The Blog

Domain Authority falls under the category of Off-page SEO metrics.

It’s a predictive ranking score developed by Moz that estimates how likely a website is to rank in search engine results pages (SERPs).

While not an official Google ranking factor, it’s considered part of off-page SEO because it primarily measures external factors like:

• The quantity and quality of backlinks pointing to your domain
• The authority of the sites linking to you
• The overall link profile of your website

Unlike on-page SEO factors (which focus on content optimization and technical elements within your website), Domain Authority looks at external signals that indicate your site’s reputation and trustworthiness across the broader internet ecosystem.

However, it’s worth noting that Domain Authority intersects with other SEO categories as well, particularly technical SEO, since factors like site structure and crawlability can indirectly impact your ability to build authoritative backlinks.

Although DA is not the only way website authority is measured, it is widely used and recognised.

Generally, Domain Authority is scored on a scale from 0 to 100. A brand-new website will have a DA of 0, while the highest DA currently is Facebook, which is a maximum of 100.

The DA figure considers around 40 different SEO elements of a website. While this doesn’t provide a complete picture of your website’s SEO (Google’s algorithm factors in over 200), it does indicate how your site compares to others and whether you can expect to rank higher or lower.

Two key points about how Domain Authority changes:

DA changes do not happen overnight; it takes time to see movement.

The higher your DA, the harder it becomes to make large upward movements compared to lower DAs.

For example, moving from a DA of 65 to 75 is more difficult than moving from 25 to 35.

5 Ways to Improve Your Domain Authority:

Domain Authority (DA) is a ranking metric that predicts how well a website will perform in search engine results.

While it’s not a direct ranking factor for Google, a higher DA score indicates strong credibility, quality backlinks, and a well-optimized website.

Improving your DA requires a combination of strategic content creation, backlink building, and technical SEO.

1. Create high-quality, linkable content that naturally attracts backlinks.

One of the best methods of obtaining backlinks naturally is to create informative, in-depth, and rewarding content. Don’t just write generic articles; rather, focus on:

• Robust how-tos and other guides that take a deep dive into one subject.
• Calling all original research, data studies, or surveys that other sites will backlink to.
• Expert opinion that provides something different from what competitors are providing.

And naturally, problem-solving, informative, and exclusive insights-driven content gets shared and linked to from many high domain authority sites.

2. Build quality backlinks through targeted outreach and relationship building.

Different types of backlinks hold different levels of power. Building relationships is therefore phenomenally important for the sustainable growth of your DA, because Google favors links from good quality and relevant sites. Strategies include:

• Writing guest posts for popular industry blogs to establish authority.
• Participating in expert roundups where several professionals share their insights.
• Examples include pitching journalists and industry publications to earn mentions via digital PR.

Instead of hunting for low-quality, spammy backlinks, aim to get links that truly enhance your site’s authority.

3. Audit and remove toxic backlinks regularly.

Like with good backlinks, a strong backlink profile isn’t just about building those good links — it’s also about removing the bad ones. Backlinks from spammy websites or low-quality sites can also hurt your DA and search rankings. Maintain a clean profile by:

• How to monitor your backlink profile with Google Search Console or third-party tools.
• Detecting irrelevant, spammy, or unnatural links and disavowing them.
• Staying away from link schemes or payment backlinks because Google penalizes manipulative link building tactics.

Auditing your link profile regularly keeps your website reputable and avoids getting penalized by search engines.

4. Improve your internal linking structure and technical SEO.

Though the DA is prominently impacted by external backlinks, a well-structured internal setup enables search engines to crawl your site effectively, which also facilitates a great user experience. Key factors to focus on:

• Internal linking with logic to connect correlated pages and authority.
• Mobile-friendliness and page speed — because slow or unresponsive websites repel visitors and hurt SEO.
• Well-defined site architecture that is easy for users and search engine crawlers to navigate.

So organic visibility comes as analytics, and a technically sound website is more likely to earn backlinks.

5. Focus on building your brand presence and social signals.

Social signals themselves are not direct ranking factors, but they do impact the visibility of your content and how much of your brand gets in front of people, which can open up opportunities for more backlinks. Here are the ways you can enhance your brand’s online presence:

• Create shareable content that inspires interaction.
• Engage with discussions relevant to your industry on LinkedIn, Twitter, and forums.
• Join forces with influencers who are able to spread your content across a wider reach.

In other words, the higher your content exposure, the higher the outcome of gaining natural backlinks from authoritative sites, hence increasing your DA.

Working on Domain Authority is a long-term effort, but generating valuable content, acquiring quality backlinks, and optimizing the technical aspects of your site can help your website gain more trust (and visibility) in the search result pages.