Domain Authority is an important metric used by SEO specialists to assess the quality of a particular website. This indicator is primarily considered when selecting a donor site for guest post publications. SEO specialists analyze multiple options, study competitors, and compare them to each other. Additionally, the Domain Authority metric simply determines the success of a given website. Today, we will discuss what Domain Authority scores is, which indicators are considered optimal, and how to Improve Domain Authority. We will also examine several factors that influence the formation of this metric.
What are Domain Authority scores
The website’s domain authority is a comprehensive indicator for evaluating a site, allowing judgment on the quality of a particular resource. The higher the page authority, the better the Google search results will be. The website will have all the prerequisites to occupy top positions in the search results for specific queries. Consequently, such resources will have high quality backlinks.
If the search engine ranking score is not very good, a link from that domain is likely to be of low quality as well. Such sites are rarely used as donors because the rating plays a key role in link building. Companies providing linkbuilding services, such as https://toplinker.io/, do not use low authority resources to get links.
Why DA is important
The Domain Authority (DA) by Moz is not considered an official ranking factor used by Google. However, there is a direct correlation between the domain rating and the quality of the website, its link profile, and its position in search engine results. Typically, resources with a high DA tend to appear in better positions when users make search queries.
Ahrefs has investigated this matter and identified a connection between the site’s domain authority and the volume of organic traffic. The higher the metric, the more users tend to visit the website.
How does the metric affect SEO performance?
Using authority metrics as the sole indicator for evaluating a website’s authority is not recommended. It is preferable to consider it in conjunction with other metrics. It is wise to supplement domain rating with Google’s PageRank evaluation.
Key aspects:
- Lack of correlation with sanctions. Having high authority does not guarantee freedom from sanctions. It is recommended not to engage in guest posting on such sites.
- Authority metric have a limited number of evaluation factors (40+), whereas Google ranking factor applies over a hundred different criteria when forming search engine result pages.
- More of a forecast than a final result. Domain Authority (DA) predicts how high a site may rank in search results.
- The domain authority scores range is more suitable for evaluating competitors. By using DA, one can determine the level of development of websites and identify the most effective referring domains.
Generally speaking, one should not rely solely on DA when choosing a donor for their own website.
What is a Good Domain Authority Score?
Before discussing how to improve Domain Authority, it’s worth considering which indicators are considered optimal. Domain Authority is measured on a scale of 1 to 100. Obtaining 10 positions at a score of 5-25 is significantly easier than increasing three points at a score of 97. Therefore, a substantial amount of time is needed to significantly increase DA.
The highest DA is 100, but obtaining a link from such projects is challenging. There are examples where any user can get a backlink from a site, such as a domain rating of 100 on YouTube.
The list of the top 500 domains according to Moz shows that DA is influenced not only by backlinks. For example, the goo.gl link shortening tool has 4 million links, and the Telegram messenger has 320 thousand, yet both have the same domain authority metrics.
Speaking of average metrics, if a site scores above 60 points, it can be trusted and used for placing guest posts.
It’s important to note that the domain rating depends on the specific domain and does not evaluate individual pages or subdomains of the site. Therefore, a high DR indicates that the entire domain has a strong backlink profile, which can positively impact the ranking potential of all its pages. Conversely, a low DR suggests that the domain lacks authority, making it difficult to achieve a higher ranking in search engines.
How is Domain Authority Calculated?
To choose the right strategy to improve Domain Authority, it is necessary to understand the specific indicators on which this metric is calculated. This knowledge will help you evaluate the website and start addressing errors in specific areas. Domain Authority indicates the ability of a particular website to rank in search engines.
This metric consists of multiple signals that suggest the website has a certain level of quality and can be trusted. Among these signals, the most crucial is the sum of the authority of all pages. Domain authority is largely based on two factors, namely.
Age and Trust
Older domains with quality content generally rank higher under equal conditions. Search engines are less likely to rank new domains as high as older ones, except in cases where a site is transferred from an old to a new domain. Google has a “sandbox” filter for young domains. New domains must first earn a reputation, partly based on age, but mainly through content: good content and high-quality backlinks.
Popularity
The domain’s popularity is influenced by the following factors:
- Backlinks. The more and higher quality backlinks, the better for your resource.
- Number of unique referring domains. The more domains that link to you, the more people will learn about you, increasing your popularity.
How to Quickly Check the Authority of a Domain
If you want to measure the authority of your domain, answer the following questions:
- Is the site ranked for high-volume/high-competition queries?
- How many backlinks do you have, and what is their quality?
- How many unique domains are linking to you?
If the site is poorly ranked for popular, highly competitive queries, and the backlink profile is of low quality, chances are the issues are related to the low authority of the domain.
How is Moz Domain Authority calculated?
Often, SEO specialists turn to Moz, a service commonly used to assess and improve domain authority. This service has become the starting point for the concept of “Domain Authority.”
The number of connected root domains and total number of links are two of the criteria that go into determining the domain authority rating. These factors are merged into a single metric called Domain Authority (DA). Next, the “strength of ranking” is monitored over time or websites are compared using this statistic. It’s crucial to understand that domain authority has no direct bearing on the ranking of Google search results.
Domain Authority (DA) is a ranking that was introduced in 2019 and is based on predictions made by a machine learning algorithm about how often Google uses a certain domain in its search results. It is anticipated that domain A’s DA will be greater than domain B’s if domain A has a higher likelihood of showing up in Google search results than domain B.
Because DA relies on machine learning calculations, the assessment of your website may change over time depending on the influx of new data or changes in the algorithms used.
How to check Domain Authority
It is important to understand how to conduct an assessment in order to later improve domain authority. DA checker in the Moz service is integrated into Link Explorer, Keyword Explorer, and API. This is the simplest way to check DA.
MozBar
This is a Google Chrome browser extension. With its help, you can find out the DA score of a site in two steps:
- Install the extension.
- Log in to your Moz account.
The toolbar is convenient when selecting pages of potential donors for links. Using MozBar, you can manually go through a pre-selected list of URLs with a good Page Authority score.
Mass DA Checking
Optimizers often deal with dozens or hundreds of pages when selecting platforms for link building. In such cases, using the toolbar or installed analyzer may not always be convenient.
The solution lies in services for mass domain authority checking, such as Bulk DA Checker. After pasting a list of addresses, the tool provides results literally within seconds.
How to Improve Domain Authority
The most effective method of improve domain authority is to enhance the overall SEO status of your website. Special attention should be given to improving the quality and quantity of external links pointing to your resource. We have compiled some tips to help you improve your domain authority. It is important to note that even with the right approach, the process may take a considerable amount of time.
Write long articles
Creating extensive articles exceeding 2000 words plays a key role in strengthening the authority of your domain. These articles contribute to keeping users engaged on your website for a longer duration, which is particularly significant in the context of enhancing authority in the eyes of search engines, especially Google.
Search engines prefer more substantial articles as they appear more substantive and informative. Currently, merely reaching a word count of 2000 is not a sufficient factor for maintaining high domain authority. A high-quality article is also necessary.
There was a time when creating concise content was not of critical importance; however, presently, long-form content is becoming an increasingly essential element in domain authority strengthening strategies.
Improve Your Link Profile
After content, the most crucial factor in enhancing the domain authority of your website is a high-quality link profile. There are two formats of links on a site:
- Internal links. These are links within the pages or posts of your site that direct users to another page or post on your site. Search engines and Moz algorithms appreciate this factor because it is an innovative way to facilitate navigation.
- Backlinks. Backlinks are links that come to your site from another website. This is a significant factor as it increases the authority and trust level in your resource.
Remove bad links
Improving domain authority also involves getting rid of bad links. Moz even has a specific term for this link mass – Spam Score. In simple terms, the more bad links on a site, the more it is considered spammy. Search engines don’t like such resources.
Bad links are backlinks that are artificial or of low quality. The following types of links can be identified:
- Inbound links from an irrelevant site;
- Backlink from a low-authority site;
- Non-working link;
- Links from gambling or adult sites;
- Links to “user-generated content” (forum posts, blog comments, a tool for creating backlinks).
Increase your presence on social media
There are various social media platforms, and among them, you should have a profile on the most common platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, Google+, and some others. If your website is connected to these platforms, it will be a positive signal for the Moz algorithm, allowing you to enhance your domain authority.
You need to share your website content on your social media profiles using the URL, increasing the chances of receiving referral traffic from these platforms. Whether you’re uploading a new blog post or creating a new web page, it’s essential to share it on your social profiles.
FAQ
Is a Domain Authority of 30 good?
Here is how each domain authority score can be interpreted: Less than 30 – low authority, 30 to 40 – below average, 40 to 50 – average authority, 50 to 60 – high authority, 60 to 70 – very high authority, 80 and above – excellent authority. It is also important to note that improving the domain authority of your website is easier to achieve if it is in the range of 20 to 30, compared to the range of 70 to 80.
What causes low Domain Authority?
If your website has lost backlinks from high-authority sites, it can have a negative impact on your Domain Authority (DA). If your site has gained backlinks of low quality or from spam sources, it can damage your DA.
Where can I check the Domain Authority of a website?
Here are the four best SEO tools for checking the domain authority of websites: Moz, Ahrefs, Majestic Tool, SemRush