What is Domain Authority and Why Does It Matter?
If you have spent any time researching SEO, you have probably encountered the term “Domain Authority” or “DA.” It gets thrown around constantly in SEO discussions, often without much explanation of what it actually measures, who created it, or how much it really matters for your website.
This guide explains domain authority in plain terms, why it is useful as a benchmarking tool, why you should not obsess over it, and what actually drives it up.
Domain Authority Defined
Domain Authority is a score developed by Moz (an SEO software company) that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search engine results. The score ranges from 1 to 100. Higher scores correspond to a greater likelihood of ranking.
Important distinction: Domain Authority is not a Google metric. Google has confirmed it does not use Moz’s DA score (or any similar third-party score) as a ranking factor. DA is a third-party approximation, a model that correlates with ranking ability but does not directly cause it.
Other SEO tools have their own versions of the same concept:
- Ahrefs calls theirs “Domain Rating” (DR)
- Semrush calls theirs “Authority Score”
- Majestic uses “Trust Flow” and “Citation Flow”
Each uses a different methodology, so a site might have a DA of 35 on Moz but a DR of 50 on Ahrefs. The scores are not interchangeable.
How Domain Authority Is Calculated
Moz calculates DA using a machine learning model that considers over 40 factors, but the primary inputs are:
Linking root domains. The number of unique websites that link to your site. This is the single biggest factor. A site with links from 500 different websites will almost always have a higher DA than a site with links from 50.
Total number of backlinks. The raw count of all links pointing to your domain, including multiple links from the same website.
Quality of linking domains. A link from the New York Times (DA 95) is worth far more than a link from a brand-new blog (DA 10). The authority of sites linking to you cascades into your own score.
Site age and size. Older, larger sites tend to accumulate more links over time, which naturally increases their DA.
Spam score. Sites with characteristics associated with spam (thin content, excessive ads, suspicious link patterns) get penalized in the DA calculation.
What Is a Good Domain Authority Score?
DA is relative, not absolute. A “good” score depends entirely on your competitive landscape:
| DA Range | What It Typically Means |
|---|---|
| 1-10 | New website or very small site with few backlinks |
| 10-20 | Small business website with some local links |
| 20-40 | Established small-to-medium business with active content and link building |
| 40-60 | Well-known brand, popular blog, or strong niche authority site |
| 60-80 | Major brand, large publication, or high-authority niche leader |
| 80-100 | Top-tier global brands (Google, Wikipedia, Amazon, BBC) |
For a local small business, a DA of 15-30 is typical and perfectly adequate to rank for local keywords. You do not need a DA of 60 to outrank your local competitors. You just need a higher DA than them, and more importantly, better on-page SEO and more relevant content.
Why Domain Authority Matters (and Why It Does Not)
Why it is useful:
- Benchmarking against competitors. If your main competitor has a DA of 25 and you have a DA of 12, you know you likely need more and better backlinks to compete for the same keywords
- Evaluating link opportunities. When someone offers you a guest post or a link exchange, checking their DA helps you assess whether the link is worth pursuing
- Tracking progress over time. Watching your DA trend upward over months is a signal that your link-building and content strategy is working
Why you should not obsess over it:
- It is not a Google ranking factor. Google uses its own internal metrics (PageRank and many others) that are not publicly available
- It fluctuates. Moz periodically updates their algorithm, which can cause your DA to jump or drop without any change on your end
- It is a domain-level metric. Individual pages can rank well even on a low-DA domain if the content is excellent and targets low-competition keywords
- It can be manipulated. Some people artificially inflate DA through link schemes, which means a high DA does not always equal a trustworthy site
How to Improve Your Domain Authority
Since DA is primarily driven by backlinks, improving it comes down to earning more high-quality links. Here are legitimate strategies:
Create link-worthy content. Original research, data studies, comprehensive guides, and free tools naturally attract links. A dentist who publishes a detailed cost comparison of dental procedures will earn links from health blogs and local news sites.
Get listed in relevant directories. Chamber of Commerce listings, industry-specific directories, and local business directories provide real backlinks and also help with local SEO.
Guest posting on reputable sites. Write useful content for blogs and publications in your industry. The author bio typically includes a link back to your site.
Build relationships with local media. Offer yourself as an expert source for journalists. Tools like HARO (Help a Reporter Out) connect business owners with reporters who need quotes.
Fix broken links. Find pages on other sites that link to dead URLs in your industry. Reach out and suggest your content as a replacement.
Internal linking. While this does not directly build DA, strong internal linking helps distribute link equity across your site, helping individual pages rank better.
How to Check Your Domain Authority
You can check any site’s DA for free using Moz’s Link Explorer (moz.com/link-explorer). Just enter the URL and you will see the DA score along with other metrics.
For a broader view of how your site compares to competitors, SEOPulse’s competitor comparison tool lets you benchmark your site against up to three competitors across multiple SEO metrics. This gives you a clearer picture than DA alone, because it factors in on-page SEO health, page speed, and content quality alongside authority metrics.
Run a free SEO audit to see your overall health score and identify quick wins that improve both your rankings and your authority over time.
The Bottom Line
Domain Authority is a useful compass, not a GPS. It points you in the right direction (more quality backlinks and better content will improve rankings) but it does not tell you exactly where you will end up. Focus on the fundamentals: create valuable content, build genuine relationships that lead to links, and keep your on-page SEO clean. The DA score will follow.
Keep reading: Not sure about your overall SEO health? Try our free SEO audit tool for an instant check. Ready to tackle local search? Here is your local SEO checklist for small businesses.