If you have spent any time reading about SEO, you have almost certainly come across the term Domain Authority. It gets mentioned in blog posts, agency reports, and competitor analyses constantly. But there is a lot of confusion about what it actually is, who created it, and whether you should care about it at all. This guide clears it up.
What Is Domain Authority?
Domain Authority (DA) is a score from 1 to 100 developed by Moz that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search engine results pages. The higher the score, the more likely the site is to rank for competitive keywords.
Key things to understand from the start:
- Domain Authority is not a Google metric — Google does not use DA in its algorithm
- It was created by Moz as a third-party tool for SEO research
- It is a comparative metric — it is most useful for comparing your site against competitors
- A DA of 1 is the lowest, 100 is the highest (Wikipedia, Google, YouTube sit at 90+)
How Is Domain Authority Calculated?
Moz calculates Domain Authority using a machine learning model that factors in dozens of signals, but the most important are:
- Number of backlinks — how many external websites link to your domain
- Quality of backlinks — links from high-DA sites carry more weight than links from low-DA sites
- Linking root domains — the number of unique websites linking to you (1,000 links from 10 sites is worth less than 100 links from 100 different sites)
- Spam score — links from spammy or penalised sites can reduce your DA
DA is calculated on a logarithmic scale — which means going from DA 10 to DA 20 is much easier than going from DA 60 to DA 70.
What Is a Good Domain Authority Score?
DA is relative, not absolute. What counts as "good" depends entirely on your niche and your competitors:
- DA 1–20: New or very small sites — most new websites start here
- DA 21–40: Established sites with some backlinks — can rank for less competitive keywords
- DA 41–60: Strong sites in their niche — competitive for medium difficulty keywords
- DA 61–80: High authority — well-established brands and publications
- DA 81–100: Elite — major news sites, government domains, platforms like Reddit and Wikipedia
If your competitors have a DA of 30 and you have a DA of 25, you are competitive. If they have a DA of 70, you have a longer road ahead.
Domain Authority vs Page Authority vs Domain Rating
These three terms are often confused:
- Domain Authority (DA) — Moz metric for the overall domain
- Page Authority (PA) — Moz metric for a specific page, not the whole domain
- Domain Rating (DR) — Ahrefs equivalent of Domain Authority — calculated differently but similar purpose
DR and DA will rarely give you the same score for the same site. Both are useful for research but neither is a Google ranking signal.
Does Google Use Domain Authority?
No. Google has confirmed multiple times that it does not use Moz DA as a ranking factor. Google has its own internal signals — PageRank being the most well-known — which are not publicly available.
However, the things that improve your Domain Authority — quality backlinks, strong content, trusted links — are also things that improve your actual Google rankings. So improving DA and improving Google rankings tend to go hand in hand, even though DA itself is not the cause.
How to Check Your Domain Authority
You can check your DA for free using:
- Moz Link Explorer — moz.com/link-explorer (free with limited searches)
- MozBar — free Chrome extension that shows DA on any page
- Ahrefs free tools — shows Domain Rating with limited data
Before focusing on improving DA, make sure your on-page SEO is solid. Use our free Meta Tag Generator to optimise your title tags and meta descriptions — these affect how Google reads your pages regardless of your DA score.
How to Improve Domain Authority
Since DA is driven primarily by backlinks, improving it means building a strong backlink profile. Here is what actually works:
1. Create Content That Earns Natural Links
The most reliable way to build backlinks is to publish content that other sites want to reference. This includes:
- Original research and data (surveys, studies, statistics)
- Comprehensive guides on topics in your niche
- Free tools that solve a real problem
- Infographics and visual content
2. Guest Posting
Write articles for other websites in your niche in exchange for a link back to your site. Target sites with a DA higher than yours. The link from their site passes authority to yours.
3. Directory and Listing Submissions
Submit your site to relevant, reputable directories. For a tool site, this means listing on sites like Product Hunt, AlternativeTo, and niche-specific directories. Each listing is a backlink.
4. Fix Broken Links on Other Sites
Find pages in your niche that link to broken URLs (404 pages). Contact the site owner and suggest your relevant content as a replacement. This is called broken link building.
5. Remove Toxic Backlinks
Links from spam sites, link farms, or penalised domains can drag your DA down. Use Moz or Google Search Console to identify and disavow these links.
How Long Does It Take to Improve Domain Authority?
DA improvement is slow. For a new site starting at DA 1, realistic expectations are:
- 3 months of consistent link building: DA 5–15
- 6 months: DA 15–25
- 12 months: DA 25–40 (with strong content and backlinks)
The best approach is to stop obsessing over the number and focus on what drives it — great content and genuine backlinks. The DA score will follow.
Quick Wins to Start Today
- Check your current DA at moz.com/link-explorer
- Check your top 3 competitors DA — know what you are aiming for
- Submit your site to 5 free directories this week
- Write one piece of genuinely useful content that other sites in your niche would want to link to
- Make sure your on-page SEO is solid first — use our free Readability Checker and Keyword Density Checker before publishing anything