SEO GLOSSARY

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 (SERPs). It’s one of the most well-known and widely used metrics for evaluating the SEO strength of a domain.

In short, Domain Authority scores websites on a scale from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating a greater ability to rank for competitive keywords. But what exactly goes into this score, and why does it matter?

Let’s break it down.

How Domain Authority is Calculated

Domain Authority is calculated by looking at a variety of factors, including:-

• The quantity and quality of links pointing to your site – Sites with more backlinks from authoritative sites tend to have higher Domain Authority.

• The age of your domain – Older sites tend to accumulate more trust and authority over time.

• On-page optimization – Your keyword targeting, content quality, site speed and technical SEO all play a role.

• Trust metrics – Things like a secure HTTPS connection and positive user engagement signals boost Domain Authority.

Moz uses a complex, machine-learned algorithm to assign Domain Authority scores by weighing all these factors. No one outside of Moz knows the exact formula, but they provide enough transparency into what matters that you can work to actively improve your Domain Authority.

Why Domain Authority Matters for SEO

Google wants to serve the most authoritative, trustworthy pages for any given search query. As a proxy for authority and trust, Domain Authority gives us an indication of how likely a website is to rank well in organic search.

The higher your Domain Authority, the better chances you have of outranking competitors for valuable keywords in your niche. Moz did a correlation study that showed sites with higher Domain Authority tend to achieve higher organic search visibility.

This is why SEOs put so much focus on building Domain Authority. It reflects your overall ability to rank well in the SERPs across all relevant keywords for your brand.

How to Improve Your Domain Authority

Here are some proven tips for boosting your Domain Authority:-

• Produce high-quality content that earns backlinks – Focus on content pillars and topics that are truly useful for your audience. Promote these assets to earn high-quality backlinks from authority sites.

• Build new high-quality domains – Starting fresh with a new domain can help boost your Domain Authority, if you do everything right from the start.

• Fix technical SEO issues – Improve site speed, enhance your on-page SEO, fix broken links, consolidate domains, and address any other technical problems.

• Earn authoritative editorial backlinks – Guest post on industry blogs, get interviewed by top podcasts, land links from resources pages and roundups, etc.

• Build your brand’s trust and authority – Get active on social media, speak at conferences, sponsor events, etc. Anything that builds brand equity can help Domain Authority.

• Disavow low-quality links – If you have sketchy backlinks from the past, use Google Disavow to clean up your backlink profile.

Domain Authority isn’t easy to manipulate, but by focusing on building a trusted brand and high-quality website over the long-term, you can steadily improve your Domain Authority. Track it over time as one key metric for measuring your SEO success.