What Is Domain Authority?
Domain Authority (DA) is a search engine ranking score developed by MOZ – not Google, contrary to popular belief, used to predict how likely a website is to rank in search engine result pages (SERPs).
DA is calculated by evaluating multiple factors, including linking root domains and the number of total links, into a single DA score measured on a scale from 0–100.
Domain Authority VS. Page Authority
Page Authority (PA) is also a score that predicts how well a specific page will rank on SERPs, another courtesy of Moz. Although many confuse these two metrics, knowing the critical difference between PA and DA is essential.
Domain Authority measures the predictive ranking strength of entire domains or subdomains, whereas Page Authority focuses on individual pages. They are, however, calculated using the same methodology, so in many ways, they’re more alike than they are different.
Domain Authority (MOZ) vs Page Rank (Google)
Ever since Moz released DA, it has been compared to and confused with Google’s PageRank and even mistakenly referred to as a “Google metric.” However, PageRank is calculated by Google, while Domain Authority is a third-party calculation created by MOZ.
Thus, DA is not a direct ranking factor or a part of Google’s algorithm criteria. Nonetheless, MOZ did a fantastic job of figuring out relevant metrics to track and improve that can help you reach your final destination – the top of SERPs.
How to Check Your Domain Authority
To get where you need to be, you need to know where you are – that’s why you must check your DM first.
You can do so using Moz’s free SEO toolbar – Moz Bar, Moz’s link explorer, or the SERP Analysis section of Keyword Explored.
What Is a Good Domain Authority Score?
Once you’ve checked your Domain Authority score, you’ll need to understand your results. Many factors go into calculating domain authority, but your rating should be your top concern.
To give you an idea, websites like Google, Apple, or Microsoft will have a high DA between 95 and 100. However, if your website is new, your DA will be low, possibly between 10-20. Note that it’s much easier to increase your authority score from 20 to 30 than it is to grow from 70 to 80.
If you are unsure what a good domain authority rating is, consider these ranges:
- DA below 30 is considered poor
- DA of 30 to 40 is below average
- DA of 40 to 50 is average
- DA of 50 to 60 is good
- DA of 60 to 70 is very good
- DA of 80 and above is excellent
Remember, having a high DA score shouldn’t be your end goal – it’s only a predictor of your site’s ranking ability.
The true value of DA comes from comparing your site to your existing competitors’ sites in the same category or caliber and targeting the same or similar keywords and topics. Work on gaining a wider margin between your site’s DA and that of your competitors rather than aiming for a Domain Authority rating score of 100.
What Is a Good Domain Authority Score
Once you checked your Domain Authority, you should know what your results mean.
Many different factors go into calculating domain authority. Just to give you an idea, websites like Google, Apple, or Microsoft will have a high DA which is between 95 and 100. However, if your website is new, your DA will be low, possibly between 10-20.
It’s much easier to increase your authority score from 20 to 30 than it is to grow from 70 to 80.
If you are not sure what is good domain authority, consider these ranges:
- Below 30 is considered poor
- 30 to 40 is considered below average
- 40 to 50 is average
- 50 to 60 is good
- 60 to 70 is very good
- · Above 80 is excellent
Remember, having a high DA score shouldn’t be your only goal. Domain authority is meant to be a predictor of your site’s ranking ability.
The true value comes from comparing your site to your true competitors’ sites in the same category or the same caliber and targeting the same or similar keywords and topics.
Work on gaining a wider margin between your site’s DA and that of your competitors, rather than aiming for a score of 100.
How to Improve Your Domain Authority
Domain Authority is difficult to influence directly. The best way to move the needle on your DA metric is to improve your overall SEO. Here’s how.
1. Acquire High-Quality Backlinks
Not only do backlinks play a major role in calculating domain authority, but they are also one of the two most important ranking factors. Therefore, you need to focus on your link-building strategy and earn as many high-quality, relevant and valuable backlinks as possible.
2. Produce High-Quality Content
Another way to increase your domain authority is by creating fresh, valuable, and link-worthy content.
You know how it goes – if people find your posts informative and helpful, they’ll share them. This automatically increases your traffic and chances of getting backlinks from high-authority websites, boosting your root domains with links from different sites.
All of this will contribute towards securing a high domain authority.
3. Create a User-Friendly Site Structure
Another factor influencing your DA is your site’s structure. The easier it is to navigate, the faster Google can crawl, index, and feature it in SERPs.
It’s a mobile-first world – most people are accessing the Internet via their mobile devices, so making your site responsive and optimizing it for mobile is a must if you want to improve your DA. Make sure it loads quickly and provides the same seamless experience it does for desktop users.
4. Remove Bad Links and Audit Your Site
Although backlinks are the pillar of SEO, having broken or toxic links polluting your website will do more harm than good. For instance, links taken from a spammy website can decrease your website’s domain authority.
Eliminating any poor links affecting your DA score will naturally increase your domain authority. So, audit your website for any toxic or broken links regularly and remove them as soon as possible.
Wrapping Up
Domain Authority speaks of your site’s relevance for your industry, market, or a specific topic. Overall, the higher the DA of your website, the better it should rank for competitive terms.
So, take the time to increase the authority of your domain by making sure that you have a clean link profile, acquire new links, and produce killer content regularly. However, keep in mind that it takes time to bring up the domain authority – it won’t happen overnight but with consistency over time.