Ahrefs Web Analytics Explained

Ahrefs Web Analytics is a free, lightweight, privacy-friendly analytics tool from Ahrefs — traffic, top pages and referrers without heavy cookies.

What the data-key means

Your site is identified by a data-key in the script’s data-key attribute, loaded from analytics.ahrefs.com/analytics.js.

Why use it

• Free and privacy-conscious (no consent banner needed in many regions)
• Very lightweight script
• Simple, clear traffic reporting

It’s often run alongside GA4 as a simpler, privacy-first second opinion. Watch for it being installed twice (hard-coded and via GTM) — Tag Explorer flags duplicates.

How to check yours is working

Run your site through our free Tag Explorer tool — it shows every tag on the page, nested under its GTM container, with the tracking IDs. To confirm a tag actually fires, use GTM’s Preview mode or your browser’s DevTools Network tab.

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Part of the Shipwreck Studio Tag Guide. Scan any page with Tag Explorer to see its full tag tree and spot duplicates.