What is domain authority or domain rating?

Google and other search engines rely on trust signals when evaluating the value of content and backlinks. Domain authority is a third-party metric, originally coined by Moz, as a way to measure the quality of backlinks and trust signals pointing to a URL. Ahrefs has a similar metric named Domain Rating. It is believed that a higher DA score will increase your chances of being top-of-page for a particular search query. The more engagement you have, the easier it will be to rank faster for a specific term.

Domain authority is a score on a 1– 100 scale. It indicates a website’s ranking strength or how likely it is to rank high in the SERPs. While it is not a Google ranking factor, search tools like Moz, Ahrefs, and Semrush use it to predict a website’s performance in the SERPs.

How to Calculate Domain Authority

To arrive at a website’s DA score, the SEO tool’s algorithm considers several factors, including:

• The number and quality of backlinks
• The number of root domains
• The SERP ranking of the existing content on your website
• Social signals
• User experience and website structure

How to Improve Your Website’s Domain Authority

The higher your website’s domain authority, the more likely your content will nab juicy SERP positions.

Some ways to boost your site’s domain authority or ranking include:

• Secure backlinks from high authority sites in your niche. Say you’re an eCommerce site; getting a backlink from Klaviyo or Shopify can contribute to better DA for your website
• Publish high-quality content that matches search intent regularly
• Optimize your website’s structure to improve user experience
• Improve your website’s internal linking structure

Domain Authority FAQs

Find answers to common domain authority and domain ranking questions.

What Is a Good Domain Authority Score?

Generally, a 65+ DA score is considered good. However, the rating differs from one niche to another. For example, if your competitors have 20+ DA scores, and your DA score is 55, you can consider it good.

Does Domain Authority Matter?

Yes, it does. Although DA is not a Google ranking factor, domain authority is an important metric that predicts how likely a website’s content will rank for target keywords — based on the trustworthiness and relevance of the site.

How Do You Assess Your Domain Authority?

You can use SEO tools like Ahrefs and SemRush to check your website’s DA (or the equivalent). All you need to do is input your site’s URL into the site inspector tab to get an overview of your website’s metrics.