Domain Authority
Domain Authority (DA) is a Moz metric on a 1–100 scale that predicts how likely a website is to rank relative to competitors, mainly based on backlink signals rather than being a Google ranking factor.
Key takeaways
- DA is a Moz metric (1–100) for comparative website strength based on backlink signals.
- It is not a Google ranking factor – use it as a benchmark, not a direct ranking predictor.
- Best applied in link prospecting, competitive analysis, and tracking relative progress.
- Avoid focusing solely on DA; combine with relevance, traffic, and spam checks.
- Mistakes include cross-tool score comparison and using low-quality links to inflate DA.
It is a widely used benchmark for comparing website strength in link building and competitor analysis.
Example of Domain Authority
- Site A (DA 75) gets organic traffic from authoritative news sites linking to its industry guides. Site B (DA 32) is a new blog with few external links. When evaluating link prospects, an SEO would prioritize outreach to Site A, because its higher DA suggests stronger link equity and ranking potential based on Moz's analysis.
When Should I Use Domain Authority?
- Evaluating link prospects – Quickly compare sites to decide which ones are worth pursuing for backlinks.
- Competitive analysis – Benchmark your site’s DA against competitors to gauge overall link profile strength.
- Tracking progress – Monitor DA changes over time (e.g., quarterly) as a signal of your off-page SEO improvements.
- Prioritizing outreach – Focus on sites with moderate to high DA (e.g., 40+) that are also relevant to your niche.
What Domain Authority Is Not
- ❌ A Google ranking factor – Google does not use DA. It is a Moz estimate.
- ❌ A perfect measure of link quality – DA does not account for relevance, traffic, or spam risk of a specific page.
- ❌ A fixed, unchanging value – DA fluctuates as Moz updates its index and as other sites’ link profiles change.
- ❌ Comparable across tools – Ahrefs DR, Semrush Authority Score, and Moz DA are different metrics and cannot be directly compared.
- ❌ The only metric for outreach – Ignoring relevance or topical authority in favor of DA alone is a common mistake.
Quick Start: How to Use Domain Authority
- Get your current DA – Use a free DA checker (e.g., MozBar, Moz Link Explorer).
- Identify competitors – List 3–5 competing websites in your niche and check their DA.
- Benchmark – Compare your DA to theirs to understand your relative position.
- Find link prospects – Use a backlink checker to discover pages linking to competitors with DA 30+, filtering by relevance.
- Track over time – Recheck DA monthly or quarterly to monitor progress from your link building efforts.
Common Mistakes with Domain Authority
- Treating DA as a direct Google ranking factor – It is an estimate, not a signal used by Google.
- Comparing scores across different tools – For example, comparing Moz DA with Ahrefs DR is misleading.
- Chasing DA growth with low-quality links – Buying spammy backlinks can hurt your site’s actual rankings and trust.
- Using DA alone to judge a link – Always check relevance, organic traffic, and spam risk (e.g., via Google Search Console or Moz Spam Score).
Next step
FAQ
Is Domain Authority a Google metric?
No. DA is developed by Moz and is not used by Google in its ranking algorithms.
How often does Moz update DA?
Moz updates DA periodically (typically every few weeks) based on its index refreshes.
Can DA be manipulated?
Manipulating DA with low-quality or spammy backlinks is possible but risky and ineffective long-term.
Related topics
Sources
- Moz — Domain Authority — Primary source for what DA is, how Moz defines it, and its non-Google, comparative nature.
- Google Search Central — Best authority for clarifying that DA is not a Google ranking factor.
- Moz — Link Explorer / metrics documentation — Useful for explaining how Moz’s link-based metrics are used in SEO analysis.
- Google Search Central — SEO Starter Guide — Strong reference for the real SEO signals users should optimize instead of obsessing over DA.
Reviewed by Lucía Marín, Founding editor.