The term Domain Authority was developed by SEO ranking firm Moz. It is a search engine ranking score that determines how well a website will perform in the Search Engine Result Pages(SERPs). Determining a domain authority score involves numerous machine learning calculations that compare with thousands of ranking scores to find the most suitable match from the search results.
How is Domain Authority Calculated?
Domain authority is calculated on a score of 1-100. It is a useful measure for tracking the strength of a website. Moz obtains this metric by combining other link metrics namely linking root domains, number of total links, MozRank, MozTrust, etc., into a single score.
The Domain Authority score is based on the machine learning algorithm’s predictions on how frequently does Google use that domain in its search results. If domain X appears more often in a Google SERP than domain Y is, then in most likelihood, X’s DA will be higher than domain Y’s DA. Higher DA values indicate that the website/business has higher credibility and will rank higher in the SERP results.
As Google ranking algorithms are tough to explain, DA can be an accurate representation of why certain sites rank higher than others. A website with higher DA has better SEO rankings.
How to check my website’s Domain Authority(DA)?
To find your Domain Authority (DA) score, you can use Moz’s Link Explorer tool, the MozBar (Moz’s free SEO toolbar), or in the SERP Analysis section of Keyword Explorer. Since Moz introduced the DA score, many other domain authority checkers have been introduced in the market, Ahref’s Domain Rating and Majestic’s Trust Flow and Citation Flow, to name a few.
To understand the DA score breakup, a domain authority score is considered weak if it falls between 0-20. Anywhere between 20-30 is average and 30-50 is a good score. Once the DA score reaches the 50-60 mark, your website is in a good position. The range 60-100 is considered an excellent domain authority score.
How to improve my Domain Authority
Building a domain authority takes a substantial amount of time. On-page SEO, high-quality web content, website’s mobile-friendliness, and good loading speed are some of the factors that help establish a higher Domain Authority score.
While there are about 200 ranking factors for SERPs, the biggest factor for ranking well in search engine results is a strong link profile. While not an absolute measure, strong backlinks are the most vital factor for establishing a better DA.
- Get backlinks from high Domain Authority sites: Guest posting is a great way to get backlinks from an authority website. You can get backlinks in exchange for a blog post. The stronger the DA of the website the better ‘link juice’ you get for your website.
- Get real website links: Many people fake domain names to sell backlinks of their website to earn money. Then there are numerous websites selling spammy links. Also, many websites have a history of strong backlinks, but currently, they have gone inactive and have no traffic directed towards them. You should periodically perform audits to stray clear of these websites and remove spammy and inactive links. Google and Moz can identify these fake link websites and will not give any ‘backlink’ advantage to your website.
- Linking Root domains: If you have 10 backlinks to one website, it will be considered one root domain backlink. And if you have 3 backlinks to three different websites, they are considered three root domain backlinks. You attain a better DA score if you have more root domains.
A good website interface enables Google to easily crawl your site. Your site’s user-friendliness also determines its rank in the search results, which in turn, gives a better DA score.
MozRank is a metric that measures the strength (number and quality) of your external links. It always gives preference to quality over quantity. Moz Trust is another metric that intricately analyses the quality of your backlinks.
Domain Authority is dependant on a combination of numerous metrics, hence they are subject to fluctuations. A website that scores a high DA means it has faired well on different parameters stated by Moz and Google. This establishes the website as a trusted entity in its niche. With every update, you can calculate your revised DA score using a Domain Authority Checker and work towards improving the weaker area.
Let our experienced team of experts help you increase the domain authority of your website. At Tejon Digital, we know what it takes to build and maintain a flourishing top authority website. Email us at [email protected] today!