Domain authority has become one of the most widely used metrics for gauging a website’s value and credibility for SEO. But what exactly does domain authority measure and why does it matter?
What is Domain Authority?
Domain authority is a score between 1 and 100 that predicts how well a domain will rank in search engine results pages (SERPs). The higher the score, the better chances the site has of ranking highly and driving organic traffic.
Domain authority is calculated by Moz and other SEO tools based on a variety of factors, including:
- The quantity and quality of backlinks pointing to the domain
- The age of the domain
- Overall website traffic and engagement
- Trust and authority of sites linking to the domain
A site’s domain authority rises when it earns backlinks from authoritative, high-quality websites. Having a diverse link profile across many sites is better than a few links from the same domain.
Why Domain Authority Matters for SEO
Google wants to rank websites users find valuable and trustworthy. A high domain authority signals to Google that a site is respected and established.
Websites with higher domain authority tend to enjoy better organic rankings, greater click-through rates, lower bounce rates, and more qualified visits. Investing in improving domain authority leads to higher conversion rates in addition to more organic traffic.
Key benefits include:
- Improved rankings for keywords across the entire website
- Greater visibility in search results
- Higher click-through rates from SERPs
- Increased organic site visits and lower bounce rates
- Greater ability to rank for competitive keywords
- Faster indexing and crawl prioritization by search engines
- More referral traffic from other authoritative sites
Improve Your Domain Authority
Here are some proven strategies for improving domain authority:
- Produce high-quality, in-depth content that earns backlinks naturally
- Get featured as a guest author on authoritative sites in your niche
- Build relationships with influencers to earn high-value backlinks
- Improve technical SEO factors like site speed and mobile optimization
- Acquire backlinks from reputable directories and aggregation sites
- Refresh old content and promote it to earn new links
- Claim and optimize online profiles, social media accounts, and local listings
- Produce assets like infographics, tools, and datasets that get links
- Publish on high-authority sites and promote that content
The higher your domain authority, the greater your chances of ranking high both now and in the future. Earning authority-passing links to your site needs to be an ongoing focus of your SEO strategy.