Domain authority is a metric that shows how authoritative your website is in the eyes of search engines. It is one of many factors that search engines use to rank your web pages in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Google has yet to reveal all of the factors it uses to calculate domain authority, but some of the most important factors are the number and quality of backlinks to your website.
A backlink is a link from another website to yours. The more backlinks you have from high-quality websites, the greater your domain authority.
Domain authority could be a better metric, but it can be a valuable tool for tracking your SEO progress. If you see your domain authority increasing, it is a sign that your SEO efforts are working.
What is domain authority score?
Domain Authority (DA) is a number that predicts how your website is to rank well in search engine results pages (SERPs) compared to other websites. It is important to note that DA is not a direct ranking factor used by Google but a good indicator of a website’s overall authority and ranking potential.
This means that Google does not use DA to determine how high your website ranks in SERPs. However, DA can be used as a general indicator of how well your website performs against its competitors.
Moz’s DA scoring system uses a machine learning model to identify the best algorithm for correlating with large amounts of link data.
Why Domain Authority Scores Matter
Despite some debate, domain authority (DA) scores are useful. Primary SEO tools have developed sophisticated algorithms to generate them, which suggests that DA scores have value.
Some marketing and SEO influencers may advise you to disregard your DA score because it does not directly affect your search engine rankings. However, DA scores can be used in other ways. While DA scores are not directly correlated with your search engine ranking ability, they can provide valuable insights into your overall SEO performance and online visibility.
Ultimately, your DA score is crucial because it reflects your search engine ranking. It can help you better understand your website’s credibility, especially from the perspective of search engines.
However, it would be best not to obsess over your DA score; your on-page content should still appeal to your target audience. As mentioned, Google’s ranking algorithms are still a mystery to marketers. Your DA score can be used to learn more about how your website performs in the larger search landscape.
This can provide unique insights into how your key competitors perform compared to you and uncover new opportunities to steal their search visibility. Additionally, your DA score can be tracked to see how your website has built its contextual strength.
What are the factors that determine an authority score
Online tools calculate domain authority (DA) scores in different ways. Still, they all generally evaluate a variety of your website’s attributes and condense their findings into a single score, typically ranked from 1 to 100.
Your DA score is determined on a logarithmic scale, meaning that individual metrics will sometimes impact your overall score differently.
One popular tool, Moz, calculates DA by evaluating multiple factors, including the number of linked root domains, the total number of backlinks, and the strength of those links. Semrush uses a slightly different approach, calling its metric “Authority Score.”
According to Semrush, Authority Score is a “compound metric used for measuring a domain’s or web page’s overall quality and SEO performance.” Semrush uses a neural network algorithm to analyze your domain based on quality, popularity, and backlink signals.
What is a good domain authority score?
Again, online tools use different formulas and scoring scales to evaluate a website’s Domain Authority (DA). However, a score close to 0 generally means a fragile domain.
Studies have shown that higher DA scores are correlated with increased web traffic and higher search engine rankings (SERPs).
However, it is essential to remember that DA scores should be used as a comparative tool, not to determine whether a domain is “good” or “bad.” For the most accurate comparison, you should evaluate a domain’s DA score with similar websites in the same industry or sector.
If you are launching a new website, you can expect to start with a DA score of 0 or 1, depending on the tool you use. Larger, more established websites with more external links tend to have higher DA scores.
Why do website authority scores fluctuate?
DA scores can fluctuate for various reasons, both within and outside your control. Some common causes include:
- Changes in the number of linking domains: The more high-quality domains link to your website, the higher your DA score will be. If a significant number of linking domains are crawled for the first time or if many linking domains are removed from the index, your DA score may be affected.
- Scaling fluctuations: DA scores are calculated on a relative scale so that they can be affected by changes to the overall DA landscape. For example, if many high-authority websites experience significant link growth, it can skew the scale and cause DA scores to drop for other websites.
- Site migration or domain-level changes: If you migrate your website to a new domain or if you make significant changes to your domain structure, your DA score may be temporarily affected until the search engines have had time to recrawl and index your website.
- Link profile growth yet to be captured by the tool: The tools used to calculate DA scores are constantly being updated, and it can sometimes take some time for them to capture changes to your link profile. If you have recently acquired several high-quality backlinks, your DA score may take a few weeks or even months to update.
It is important to note that it is perfectly normal for DA scores to fluctuate. You should be reassured if you see your DA score drop occasionally.
Prioritize valuable SEO content creation and earn backlinks from authoritative websites; your Domain Authority score will eventually rise.
How Should Marketers Use Domain Authority in 2024
Marketers can increase their domain authority score by performing the same SEO activities that they should already be doing. For those who are new to SEO and want to improve their rankings compared to their competitors, here are some of the best tactics to get started:
1. Build links
This is easier said than done, but it’s worth your time. Link building is one of the most effective SEO tactics, and it involves getting other websites to link to your website.
Google will crawl the web using these links, learning how websites and webpages are connected. Mastering effective link-building can improve your SEO, Domain Authority (DA), and organic search ranking.
Top tip: Always prioritize obtaining relevant backlinks, as search engines will quickly identify and potentially penalize your website for using dodgy methods.
Guest blogging, infographics, editorial links, and broken link-building are all examples of best-practice link-building strategies that many SEO experts still use in 2022.
2. Create Quality Content
You should already be leveraging the tactic of creating high-quality content consistently. This will increase your chances of earning natural backlinks from relevant and authoritative websites that want to provide additional value to their visitors.
Updating your existing, older content is another great way to increase your chances of earning new backlinks. Conduct a content audit to identify pages that have been unindexed or have low page authority scores and add new information that interests users.
3. Competitor Research
To get ahead of your competitors, research what they do differently online. You may be surprised at the opportunities you uncover. This is especially important when looking for the best digital marketing agency to help you with your SEO efforts.
Analyze where your competitors receive the most backlinks and the types of content they post. This can help you identify opportunities that your business still needs to explore.
4. List your business in online directories
One easy way to improve your local SEO and domain authority (DA) is to list your business in online directories. This process, called citation building, is crucial to any SEO strategy.
By building citations, you increase your chances of being found for various search terms related to your business and industry.
You may think of the old Yellow Pages phone book when you hear “business directories,” but things have changed significantly. Modern directories include your Google Business Profile, Trustpilot, Facebook, and many other websites.
5. Remove toxic backlinks
Backlinks can significantly improve or damage your website’s authority. Backlinks from low-quality and spammy websites can drastically harm your Google ranking. In 2012, the Penguin algorithm update cracked down on bad backlinks created by unethical SEO tactics. To address this, it’s essential to consider hiring professional SEO services to clean up your backlink profile.
However, tools like Moz and Semrush can identify toxic links to your website and provide a transparent audit for review. Once you’ve identified the bad links associated with your website, contact the website directly and ask them to remove the link.
If a website owner refuses to remove a link to your site, you can disavow the link using Google Search Console. When you disavow a link, you’re essentially telling Google to ignore that link when evaluating your website.
However, use this tool as a last resort, as Google has warned that improper use of the disavow tool can harm your website’s performance.
Final thought
Improving your website’s domain ranking can be challenging, but there are ways to bring it under your control. However, improving your website’s SEO does not guarantee increasing your domain rank.
Because domain rank is a comparative metric, the actions of your competitors’ websites will continue to affect your score. If another website has improved its SEO more quickly, your website’s ranking may remain stagnant.
