Domain Authority: A Guide to Understanding and Improving Your Score

Sep 1

In today’s competitive online world, it is important to understand how strong your website is compared to others in your industry. One of the most widely used measures for this is Domain Authority (DA), a metric developed by Moz to estimate how likely a site is to appear on search engine results pages (SERPs).

Domain Authority is not a direct ranking factor used by Google. However, it can still help you understand the strength of your site, track improvements over time, and guide your SEO strategies. This guide will explain what Domain Authority is, how it works, why it matters, and how you can improve your website’s Domain Authority with proven methods.

What is Domain Authority?

Domain Authority is a score from 1 to 100, with higher scores showing a stronger chance of ranking well in organic search results. Moz developed this metric to give website owners and marketers a way to compare their sites with others in their niche.

Your DA score is based on multiple factors, the most important of which is the quality and number of backlinks pointing to your site. These include the quantity of linking root domains and the trustworthiness and relevance of those sources.

It is important to remember that Domain Authority is not used in Google’s ranking system. Instead, it is a predictive measure designed to estimate how competitive your site may be on search engine results pages.

Domain Authority is often used alongside other measures such as Page Authority (which looks at the strength of individual pages), organic traffic, and keyword rankings. By combining these insights, you can get a clearer picture of your site’s performance and where you should focus your SEO strategies.

How Domain Authority is Calculated

Moz uses a machine learning model to predict the chance of a domain appearing on search engine results pages. It looks at over 40 signals, including:

Because DA is a comparative measure, your score can change even without updating your site. If a major website gains a lot of high-quality links, it may raise the bar for everyone else, making it harder for other sites to maintain their position on the scale.

Domain Authority and Page Authority

Domain Authority looks at the ranking potential of your whole site, while Page Authority measures the ranking potential of a single page.

Domain Authority

Gives a complete view of your site’s strength across all pages.

Page Authority

Helps you see which specific pages are likely to rank best and which need improvement.

Using both can help you decide where to invest time, whether that is in building your overall backlink profile or improving a particular high-value page.

What is a Good Domain Authority Score?

A good score depends entirely on your industry and the sites you are competing with. Large, established sites in competitive markets often have scores in the 70s or 80s, while smaller niche sites may do very well with scores in the 30s or 40s.

Every website starts with a DA of 1 and builds authority over time by earning high quality links from trustworthy sources and creating high quality content.

Instead of chasing a specific number, it is better to research your competitors’ DA scores and aim to be higher than the average in your niche. For example, if most competitors score between 40 and 50, reaching 55 would put you in a strong position to rank on search engine results pages.

Why Domain Authority Matters

Although DA is not an official ranking factor, it is a helpful way to measure and compare site strength. Tracking your domain authority metrics can help you:

Understand where you stand in your market.
Spot opportunities to get high-quality backlinks.
See if your SEO strategies are working.
Evaluate the authority of potential partners or guest posting opportunities.

How to Improve Your Website’s Domain Authority

Improving DA is a long-term effort that requires building trust, relevance, and authority in your industry.

1. Earn High Quality Backlinks

Backlinks pointing to your site from trusted and relevant sources are the strongest signal for DA. These links show search engines that your site is credible. Methods to gain them include:

Digital PR campaigns to earn mentions in the media.
Guest posts on respected websites.
Creating research reports, guides, or resources that others want to link to.

2. Publish High Quality Content

High-quality content encourages other sites to link to you naturally. This could be blog posts, videos, or tools that answer important questions in your industry.

3. Build a Strong Backlink Profile

Aim for links from a variety of linking root domains rather than many from a single source. A diverse backlink profile is a stronger signal of authority.

4. Remove Low-Quality Links

Bad links from spammy or irrelevant sites can harm your score. Regularly review your backlinks and disavow those that could hurt your reputation.

5. Optimise Technical SEO

To improve your website, ensure it loads quickly, is mobile-friendly, uses HTTPS security, and can be easily crawled by search engines.

6. Use Internal Linking

Linking between pages on your own site helps spread authority and improves navigation. This supports both user experience and search engine crawling.

Common Misconceptions About Domain Authority

Domain Authority is popular but often misunderstood. Common mistakes include:

Believing it is a Google ranking factor - It is not. Google does not use DA in its algorithms.
Thinking a high DA guarantees rankings - You still need relevant content, a good user experience, and strong on-page SEO to rank well.
Assuming DA is permanent - Your score can rise or fall over time depending on your site’s changes, competitor growth, and Moz index updates.
Confusing DA with PageRank - PageRank was Google’s old ranking measure. DA is different and created by Moz.

By understanding these points, you can use DA as a guide rather than the sole measure of success.

How Often to Monitor Domain Authority

Checking DA too often can cause unnecessary worry over small changes. A monthly review is usually enough to spot meaningful trends. This gives you time to see the results of your link building, high-quality content creation, and other SEO strategies.

When you check, also look at changes in organic traffic, keyword rankings, and backlink quality. If your DA drops, it could be because:

Competitors have gained stronger links.
You have lost valuable backlinks.
Moz’s index has updated with new data.
Your backlink profile has changed in quality or diversity.

By reviewing regularly, you can respond quickly and make adjustments before small problems become bigger ones.

Limitations of Domain Authority

Domain Authority is a useful measure, but it has limits:

It does not measure actual rankings - DA predicts ranking potential, but it is not proof your site will appear high on SERPs.
It is relative, not absolute - A score of 40 could be excellent in one industry but low in another.
It does not include every factor that search engines use - Google considers hundreds of signals, many unrelated to backlinks.
It can be influenced by competitor changes - Your score can drop even if your site stays the same, simply because other sites have improved.

This is why DA should be used alongside other measures like organic traffic, conversion rates, and keyword performance. It is best seen as part of a bigger picture for assessing site health and the effectiveness of your SEO strategies.

Tools for Checking Domain Authority

Moz’s Link Explorer and MozBar are the most direct ways to check Moz Domain Authority. These also provide Page Authority, Spam Score, and details about your backlink profile.

Other platforms, such as Ahrefs and SEMRush, offer similar measures (Domain Rating and Authority Score), but these use different data and algorithms. They cannot be compared directly to DA, although they serve a similar purpose in evaluating site strength.

Conclusion

Domain Authority is a helpful way to understand and compare your website’s strength in the market. By focusing on earning high-quality backlinks, creating high-quality content, maintaining a diverse backlink profile, and keeping your technical SEO in good shape, you can steadily improve your website’s domain authority and increase its ability to rank on search engine results pages.

While DA is not a direct ranking factor, its close link to link quality and site authority makes it worth tracking. When used alongside other metrics, it can guide better decisions, realistic goal-setting, and consistent growth.

If you want to build authority, attract more organic traffic, and move higher on the engine results pages SERPs, our team can help with strategies designed for lasting results. Contact us today to learn how we can strengthen your online presence.

Dylan Rogers