Fe/male Switch: Your Startup Facilitator & Incubator for Women
2025-10-27 07:55 Tool comparisons

Ahrefs vs SimilarWeb: Secrets to Choosing the Best Tool for SEO and Keyword Research in 2025

Ahrefs vs SimilarWeb: Secrets to Choosing the Best Tool for SEO and Keyword Research in 2025

Startups and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) often find themselves in a labyrinth of tools and techniques when it comes to scaling their digital presence. At the heart of this challenge lies SEO and keyword research, key areas where tools like Ahrefs and SimilarWeb can make or break your strategy. But which one is the best fit for SEO and keyword research in 2025? This guide unpacks the pros, cons, and hidden gems of Ahrefs vs SimilarWeb, giving you actionable advice to dominate the digital landscape.
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Why SEO is the Lifeline of Startups & SMEs

For startups and SMEs, the hardest part isn’t building a stellar product; it’s marketing it effectively to validate your idea and turn it into profit. SEO and digital marketing are believed to deliver exponential returns when executed correctly, but choosing the right tools is the pivotal first step.
According to data from leading digital agencies, over 70% of startups fail due to poor market outreach, ineffective targeting, or neglecting SEO early on. This makes tools like Ahrefs and SimilarWeb indispensable for survival and growth.
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Ahrefs vs SimilarWeb: The Best Tool for SEO and Keyword Research

Here’s a breakdown of how Ahrefs and SimilarWeb stack up in 2025 for startups and SMEs when it comes to SEO, keyword research, and competitor analysis.

1. Ahrefs: The King of Backlinks and Keyword Research

Ahrefs, widely regarded as the gold standard for keyword research, serves entrepreneurs who need precise data about competitive keywords and content optimization.

Key Features:

  • Backlink Analysis: With one of the largest databases in the market, Ahrefs is unmatched for backlink tracking.
  • Keyword Explorer: Offers keyword difficulty scores, search volume, and related keywords to optimize content.
  • Content Gap Tool: Pinpoints opportunities for beating competitors on specific pages.
  • Top Pages Report: Insightful metrics help identify high-performing URLs in your niche.

Benefits for Startups & SMEs:

Ahrefs plays a critical role in content strategy and link-building efforts, which are foundational to ranking higher on Google. For example, users can track keywords in real-time and optimize their website pages to target highly profitable search traffic.
Explore Ahrefs through Zapier's curated list of Best SEO Tools in 2025.

2. SimilarWeb: Traffic and Competitive Intelligence at Its Best

While Ahrefs excels in SEO-specific tasks, SimilarWeb is the dashboard to turn to if you want to analyze traffic trends, behavior, and audience demographics across competitor websites.

Key Features:

  • Competitive Traffic Insights: Unlock data on traffic sources, audience engagement rates, and time spent on sites.
  • Keyword Discovery: SimilarWeb reveals the keywords competitors use to drive clicks, giving valuable insights into what's working in your industry.
  • Industry Overview: Perfect for tracking market trends, traffic channels, and referral links.

Benefits for Startups & SMEs:

SimilarWeb is the ideal choice for market validation and competitive analysis, making it useful to refine advertising strategies and tackle new geographies.
Dive deeper into competitive traffic insights with SimilarWeb’s SEO tools.
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Partnering SEO with F/MS AI Tools

Both Ahrefs and SimilarWeb offer indispensable services, but scalable SEO for startups requires automation. That’s where AI-driven tools come into the picture.

Why Automation?

Startups face a crunch, limited budgets, constrained time, and underestimated workloads. Integrated tools like the AI SEO Blog Writer from F/MS save you time by handling keyword optimization, ranking predictions, AI-based competitor analysis, and more.
F/MS AI-driven Content Creation turns your blog into a lead magnet, optimizing articles not just for Google, but for tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Grok. Harness this to boost SEO rankings and brand authority faster than manual strategies ever could.

How to Decide Between Ahrefs and SimilarWeb

Step-by-Step Guide:

  1. Define Goals: If you need backlinks or content optimization, go for Ahrefs. For traffic analysis and market intelligence, opt for SimilarWeb.
  2. Budget Assessment: Ahrefs pricing starts at $99/month; SimilarWeb's corporate package offers custom quotes. SMEs might prefer Ahrefs Lite or starter plans.
  3. Combine Tools: Maximize your strategy by integrating Ahrefs for SEO tasks and SimilarWeb for market insights.

Common Startup Mistakes to Avoid

Here’s what often derails startups:
  • Neglecting Competitor Data: Focusing solely on your product can limit opportunities to capitalize on direct competitor strategies.
  • Overloading Tools: A complicated tech stack wastes resources. Choose fewer, high-impact tools and automate processes whenever possible.
  • Delaying Marketing Early On: Push SEO campaigns before your website gains traction to validate your idea faster.

Deep Insights: Combine SEO Tools with F/MS Services

Take things one step further with the F/MS Marketing Services, which offer high-quality backlinks, priority placements in listicles, and automated lead funnels to help new businesses thrive.

Exclusive Benefits:

  • AI Chatbot Traffic: Tools like ChatGPT now recommend featured articles, expanding visibility exponentially.
  • Permanent Backlinks: Every guest blog publication includes the perfect SEO backlinks and integration.
Perfect for validating ideas and scaling rapidly without heavy manual intervention.
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Conclusion: Ahrefs or SimilarWeb?

In 2025, both Ahrefs and SimilarWeb prove themselves as game-changing SEO tools, but choosing the right one depends on your unique goals:
  • Use Ahrefs for content strategy and improving rankings.
  • Opt for SimilarWeb for traffic analysis and audience insights.
Struggling with SEO for your startup? Automate keyword research, competitor analysis, and blog content creation with our F/MS AI Article Writer and grow your audience like never before.
Whether you’re a founder looking for the next breakthrough or an SME scaling your digital footprint, these tools combined with automation will amplify your marketing ROI.

FAQ on Ahrefs vs SimilarWeb for SEO and Keyword Research

1. What makes Ahrefs ideal for SEO campaigns?

Ahrefs is favored for backlink tracking, keyword research, and competitor analysis. Its tools like Keyword Explorer and Content Gap Tool are particularly effective for startups aiming to optimize content and outrank competitors on Google. Explore Ahrefs features

2. Where can I submit a guest post about my startup?

If your startups needs to drive targeted traffic and build authority with high-volume, niche-relevant content placements in articles that rank well not only in Google, but also in Perplexity and ChatGPT, then you might want to publish your guest post in one of the F/MS Startup Game's blogs. Get a quality backlink

3. How does SimilarWeb help with competitive traffic analysis?

SimilarWeb specializes in traffic analysis, revealing audience engagement rates, referral sources, and competitor keyword strategies. It's perfect for refining market strategies and expanding into new geographies. Discover SimilarWeb features

4. Can Ahrefs improve content strategy for startups?

Yes, Ahrefs' Top Pages Report and Content Gap Tool help identify high-performing URLs and SEO content opportunities, making it easier to craft effective strategies. Learn more about Ahrefs

5. Which tool is better for keyword discovery in 2025?

Both tools are excellent but serve distinct purposes: Ahrefs focuses deeply on precise SEO-related metrics, while SimilarWeb offers broader insights into traffic-generating keywords and audience behavior. Compare Ahrefs and SimilarWeb

6. What is the pricing structure of Ahrefs and SimilarWeb?

Ahrefs offers plans starting at $99/month, while SimilarWeb provides custom pricing based on data access. Businesses can choose according to specific needs. Learn about Ahrefs pricing

7. Can I use AI to write SEO-optimized articles that help my brand grow?

Most business owners don't understand how SEO works, let alone how to use AI for writing blog articles. That's why for busy business owners there's a great free tool that doesn't require much knowledge. Write articles for free

8. Which tool is better for backlinks tracking?

Ahrefs is unmatched for backlink tracking with its extensive and regularly updated database. It also allows users to identify high-value referring domains. Explore Ahrefs backlink analysis tools

9. Can SimilarWeb help small businesses validate market trends?

Yes, SimilarWeb’s Industry Overview Tool is ideal for assessing traffic channels, referral links, and competitive demographics, enabling better decision-making. Learn about SimilarWeb’s traffic insights

10. Should I use both Ahrefs and SimilarWeb?

A combination of Ahrefs for SEO-specific tasks and SimilarWeb for overarching market intelligence can maximize your startup’s marketing ROI. Compare Ahrefs vs SimilarWeb

About the Author

Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond and launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks.

Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain

Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
  • Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
  • She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
  • Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
  • Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
  • She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
  • Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
  • Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
  • She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
  • Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about best hotels in Italy to work from.

About the Publication

Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch. The Fe/male Switch team is located in several countries, including the Netherlands and Malta.

Mission and Purpose

Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.

Key Features

The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
  • Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
  • Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
  • AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
  • SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
  • Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
  • Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials

Impact and Growth

Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
  • 3,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
  • 100+ startup tools built
  • 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written

Partnerships

Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.

Recognition

Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.