With Domain Authority, you can study and evaluate the result of your digital marketing strategies. But what is Domain Authority, and how to build domain authority and check and improve it?
What is Domain Authority?
Domain Authority (DA) is a metric that was developed by Moz. It predicts how likely a domain will appear in the Search Engine Page Results (SERPs) compared to its competitors. DA also refers to the number of relevant backlinks from other reputable sites your website has.
What is important to know is that Google doesn’t use Domain Authority as a ranking factor. So you can’t necessarily improve your ranking in the search engines. But DA is a good indicator where you can see the performance in relation to your competition.
Not only do MOZ use this metric, but also different SEO tools like Semrush have their own Authority metric. It is an algorithm that uses data from backlinks, referring domains, search traffic or other factors in deciding the Authority score.
While it isn’t an official ranking factor used by Google, it is still a helpful metric to know your site’s health in relation to your competitors. The metrics represent trustworthiness and authority, and neural network and machine learning, it ensures it is accurate and fresh.
Domain authority is determined locally, so solo metrics won’t always increase or decrease the score. Meaning the more important the metric is, the greater effect it most likely will have.
Some online businesses are authoritative without even trying because they naturally have relevant keywords on their websites. For example, the movie site IMDB has high DA because the right keywords are naturally integrated throughout the site.
When you have a better idea about why you are considered authoritative, you can optimize your website better.
Not only are keywords important, but also, with better backlinks, you get higher chances of increasing your DA.
What is a good domain authority score?
The Domain Authority search engine ranking score normally ranges from 1 to 100. A higher number improves the probability of better results in search engines. The SEO tool considers both the quality and quantity of likes a website receives.
When a page has backlinks from pages with high authority, such as Google, Wikipedia, newspapers, or governmental sites, it will probably score better.
Depending on the industry or the characteristic of such a website, it will more likely be useful to get the right backlinks.
So a training center may seek links from national newspapers and academic institutions. Local business websites like regional newspapers or industry magazines because these backlinks are more valuable to the target audience of the business even without high domain authority.
Determining good domain authority can be different for each business. It is important to analyze your top competitors and draws a conclusion for your own websites based on your ranking and the rankings of your competitors.
How to check my Domain Authority
If you want to check your Domain Authority, you can use different sites, including Moz or Semrush. Just enter your root admin URL (like hostcomp.siterubix.com), and your site Authority will appear automatically.
The tools give other features such as showing the unique external linking domains, the number of unique pages that link to your site (Inbound links) as well the total number of keywords that your website is ranking within the top 50 positions on Google, and many other metrics.
Other tools you can check your domain authority with:
- SEmrush domain authority has a machine learning algorithm that uses organic search, website traffic, and backlink data to understand the ranking of the most trusted and popular website. The second algorithm uses backlink data to see how a website increase or decrease its authority by gaining links. The final score is measured in relation to the most authoritative websites.
- SEO Review Tools: this is a basic domain authority checker which looks based on backlink quality and quantity and your content. You can also see your website age and social media score, which shows how active your social profile is and how many shares your content gets.
- With Linkgraph’s Free Bulk DA Checker, you can check several sites at once
The difference between Domain and Page Authority
Domain authority measures the probability of ranking in the Search engine results for the entire web domain. In comparison, page authority focuses on the probability of ranking each page individually.
You can see the performance of individual pages, such as blog posts or product pages. It helps you analyze which ones might need some fine-tuning to get a higher score.
The page Authority metric gives you an idea of which pages need the most improvement for a more successful digital strategy.
How to Build Domain Authority?
Domain authority isn’t just about the total number of links to your site but the quality of these links, the ones that are relevant for understanding what your website is about.
Strategies to build and increase Domain Authority:
- Relevant backlinks. It is better to have quality backlinks than thousand of irrelevant backlinks
- Check the quality of your backlinks by using the SEMrush backlink audit tool. Also, get rid of the toxic backlinks.
- Create quality content. This makes it easier to get natural backlinks.
- Focus on your targeted audience when you write content so it is attractive to them, which can make it go viral.
- Update your older content. Find the pages that have low authority scores and add new relevant information that interests the users.
- Identify your competition: research and analyze things that your competitors do
- when you try to increase their website’s visibility.
- List your website on trusted directories like Google Business
- Study where your main competitors get backlinks from and find out if you can get similar ones
- Share your website content through other channels like social media or email marketing
Building domain authority is a long-term strategy because it takes time you most likely won’t see immediate results. But following these practices can help you increase your website visibility in search engines and grow your website traffic.
Still more important for ranking is to focus on your website SEO to create quality and relevant content and find the right keywords you integrate into the text, header, Meta Title, and Meta description.
FAQ
What is domain authority?
Domain authority (DA) is a metric developed by Moz that measures the credibility and trustworthiness of a domain. It is a score ranging from 1 to 100, with higher da scores indicating a stronger domain while low da means less established.
How is domain authority calculated?
The da score is calculated based on various factors, including the number of high-quality links pointing to the domain, the relevance and quality of the content on the domain, and the overall authority of the linking domains.
Why is it important to have a high domain authority?
Having a high domain authority is important because it can increase your website’s chances of ranking higher in search engine results and gaining more organic traffic. It also indicates that your website is considered authoritative and trustworthy by search engines.
How can I increase my domain authority?
To increase your domain authority, you can focus on improving the quality and relevance of your content, building high-quality backlinks from reputable websites, optimizing your website’s on-page SEO, and engaging with your audience through social media and other channels.
What is page authority?
Page authority (PA) is another metric developed by Moz that measures the strength and relevance of an individual webpage. It is also scored on a scale of 1 to 100 and can influence the overall domain authority of a website.
How can I check my domain authority?
You can check your domain authority using Moz’s Link Explorer tool, which provides detailed information about the domain rating, including your domain score, the number of linking domains, and other relevant metrics.
How do I improve my website’s domain authority?
To improve your website’s domain authority, you can focus on creating high-quality content, acquiring authoritative backlinks from reputable websites, optimizing your website’s technical SEO, and ensuring a strong internal link structure.
Can I increase my domain authority quickly?
Increasing your domain authority takes time and effort. It is not something that can be achieved overnight. However, by consistently following best practices for SEO and creating valuable content, you can gradually improve your domain authority over time.
Does domain authority affect my website’s ranking?
Domain authority is one of the many factors that search engines consider when ranking websites. While a higher domain authority can contribute to higher rankings, it is not the only determining factor. Other factors, such as relevance, user experience, and backlink quality, also play a significant role.
Why should I use domain authority to evaluate websites?
Using domain authority as a metric allows you to quickly assess the credibility and trustworthiness of a website. It can help you identify authoritative websites for link-building opportunities and gauge the potential impact of collaborating with other websites.