If you’re trying to grow your website’s presence in Google, you’ve probably heard the term Domain Authority, but what does it really mean and why does it matter?
In today’s competitive digital landscape, a site’s ability to rank isn’t just about keywords or content quality. Search engines evaluate how trustworthy and authoritative your domain is compared to others in your niche. That’s where Domain Authority comes in. Originally developed by Moz, it’s a widely used metric that helps SEO professionals and marketers understand how likely a site is to rank in search results.
Before diving into the details, let’s get clear on the value of this guide.
What You’ll Learn in This Guide
In this post, we’ll break down:
- What Domain Authority is and how it’s calculated
- The differences between Moz’s Domain Authority, Ahrefs’ Domain Rating, and SEMrush’s Authority Score
- What is considered a good domain authority score for your industry
- How to increase your score through content, links, and trust building
- What causes Domain Authority to fluctuate and how to interpret changes
- Actionable tips to build authority and improve SEO performance
Whether you’re just getting started with SEO or looking to strengthen your competitive edge, understanding domain authority can give you powerful insight into your website’s current standing and what it takes to improve.
What is Domain Authority
Domain Authority is a metric developed by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank on search engine results pages. It uses a scale from 1 to 100 to represent the overall authority and trustworthiness of a domain in the eyes of search engines like Google.
Rather than being a direct ranking factor, Domain Authority acts as an SEO indicator, estimating how competitive your site is compared to others in your niche. Websites with higher authority typically earn better keyword rankings, attract more referral traffic, and are seen as more credible sources of information. Because of this, Domain Authority plays a significant role in shaping your long-term SEO strategy.
Why Domain Authority Matters for SEO
Domain Authority is a useful signal for understanding how search engines might evaluate the strength of your website. It’s not a ranking factor used by Google, but it correlates strongly with the ability to rank, especially in competitive search environments.
A high Domain Authority often means:
- Your backlink profile is strong and diverse
- Your website is seen as a reliable source within its niche
- You’re more likely to outrank competitors targeting similar keywords
If your site is in a competitive field, Domain Authority can help you gauge whether your current SEO efforts are keeping pace with others or falling behind. It also helps identify when you need to double down on content quality, link-building, or technical improvements.
What a High Domain Authority Can Help You Achieve
Building and maintaining a strong Domain Authority unlocks several practical benefits for your SEO and broader digital strategy:
- Rank Higher for Competitive Keywords: Strong domains are more likely to secure top positions in search results, even when targeting highly competitive phrases.
- Earn More Backlinks and Press Opportunities: High-authority sites are more appealing to journalists, content creators, and other site owners, making it easier to gain organic backlinks and brand mentions.
- Improve Site Trust and Click-Through Rates: Users are more likely to click on websites they recognize and trust, especially when they see your content ranked alongside less familiar domains.
- Support Scalable Content Marketing: Once a site has built domain authority, new content tends to rank more quickly and more easily, increasing your content ROI over time.
- Strengthen Outreach and Partnership Campaigns: Whether it’s influencer partnerships or guest post outreach, a strong DA score often improves your credibility and response rate.
By understanding the strategic importance of Domain Authority early on, you can build an SEO roadmap that supports long-term authority, not just short-term traffic wins.
How is Domain Authority Calculated?
The domain authority score is calculated based on the number and quality of inbound links to that domain. It also takes into account factors related to on-page optimization, user engagement signals like click-through rates and time on site, domain age, and overall link profile health.
The higher the domain authority, the more likely it is that website will rank higher and earn more organic search traffic.
The 1-100 Scale for Domain Authority
The domain authority scale was pioneered by Moz as an easier way to understand the relative authority of websites in a niche rather than relying solely on ranking positions. It provides a score encompassing many factors indicative of trust and authority. The closer to 100, the stronger the domain authority.
What Determines Domain Authority?
- Backlinks – The number, authority, and relevance of sites linking back to a domain significantly influence its authority.
- High Authority Sites – Getting links or editorial mentions on authority sites like major publications or influencers can greatly improve a domain’s authority score.
- Page Authority – The authority of each page on a domain contributes to the overall domain authority.
- Ranking Position – Ranking for multiple mid and high-competition keywords helps increase domain authority.
- Click-through Rate – A site with higher engagement and click-through rates sends quality signals to search engines.
There are additional patented factors incorporated into the domain authority algorithm by Moz related to on-page quality, site velocity, link profile diversity, and more. But the above factors make up the core signals.
Does Google Use Domain Authority?
No, Google does not use Domain Authority (DA) as a direct ranking factor in its algorithm.
Domain Authority is a third party metric developed by Moz to predict how likely a website is to rank in search results. It is based on signals like backlinks, referring domains, and link quality, all of which are known to influence rankings, but it remains an external estimate, not a Google endorsed score.
That said, a high DA often correlates with strong SEO performance. This is because it reflects foundational best practices like building high quality backlinks, publishing useful content, and establishing topical authority, the same factors Google does reward. In other words, Moz’s DA does not control your rankings, but improving the things that increase your DA can help you rank better organically.
For SEOs and marketers, Domain Authority is best used as a relative benchmark, something to compare your site’s perceived authority against your competitors and to track your SEO progress over time.
Are There Other Authority Metrics Used in SEO?
Yes, in addition to Moz’s Domain Authority, there are a couple other authority metrics used in SEO.
Ahrefs’ Domain Rating
Ahrefs Domain Rating is an authority metric developed by Ahrefs that measures a domain’s overall quality and strength on a 0-100 scale. It serves as an alternative to Moz’s Domain Authority for assessing SEO authority.
The Ahrefs Domain Rating algorithm analyzes over a dozen different factors including:
- Quantity, quality, and relevance of referring domains linking to the site
- Organic keyword rankings and estimated search traffic
- Backlink anchor text diversity
- Presence of toxic/risky backlinks
The resulting 0-100 score represents the comprehensive authority of a domain. A higher rating signals a stronger, more reputable site that can likely rank for more valuable keywords in its niche.
In terms of SEO, Ahrefs Domain Rating offers clues into how competitive a niche is and how much work is needed to start ranking a site. Established sites with ratings over 60 will be quite difficult to overtake. Comparing a site’s domain rating over time also shows the impact of SEO efforts by analyzing authority trends.
So while Moz DA focuses more explicitly on search engine authority, Ahrefs Domain Rating provides a complementary metric to assess overall quality and domain strength for outranking competitors. Tracking both over time gives the most insight into improving SEO authority.
SEMRush’s Authority Score
SEMrush Authority Score is an authority metric developed by SEMrush that evaluates a domain’s SEO competency and ability to rank in Google search. It uses a scale from 1 to 100 to represent overall authority and trust signals.
The SEMrush Authority Score algorithm analyzes over 40 different factors, weighted specifically towards signals that influence Google rankings, such as:
- Quantity/quality of backlinks from authority sites
- Organic keyword rankings and estimated traffic
- Optimized on-page factors liketitles, headers, etc
- Site security and page load speed
The resulting 1-100 score offers insight into how much SEO clout and trust a domain has built within Google’s ranking algorithm. The higher the Authority Score, the more likely that site can reach top search positions for valuable terms in its niche.
For SEO, the SEMrush Authority Score offers perspective into the work needed to outperform competitor sites and gaps to bridge. Authority Scores above 60 require extensive trust and authority building to exceed. Comparing month-to-month progress shows the impact of SEO efforts like content creation, link building, optimization to boost organic reach.
It provides a metric tailored specifically to gauging optimization for Google rankings versus broader domain strength signals. In conjunction with similar scores, it gives a robust view into SEO competency.
What is a Good Domain Authority?
There isn’t a single benchmark for what’s considered a “good” Domain Authority score. It depends heavily on your niche, your competition, and your broader SEO goals. But in general, higher scores tend to reflect greater trust and ranking potential in the eyes of search engines.
Domain Authority Score Ranges Explained
Here’s how typical Domain Authority (DA) scores are interpreted:
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0-10: Low domain authority – common for new or unoptimized sites
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11-40: Average domain authority – many small businesses fall here
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41-59: Moderately high authority – a strong foundation with room to grow
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60-69: High authority – competitive edge in many search markets
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70-100: Very high authority – major brands, media outlets, or dominant niche leaders
While the scale goes to 100, it’s logarithmic – meaning it gets progressively harder to move from one tier to the next as your authority increases.
Examples of Websites With High Domain Authority
Looking at real world examples of websites with strong domain authority can help you understand what’s possible , and what benchmarks to aim for. Below are examples of well known domains across different niches, showcasing how high authority scores align with brand trust, link profiles, and consistent SEO best practices.
High Authority Global Sites
- Google.com – DA 100
- Wikipedia.org – DA 98
- YouTube.com – DA 99
- Amazon.com – DA 96
- Facebook.com – DA 96
These are examples of domains with massive backlink profiles, constant content publishing, and global brand trust – which naturally lead to domain authority scores in the upper 90s.
Industry Leading Publishers
- Forbes.com – DA 95
- TechCrunch.com – DA 92
- Healthline.com – DA 91
- Nerdwallet.com – DA 89
- Hubspot.com – DA 93
These sites combine authority building through thought leadership, content depth, and natural editorial backlinks.
Direction.com’s Current Domain Authority
As of now, Direction.com has a Domain Rating of 65 according to Ahrefs, placing it solidly in the high authority tier for B2B digital marketing firms. This score reflects years of publishing high quality SEO content, earning organic backlinks, and building trust in the local SEO space.
What Counts as a Good Score in Your Industry?
The “right” Domain Authority score for your site depends on your vertical and local competition. Here are a few rough benchmarks based on industry:
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Healthcare and Dental: DA scores in the 30s to low 50s are typically sufficient for local clinics and practices, but national providers may need to push past 60 to rank for competitive health-related terms.
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HVAC Companies: A DA between 20-40 is often enough for strong local rankings, especially when paired with strong local SEO signals.
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Law Firms: Legal SEO is extremely competitive. A Domain Authority above 50 is usually needed for local firms, with national or specialty firms aiming for 60+.
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Real Estate: Local agents and brokerages should aim for DA in the 30s to 40s to compete effectively, while larger real estate portals typically sit above 60.
Remember – your Domain Authority doesn’t need to be sky-high to drive results. The real goal is to outpace your direct competitors in search visibility and trust.
How Can I Improve My Domain Authority?
There are a few core ways to steadily build your domain authority over time:
Key Ways to Increase Domain Authority
- Create Content for High Authority Sites – Write guest posts for reputable sites related to your industry. This helps earn backlinks while expanding reach.
- Promote Content to Industry Influencers – Connect with leaders in your space and provide value to them through your content in exchange for shares, links, mentions.
- Prioritize Long-Form, In-Depth Content – Optimize pages, blog content, and other assets for depth, quality information search engines perceive as trustworthy.
- Build Relationships with Relevant Sites – Network with sites complementary to yours where partnership opportunities make sense to collaborate and cross-link content.
Best Practices for High Quality Backlinks
Seek editorially given links from reputable publications, not paid or artificial links which can damage credibility.
Focus on relevance over quantity – get links from sites in your niche vs general web directories.
Earn links through outreach outlining value you can provide, not mass emailing link requests which are easily denied.
Authoritative, Trustworthy Content
Google evaluates over 200 ranking signals – but quality content focused on serving searcher needs is foundational. Useful, accurate, well-organized content increases dwell time and signals authority. Prioritizing user experience helps improve domain authority in sustainable, scalable ways.
What Causes Fluctuations in DA Scores?
Your Domain Authority (DA) score is similar to the stock market. It is constantly changing and influenced by various factors.
It is important to understand that your site’s DA score fluctuates based on machine learning calculations. As more data points are collected, the calculations become increasingly precise.
In other words, as new links are added or old ones disappear from the web, your DA will change accordingly. It’s similar to how Wall Street reacts to news about companies.
To further illustrate this point, let’s consider Facebook – one of those high-authority sites we all know and love (or hate).
If Facebook acquires new links while maintaining its existing ones, other websites’ DAs might decrease relative to Facebook’s due to their less robust link profiles.
Factors Causing Fluctuations in DA Scores
- Data updates: As Moz collects fresh data about link patterns across the internet, they update their index, which can cause fluctuations in your website’s DA.
- Growth rate: If higher authority domains grow at a faster pace than yours – acquiring more quality backlinks – it could lead to a decrease in your domain authority.
- Moz algorithm changes: Similar to Google SERP algorithms, Moz also makes periodic updates that can sometimes cause shifts in Domain Authority scores.
The Takeaway
Remember not to be disheartened when you see fluctuations in your site’s DA score; instead, view them as opportunities for improvement. Understanding what causes these shifts can help you better strategize for SEO success.
Why Domain Authority Still Matters
Understanding and using your domain authority remains one of the most valuable levers for organizations that rely on organic search visibility. It offers a clear way to benchmark your SEO strength, assess trust signals, and identify how search engines perceive your website.
As we covered in this guide, domain authority reflects the cumulative impact of your link profile, content quality, site optimization, and reputation. Higher authority does more than boost rankings, it leads to more referral traffic, stronger brand recognition, and lower acquisition costs over time.
Tracking your score consistently can also inform broader strategic decisions, from content development and outreach to market expansion and competitive analysis. Authority metrics help eliminate guesswork and align SEO efforts with measurable growth.
Ready to Build Real SEO Authority?
Want to improve your domain authority and outperform the competition in search?
Our team specializes in creating SEO strategies that elevate your website’s authority, trust signals, and long-term performance. From technical site audits to link building and content optimization, we help you lay a foundation that scales with your business.
Reach out today for a free website SEO audit and take the next step toward becoming the go-to resource in your industry.
FAQs in Relation to Domain Authority
What is a good domain authority score?
Good scores are 40+ for informational sites and 50+ for commercial sites. High authority niche sites should aim for 60+.
How can I check my domain authority?
Free tools like MozBar or Ubersuggest provide domain authority scores. Paid tools like Ahrefs and Semrush also provide authority metrics.
How long does it take to increase domain authority?
It takes 6-12 months for noticeable domain authority gains from on-page optimization and ethical link building efforts. Patience is key.
Does domain authority expire or fluctuate a lot?
Domain authority is relatively stable but can fluctuate +/- 3 points month-to-month. Authority does not expire if you maintain your site.
Is there a maximum domain authority?
Yes – domain authority maxes out at 100, but few sites will ever achieve this perfect score. Goal is continuing growth.
