Domain authority is one of the most discussed concepts in the SEO world. But what exactly does it mean, how is it measured and what can you do with it yourself?
Domain authority (DA) is a score between 0 and 100 that indicates how strong a domain is in the eyes of search engines. The higher the score, the greater the chance that pages on that domain rank high in Google.
The term 'Domain Authority' originally comes from the SEO tool company Moz. Ahrefs has a similar metric they call Domain Rating (DR). Google itself does not use domain authority as an official ranking factor, but it is a good indicator of a site's overall link popularity and trustworthiness.
Important: DA and DR are not Google metrics. They were developed by third-party SEO tools as a way to estimate the strength of a domain based on its backlink profile.
DA is calculated from several factors, but the backlink profile is by far the most important:
The score is logarithmic. That means growing from 10 to 30 is easier than growing from 60 to 80.
There is no universal 'good' DA. It depends entirely on your competition. If your competitors have a DA of 20-30, you don't need to aim for a DA of 60 to rank. What counts is that you score higher than your direct competitors.
General guidelines:
This is the most important factor. One link from a trustworthy, relevant website does more than a hundred links from fake sites. Focus on link building through manual outreach to websites that have real visitors and fit your niche content-wise.
Practical guides, statistics, tools or in-depth articles naturally attract links. Good content is the foundation of every link building strategy.
Broken links, slow load times and poor crawlability indirectly hurt your authority. A technical SEO audit quickly maps out these issues.
Links from spam sites or link farms can actually hurt your DA. Check your backlink profile regularly in Ahrefs or Google Search Console and remove or disavow bad links.
DA doesn't rise overnight. Consistent link building over several months is the only sustainable path. For a new site, expect at least 6-12 months before you see visible growth.
Tip from practice: Use Ahrefs or Moz's free DA checker to track your score every month. Combine this with your ranking growth in Google Search Console for the complete picture.
Domain authority is a strong signal, but it is not the only thing that counts. Google also looks at:
So a high DA without good on-page SEO is no guarantee of top positions. It is always a combination of factors.
Domain authority is a useful metric for tracking your website's link popularity and comparing it with competitors. Raise your DA step by step by building quality backlinks, creating good content and keeping your technical SEO in order. Don't expect miracles in the short term, but if you invest in it consistently, you will see real results.
Want to know where your domain stands right now and what you can do to grow? Book a free call and I'll look at your situation together with you.
Book a free call and I'll look at what's possible for your website together with you.