shared what he considers to be the 3 most useful tools of Ahrefs so far:
1. Keyword Browser – Find valuable content and business opportunities
Hack The Box regularly uses keywords explorer to support content creation, optimize on-page SEO and provide overall SEO support to other teams. Create content without “ shoehorning ” on-page SEO late in your product strategy.
Hassan particularly likes Ahrefs’ ability to store and compare historical SERPs. This feature helps him outperform his competitors in three steps:
- Determine search intent for nuanced industry-specific keywords
- Check the changes made to pages that have risen in ranking over time. This reveals which content or features are more relevant to search intent.
- Find gaps in your content that can help them surpass their current popular pages and steal featured snippets.
2. Rank Tracker – Continuously monitors keyword rankings across all product lines
Hack The Box uses a rank tracker to monitor keyword rankings across the breadth of its content: from conversion-oriented product landing pages to bottom-of-funnel blog posts. Accurate month-to-month reporting and tracking allows them to identify content regularly to prioritize content refreshes, or to investigate further if there is a sudden drop in rankings.
Hassan explained that the tool has become a “daily driver” in his content creation workflow and editorial management.
3. On-site audit – Easily maintain your website’s technical health
Website Audit makes technical audits easy for Hack The Box: they analyze the most important technical issues, prioritize them in an exported Google spreadsheet, and then share what needs to be fixed with the web development and product teams. No need to set up custom crawls or use separate tools, it’s quick and easy to regularly keep your site’s technical SEO health well optimized.
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