Domain Authority is an important factor to consider when evaluating a website.
It plays a direct role in how hard or how easy it will be for you to rank for your specific keyword. When doing competitor analysis, as well as keyword research, you must always take Domain Authority into account.
But what is Domain Authority exactly? How is it measured? And what can you do to increase it?
We’re going to cover all of that and more in this article.
First, let’s talk about what Domain Authority is.
Domain Authority (or DA for short), is the likelihood that your website, along with any pages relating to it, will rank on Google.
With a high enough score, any page that’s a part of your website, no matter what the content, will be able to rank. This makes it especially useful in ranking for short tail keywords, which are high volume and very competitive to rank for.
The term and concept was developed by Moz, although established and respectable companies have come out with their own versions of it. A good example is Ahref’s Domain Rating.
Domain Authority is measured on a scale from 0-100, with 0 meaning no authority while 100 meaning total authority.
- A rank of 0-20 represents a weak score. All new websites, regardless of domain name, will have this rank.
- A rank of 20-30 represents authority. This level of DA is achievable through a good SEO campaign. It will usually make it to page 1 of Google and can even hold the #1 spot.
- A rank of 30-50 represents strong authority. This level of DA can rank at #1 for more difficult keywords and in a shorter period of time.
- A rank of 50-60 represents very strong authority. This level of DA can rank #1 for very difficult keywords with minimal effort.
- A rank of 60-100 represents an established authoritative figure. Sites such as Amazon, Ikea, and YouTube have scores in this range and as a result will always be on the first page of Google for the targeted keyword, and often within the first 5 search results, no matter how competitive.
How can I find the Domain Authority of my website?
Most SEO tools will either give you the DA or its equivalent. However, if you don’t have access to these tools for whatever reason (ie. you’re not working in SEO), here is a free method that professionals often use:
First, install the Mozbar extension from Chrome.
From there, visit any page. and watch the gray M in your toolbar turn into a number from 0-100. This is the Domain Authority for that particular website.
(If it doesn’t display any number, simply click on it again and it should display one right away.)
You can also see the DA of multiple websites on Google. Simply conduct any search, click the gray M until it turns blue, and view the search results!
This makes it very useful for analyzing the competition and seeing what you’re up against.
How is Domain Authority measured?
Domain Authority is measured based on a number of factors relating to Google’s algorithms. This includes everything from the quality of your Onpage work to the links back to your Root domain.
However, the strongest factor has been found to be your link profile.
Links from websites possessing high Domain Authority to your website will make it more authoritative in Google’s eyes, increasing yours as a result.
In other words, your Domain Authority largely has to do with the type of links that your website receives.
How can I improve my Domain Authority?
Improving your Domain Authority involves doing SEO work on your website. Google’s algorithm is complex, but you can satisfy them by making good Onpage and Offpage practices.
Onpage SEO involves making your website more search engine friendly.
This includes making sure your:
- Title, SEO title, and URL are accurate
- Website is easy to navigate
- Content is easy to read and relevant to your topic
- Website has a fast loading time (this is more important than people realize – a slow-loading page on it’s own can keep you from page 1!)
Offpage SEO involves making sure the links to your website are respected by Google.
This includes making sure:
- You’re getting links from websites with some authority of their own (anything above 25 should give you a boost)
- The links to your website are relevant (ie. if you have a website about Plumbing, you’re not looking for links from Cooking sites)
- You’re not getting links from websites Google has deemed to be spam/low quality
- You’re not using any backlinking tactics considered illegal by Google
Offpage SEO is going to play the biggest role in increasing your Domain Authority. It’s also going to take the longest to accomplish since you actually need to go out and campaign for quality backlinks, so you want to make sure you’re doing this part of your website as well as possible.
Onpage and Offpage SEO is something that anyone can do on their own. However, if you really want to get results while saving time on struggling to figure it out, hiring an SEO consultant to take care of the job for you is an excellent choice as well.
What about Page Authority?
If you have used Mozbar to measure your page’s ranking, you have undoubtedly seen the other metric it will show you: Page Authority.
Page Authority is very similar to Domain Authority, except that Page Authority refers to the authority of that specific webpage.
You can increase the PA of a webpage pretty much the same way that you would increase the DA of your website: with good SEO practices.
Working on your website’s Page Authority has the added benefit of increasing your site’s Domain Authority. This is especially true if you have multiple pages under your domain with good Page Authority!
In Summary:
- Domain Authority (DA) is a score that shows your website’s chances of ranking high on Google
- A high Domain Authority will help you rank easier and for more competitive keywords
- You can measure it on Google Chrome using the Mozbar extension
- You can improve your Domain Authority by with good Onpage and Offpage SEO practices
- The links back to your website play the biggest role in Domain Authority
- Page Authority is a closely-related metric that can also bring up Domain Authority
That concludes our post on Domain Authority. If you have any questions or comments on the post, or if you would like to enlist our SEO services, feel free to contact us on our website.
Until then, good luck with your rankings!