The Domain Authority metric helps you evaluate your chances of outranking your competitors on search engine results pages. Learn how this metric works.

Domain authority can be a controversial topic in the world of search engine optimization (SEO). While pundits use the term “domain authority” as a general rule, it is actually a metric created by Moz, an SEO software company. Its popularity has led competitors like Ahrefs and Semrush to develop their own versions, but Google engineers have denied that domain authority has any influence on their algorithms. Moz co-founder Rand Fishkin disagrees , citing internal Google documents .

Despite the debate between these companies, domain authority is a simple metric that can be useful to SEO practitioners, marketers, and anyone looking to gauge the health of their site’s organic traffic. In ecommerce, it’s an easy-to-understand metric that can help you assess the effectiveness of your digital growth strategy.

What is domain authority?

Domain Authority is a metric that quantifies the overall strength and trustworthiness of a website's domain, and its potential to rank in search engines. Domain Authority scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating a higher likelihood of ranking in search engine rankings. This score attempts to predict the likelihood that a site's content will rank higher than similar competitor content.

There is no such thing as a good domain authority score, and website scores are only useful when compared to those of competitors. Sites with near-perfect domain authority scores, such as Google, YouTube, Wikipedia, and Amazon, form the fabric of the Internet itself. So an e-commerce site selling dog food with a domain authority score of 20 will be better than similarly sized competitors. You should check if they sell dog food and compare their scores to theirs. If one of them has a score of 30, it’s worth looking into what their organic traffic strategy is. For example, it could be media exposure driven by a charismatic founder, strong on-site content, or a better link building strategy.

How Backlinks Affect Domain Authority

Moz and its competitors use machine learning and proprietary algorithms to determine domain authority. Like Google’s search algorithm, Moz regularly adjusts its domain authority algorithm. However, in a recent whitepaper covering the update, Moz clearly emphasizes the importance of backlinks (inbound links from other websites to your website). Factors to consider include:

• Number of links. While the quality of your links is important, the total number of inbound links affects your domain authority. That is, a greater number of links can contribute to your authority score.

• Link diversity. Build a natural link profile by targeting a variety of backlinks from different domains (e.g. blogs, news sites, B2B resources, etc.). Links from a variety of sources indicate a more natural link profile.

• Link relevance. Backlinks from websites related to your industry or topic are more valuable. These links provide recognition of your expertise.

• Domain popularity. Links from popular and reputable websites tend to have greater influence. Links from trustworthy websites can have a more positive impact on your domain authority.

• Link growth. Over time, the gradual and consistent increase in high-quality backlinks shows a natural upward trajectory. A steadily increasing number of links reinforces the credibility and authority of your site.

Factors Affecting Domain Authority

Besides backlinks, other factors that affect domain authority include:

• Content quality. Well-written, structured, relevant content helps drive user engagement and increases domain authority. This content naturally drives backlinks and enhances the credibility of your site.

• Site structure. A clear site structure, where information is logically organized into categories and subcategories, improves the overall user experience and has a positive impact on key site metrics. A good site structure also helps search engines crawl and index your site more easily.

• Domain age. Older websites have more time to accumulate backlinks and establish authority. Sites with older domains are more likely to have higher domain authority because they are perceived as a trustworthy source.

• Social signals. Engagement on social media or web visits originating from social media platforms generates high-value traffic and awareness, which has a positive impact on domain authority. Being active on social media can enhance the credibility and authority of your site.

• Technical SEO. Proper implementation of technical SEO elements such as meta tags, sitemaps, mobile responsiveness, and fast loading times can have a positive impact on your domain authority. Technical SEO plays a vital role in helping search engines understand your site better and improving the user experience.

Domain Authority vs. Page Authority: What's the Difference?

Domain Authority and Page Authority are both metrics developed by Moz, but they are distinct concepts. Page Authority measures the ability of an individual page to rank highly for a specific search query, while Domain Authority measures the ability of the entire site to compete on search engine results pages (SERPs). Page Rank measures the competitiveness of individual URLs, while Domain Authority measures the competitiveness of the entire site. This is a more precise measurement, using a scalpel rather than a shovel.

How to check the domain authority of a website

To check your website's domain authority, go to Moz's Domain Authority site , enter your website's domain, and check your domain authority score. You can repeat this for free on up to three competitors per day. This will help you compare your site to your closest competitors.

Other similar tools that can help you check domain authority include:

• Ahrefs domain rating
• Semrush Backlink Analysis
• Majestic Trust Flow

When you see a score, it’s human nature to want to know if it’s a “good” score. But again, the usefulness of domain authority is comparative, not objective. Use this free search feature to assess your immediate competitive situation. If you’re outperforming your competitors, you’re doing well. Keep up your successful organic growth strategy and keep going. If your score is lower than your competitors, you need to consider some best practices.

How to improve domain authority

1. Conducting a Domain Authority Audit
2. Creating great content
3. Building high quality backlinks
4. Create social content to promote your site
5. Optimizing On-Page SEO
6. Keep trying

Improving domain authority is nothing new. It involves implementing or improving many marketing best practices that can have a positive impact on your business overall. Here are some suggestions to consider:

1. Conducting a Domain Authority Audit

After assessing your current domain authority, analyze your backlink profile to determine the quality of your backlinks. Do keyword research to find out who your competitors are ranking for similar keywords, then examine their backlinks. What sites are those backlinks coming from? Why are they linked?

2. Creating great content

Evaluate your site and your competitors’ high-performing pages to understand what your audience needs. Then, use this to create great, rich SEO content. This will improve your site’s internal metrics and encourage other media to link to you.

3. Building high quality backlinks

Reach out to sites relevant to your industry to write guest posts for you, or find influencers who are willing to provide high-quality, exclusive content in exchange for a backlink.

4. Create social content to promote your site

Active social accounts drive organic traffic to your content and increase your chances of being aggregated on quality external sites. Engage in industry conversations and keep your accounts vibrant so they serve as more than just a promotional tool.

5. Optimizing On-Page SEO

Optimize your on-page SEO by ensuring your meta title, description, and header accurately reflect your content and organically include your target keywords. This can improve your overall visibility and increase your chances of getting additional backlinks.

6. Keep trying

These solutions are not instant fixes, but they involve a whole process of truly evaluating the values ​​and voice of your brand and communicating directly to your target audience. If successfully implemented, this will ultimately improve not only your domain authority but also other key indicators of digital health.