What is domain authority and why is it important?
Domain authority, often referred to as DA, is a metric developed by Moz. The scores range from 1 to 100 and are intended to predict how likely a website is to appear in search engine results pages (SERPs).
When talking about domain authority, it is important to note that it is not a ranking factor. In other words, Google doesn’t use it to decide how high a website appears in search results. However, domain authority is still an important metric. These scores give a good idea of how likely a website is to rank, as a website with a lower domain authority is less likely to appear in results than one with a higher domain authority. So while DA isn’t a metric that can directly improve rankings, it does allow you to assess current performance and compare it to competitors, which is why it’s so useful in SEO.
How can you check the authority of your domain?
Moz allows users to control the authority of their domain, through platforms such as Moz Link Explorer, domain analysis tool, MozBar, and Keyword Explorer. One of the biggest benefits of Moz is that it offers free to use tools to verify domain authority; however, you’ll also find domain authority information built into many other platforms.
In fact, it’s worth noting that although Moz first developed the metric, other SEO tools also use their own domain authority scores. Alternatives include the highly trusted domain ranks provided by Ahrefs (which our team recommends!) Ahrefs uses more detailed and extensive backlink data than other tools to determine domain ranks and is more accurate as a result.
How is domain authority rated?
Domain authority is scored from 1 to 100; higher numbers indicate more authority (and ultimately a higher chance of appearing higher in the SERPs). To calculate a domain authority score, the Moz SEO platform evaluates a number of different factors, consolidating this information into a single score that provides a true view of a site’s current position.
The factors that make up a DA score include the number of linking root domains (how many separate links are directing traffic to the site in question) as well as the total number of links to the site. By evaluating these numbers and comparing them to the competition, Moz can calculate a number that predicts how well that site will rank in search engines.
What is a good domain authority?
In general, sites with a large number of high-quality external links, such as Wikipedia and Encyclopedia, tend to rank at the top of the domain authority scale. However, smaller websites with fewer inbound links have much lower DA scores. New websites always start with a DA score of 1.
But here’s the thing:
The DA score is a predictor of your site’s ranking ability, but having the highest possible score shouldn’t be your goal.
Instead, make comparisons to the DA scores of your direct competitors. The top website in its niche can only have a DA score of forty-two. Getting a number close to that would be a “good” domain score, and your goal should be to do better.
Why did my domain authority change?
While we all want to see those domain authority scores shoot up, unfortunately they can move in both directions. Domain Authority Scores are not only relative, they are regularly recalculated to ensure accuracy. When this happens, they can increase or decrease.
If your domain authority has improved, it’s probably because of the hard work you’ve been putting in. Moz continuously crawls the internet, allowing it to take note of changes in backlink profiles (whether for better or worse) and adjust DA accordingly. .
With approximately two billion websites now hosted online, there’s a chance your website’s DA score could be affected by a competitor’s. As mentioned above, domain authority is a relative metric. This means that if a high-scoring website (such as Google or Facebook) sees a lot of link growth, it can affect scores across the scale.
There are other reasons why the domain authority may move in the wrong direction as well. Sometimes this happens when a site has lost backlinks, links to spam or malicious websites, or has broken links. Moz also continually updates how domain authority is determined, so a drop in score can be a sign that newer content and links from higher-quality, relevant sites are needed.
How to increase your domain authority
There are plenty of tips and tricks you can use to increase your domain authority, and it starts with having a good strategy.
Building domain authority depends on a website having backlinks. However, rather than focusing on the number of links, the key is to prioritize quality. A single backlink from a high authority relevant domain is ultimately worth more than ten backlinks from an irrelevant one.
Getting high authority backlinks is also much easier once you have good quality content. Think carefully about the content and start creating the content that you know your audience wants to see. Forget keyword stuffing, instead write well-structured, web-friendly content with eye-catching headlines that pique the interest of your target audience. Old content can also be reused and updated with fresh data and a new angle that can rekindle interest.
Competitors are a good source of inspiration for both content and link building. Competing websites can provide insight into their own strategy, highlighting gaps that need to be addressed to increase your website’s visibility.
These are just some of the SEO tips you can use to help increase your domain authority. To learn more about how you could use SEO to improve your site’s ranking, talk to us.
How to use domain authority in an SEO campaign
Before embarking on an SEO campaign, it is always worth thinking first about what you would like to achieve with your campaign and what would be the best possible results for you. To do so, you’ll need real, measurable goals.
There are several metrics that can be useful in measuring the success of an SEO campaign. Domain authority is one of them. This simple, yet highly valuable score will provide a good level of insight into how well your SEO link building efforts are performing.
For example, if multiple authoritative sources link to content created as part of a campaign, the authority of the domain is likely to increase.
Outside of link building campaigns, domain authority can be used in conjunction with other SEO metrics such as organic traffic, keyword ranking scores, and click-through rates to provide a more holistic view of marketing performance.
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