Domain authority is a score created by Moz—a provider of search engine optimization (SEO) tools and software—that indicates a website’s potential for ranking in search engine result pages (SERPs). The score ranges from one to 100, and a higher number indicates a website’s greater probability to rank higher in SERPs. For example, wikipedia.com—a site extremely likely to rank on the first page of search engines—has a domain authority of 77.

Think of domain authority as a check on how visible your website is in comparison to your competitors’. Since your domain authority predicts the likelihood of your website to appear in SERPs, the higher the score, the more likely your site is to outrank your competitors’ sites on search engines. Domain authority does not directly impact your ranking on Google; however, the tactics you use to improve your domain authority can support SEO efforts.

Get your domain authority score by plugging in your website into Moz’s free domain authority checker. The free checker issues up to three scores per day. If you need to obtain more reports than that, you’ll need to pay for Moz Pro. Other SEO leaders have since developed their own versions of domain authority scores, such as Semrush, which issues a Semrush Authority Score.

What Counts as a Good Domain Authority Score?

The favorability of your domain authority score is dependent on three factors:

• What are the scores of your competitors? If your competitors have lower scores than you—no matter what those scores are in numerical value—it’s likely you have a good score.
• What keywords do those competitors rank for? If your competitors are not seeking to rank in SERPs for the same keywords as your business, their scores do not likely impact the favorability of yours.
• Do those competitors have businesses of similar size and market value to yours? If your competitors differ significantly in size and market value from your business, their scores do not likely impact the favorability of yours. For example: let’s say you’re a small or midsized business that sells phone systems, and you consider AT&T a competitor. The scope of AT&T’s business compared to yours is so much bigger that AT&T’s domain authority isn’t a concern when gauging the favorability of yours.

Examine the scores of your most direct competitors in terms of size, market value, target keywords, customer demographics and more. If those direct competitors have lower scores than you, it’s likely you have a good score.

It’s important to note that domain authority scores do not indicate how high a website will rank in search engines. For instance, if you have a score of 20—which seems low on a scale of 100—but all your direct competitors have scores lower than 20, it’s likely you will achieve higher ranks in SERPs than they do. However, the number of your score is not correlated to where exactly your website appears in SERPs. You could rank on the third page of Google while your competitors appear on the fourth.

How Is a Domain Authority Score Calculated?

Domain authority is calculated by Moz using many factors that comprise data in its Link Explorer web index, and a machine learning model performs the calculation itself. Factors include:

• The volume and quality of inbound links to your website—also known as backlinks.
• The volume and quality of outbound links from your website to other sites of authority.
• The volume and quality of unique backlinks, with each link that leads to a different website of authority counting as one root domain. The more root domains, the better.
• Your website’s Spam Score—a rating developed by Moz that detects the percentage of sites with similar features to yours that have been penalized or banned by Google.

Improve your domain authority score using the following tips:

Link Out and Back From High-Authority Sites

Your link profile consists of the volume and quantity of backlinks and outbound links on your website, so the more links you have to reputable, authoritative sites, the better. Avoid linking to sites with poorly written or unhelpful content. Those links will contribute to a negative Spam Score. Don’t link to sites just for linking’s sake; read the content and use your judgment to determine if linking to it will truly help your audience.

Publish Link-Worthy Content

The main way to gain reputable backlinks is to create content that fills a knowledge gap with thorough, true information. Publish material that directly addresses users’ questions using keyword optimization best practices, and other resources will organically link to your content—improving your score.

Employ Basic SEO Best Practices

Tactics such as optimizing content like title tags and meta descriptions for the right keywords are ways to bolster the authenticity and authority of your content and website.

Ensure Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly

Make it a positive experience to engage with your site on mobile, and you’ll naturally improve your domain authority score. Mobile-friendly websites get more organic traffic, making this best practice an easy, short-term step that has a long-lasting impact.

Domain authority is just one of many factors to research, improve and contemplate in your SEO journey. It’s not the be-all-and-end-all of your website’s credibility, but it provides solid context for how strong your digital presence is in comparison to your competitors.

As you make efforts to improve your score, you’ll naturally boost your site’s SEO in tandem. Keeping tabs on your domain authority score can serve as a barometer for how relevant and helpful your website is to readers and your target audience. Consider it an essential data point in your overall marketing strategy.

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