How To Fix 403 Errors Viewed From Ahrefs

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A 403 error typically indicates that the server understood the request, but is refusing to fulfil it. This is often due to insufficient permissions or authentication issues.

It's a good practice to run regular site audits and uncover such errors to minimise such problems from affecting your domain authority and user experience.

Here is a step by step tutorial to view 403 Errors on Ahrefs and fix it:

1. Go to Ahrefs and click on Site Audit on the top.
2. Click on New Project if you haven't run an audit before.
3. You can import data using Google Search console to perform a site audit.
4. Or if in case you don't have the access to Search Console you can click on Add manually to continue.
5. Add your website's url give an appropriate Project name. Hit Continue.
6. You can skip this step by clicking on Continue. (If you haven't imported data from Search Console in the earlier step.)
7. Toggle the Frequency for future audits. (Weekly is a good starting point; Audit will take place automatically every week)
8. Make sure, Run first crawl now is turned ON and hit Continue.
9. Website crawl will start; Please note that this is a long process and can take around an hour (or more) to complete.
10. Open your project once your audit is done.
11. Click on Client Errors (4xx) under HTTP status codes distribution.
12. A new page opens. These are all the errors with 4xx code Ahrefs found while crawling your website. You can find your 403 errors over here.
13. You can Export all the 4xx errors to a CSV file. And filter the 403 errors on sheet.

After identifying your 403 errors, try to fix them. These key areas cover the majority of issues leading to 403 errors and can guide you in resolving them efficiently.

1. File Permissions: Check and ensure correct file permissions (e.g., 644 for files, 755 for directories).
2. Authentication and Authorization: Review user credentials and permissions to access resources.
3. IP Blocking/Restrictions: Verify server settings to prevent unintentional blocking of legitimate users.
4. URL Rewriting/Redirects: Double-check rewrite rules and redirection configurations.
5. Resource Ownership: Ensure files and directories are owned by the correct user/group.