What is Domain Authority (DA)?
A search engine ranking score developed by Moz that predicts how likely a website is to rank on search engine result pages (SERPs).
Deep Dive
Domain Authority scores range from 1 to 100, with higher scores corresponding to a greater ability to rank. It's calculated based on factors like the number of total linking root domains and the number of total links.
Note that DA is not a metric used by Google directly, but it is a useful comparative tool to understand your site's strength relative to competitors.
Key Takeaways
- Comparative metric, not an absolute score.
- Heavily influenced by the quality and quantity of backlinks.
- Harder to grow from 70 to 80 than from 10 to 20.
- Correlates with higher search rankings.
Why This Matters Now
DA is the credit score of the web. A new site starts at 1. Facebook is 100. It measures the 'strength' of your website's backlink profile.
While Google doesn't use Moz's specific DA number, they have their own internal version (PageRank). DA is the best public proxy we have for this hidden metric.
Common Myths & Misconceptions
I need DA 50+ to rank.
Reality:False. You just need a higher DA than the specific competitors you are fighting for that specific keyword. A DA 20 site can beat a DA 80 site on a niche topic.
I can pay to increase DA.
Reality:Only by buying spammy links, which is risky. Real DA growth comes from earning real links over years.
Real-World Use Cases
Competitor Analysis: Checking if you have enough 'power' to target a difficult keyword.
Link Building: Deciding which blogs to guest post on (you generally want links from high DA sites).
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my DA drop?
Moz updates the algorithm, or you lost links, or the rest of the web just grew faster. It's a relative metric.
Is 'Domain Rating' (DR) different?
DR is Ahrefs' version of DA. They measure the same thing (link strength) but use slightly different calculations. Don't compare DA to DR directly.
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