SEO

What Is Domain Authority?

Definition

A score (typically 0–100) developed by SEO tools that predicts how well a website will rank in search engine results, based on link profile and other factors.

Why It Matters

Domain Authority is a useful benchmark for assessing your site's overall SEO strength relative to competitors. A higher DA generally gives your pages a stronger baseline chance of ranking — and competitors with much higher DA are a signal that link building should be a priority.

How It Works

Moz developed Domain Authority; Ahrefs uses Domain Rating and SEMrush uses Authority Score — each is calculated differently but all weight the quality and quantity of inbound links heavily. The scale is logarithmic, meaning going from 20 to 30 is considerably easier than going from 70 to 80. A single high-authority backlink can meaningfully move a low-DA site.

Real-World Example

A competitor with DA 55 consistently outranks your DA 28 site for the same keywords — not because their content is better, but because search engines trust their domain more. Earning quality backlinks steadily can close this gap over 12–18 months.

Quick Facts

Domain Authority is a third-party metric — Google does not use it directly in their algorithm
A new website starts at DA 1; established brands like Amazon and Wikipedia score 95+
DA fluctuates as the wider web changes — a small drop does not always indicate a problem
Focus on your DA relative to direct competitors, not the absolute number