What Is Domain Authority? How It's Scored & How to Improve It
Domain Authority (DA) is a score from 1 to 100, created by Moz, that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search results. A higher score suggests stronger ranking potential. The crucial thing to understand up front: Domain Authority is not a Google metric and does not directly influence your rankings. It's a third-party estimate, useful for comparing sites and tracking progress over time — not a number Google looks at. This guide explains how it's calculated, what moves it, and how to improve it the right way.
What is Domain Authority and who created it?
Domain Authority was developed by Moz as a way to estimate a domain's overall ranking strength on a 100-point scale. It's calculated mainly from a site's backlink profile — the number and, more importantly, the quality of other websites linking to it — combined with other link-based signals. Other SEO companies offer their own equivalents, such as Ahrefs' Domain Rating (DR) and Semrush's Authority Score, each using its own data and formula. Because they use different link indexes, the same site can score differently across tools, so it's best to pick one and track trends within it.
How is the Domain Authority score calculated?
The score is built from link-based factors, the biggest being the quality and diversity of referring domains pointing to your site. A few important properties:
- It's logarithmic, so moving from 20 to 30 is far easier than moving from 70 to 80. Growth slows dramatically at the top.
- It's relative and comparative — DA is most useful when comparing your site against competitors, not as an absolute target.
- It can shift even when you do nothing, because the score is recalculated against the rest of the web as other sites gain or lose links.
What is a good Domain Authority score?
There's no universal "good" number — it depends entirely on your niche and competitors. A score of 30–40 can be perfectly competitive in a small niche, while highly competitive industries may need 60+. Rather than chasing a fixed figure, compare your DA to the sites already ranking for your target keywords. If they sit around 35 and you're at 40, you're well-positioned regardless of the absolute number.
Does Domain Authority affect Google rankings?
No — not directly. Google has repeatedly said it does not use Domain Authority or any single "authority score." DA often correlates with rankings because the same thing that raises DA (quality backlinks) also genuinely helps you rank. But raising a third-party score is not the goal; earning real links, trust, and useful content is. Treat DA as a thermometer, not the temperature itself.
How can I improve my Domain Authority?
Because DA is largely link-driven, improving it means improving the things that earn quality links and trust:
- Earn high-quality backlinks from relevant, reputable sites — a few strong links beat many weak ones.
- Publish genuinely useful content that other sites want to reference, which attracts links naturally.
- Strengthen internal linking so authority flows between your pages and your structure is clear.
- Clean up toxic or spammy links that could drag down trust.
- Be patient — DA moves slowly, especially at higher scores, so judge progress over months.
Avoid shortcuts like buying links or using private blog networks; they risk penalties that hurt real rankings far more than any score gain is worth.
How do I check my Domain Authority?
Enter your domain into a Domain Authority Checker to see your current score, then re-check periodically to track the trend. Pair it with a look at your domain's age and backlink profile for fuller context.
Frequently asked questions
Is Domain Authority an official Google ranking factor?
No. It's a Moz metric. Google doesn't use it and has said it has no single site-wide authority score.
Why did my DA drop without any changes?
DA is recalculated relative to the rest of the web. If other sites gain links or the index updates, your score can move even if your site didn't change.
How long does it take to increase DA?
Usually months. Early gains (e.g. 20→30) come faster; higher ranges grow slowly because the scale is logarithmic.
Should I worry about a low DA on a new site?
Not much. New domains start low by default. Focus on content and earning quality links, and the score follows.
Related tools & guides
- Domain Authority Checker — check any domain's score.
- Domain Age Checker — review a domain's history.
- Website SEO Score Checker — audit on-page and technical SEO.