# Overview

To calculate the SEO metrics within our tools, we often use multiple data sources along with our own calculations.

Our three main data sources are:

- Crawler data – For backlink metrics
- Keyword data (from Google Keyword Planner) – For calculating search volume estimations
- Search results data – For tracking ranking positions for both paid and organic data

Understanding where each metric comes from and how it’s calculated will give insights into both the advantages and flaws of that metric.

The core SEO metrics that we’ll cover in this module fall into 3 categories:

- Our backlinks metrics: Ahrefs Rank, Domain Rating, and URL Rating
- Our search traffic metrics: search traffic estimations and traffic value
- Our keyword metrics: search volume, total number of keywords, organic traffic, traffic value, keyword difficulty, traffic potential, and parent topic.

For the rest of this module, we’re going to start building relationships between these databases and bring some context to seemingly arbitrary numbers.

## KEEP LEARNING

Check out some of the articles on the [Ahrefs blog](/content/blog/index.html) to learn about Ahrefs' metrics:

- [Ahrefs’ SEO Metrics: A Glossary](/content/blog/ahrefs-seo-metrics/index.html)
- [10 SEO Metrics That Actually Matter (And 4 That Don’t)](/content/blog/seo-metrics-to-track/index.html)

## NEXT
- [2\
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Backlink metrics\
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8:21](/content/academy/how-to-use-ahrefs/ahrefs-seo-metrics/backlink/index.html)
- [3\
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Keyword and search traffic metrics\
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8:59](/content/academy/how-to-use-ahrefs/ahrefs-seo-metrics/keyword-and-search-traffic/index.html)

### Course by

**Andrei Țiț** is a product marketer at Ahrefs. He develops content to help you make the most out of Ahrefs.

**Sam Oh** is VP of Marketing at Ahrefs. He incorporates his commitment to education and love for entrepreneurship into actionable and easy-to-digest tutorials.

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