There are multiple times when a client walks up to a digital marketing agency and asks them to develop incredible SEO techniques and content strategies that will rank them ‘No. 1’ on the Google’s Search Engine Result Page (SERP). Sometimes, it becomes hard to explain to a client that even with the best website, content, and SEO techniques, their website won’t be in the top-ranking spot. “But why?” you may ask.
Simply put, a new website with limited to no backlinks or history, usually has low Domain Authority (DA). This makes it hard for the relatively new website to compete with the older ones with high DA, trusted, and established websites. Now, you might wonder, “What is this Domain Authority? Does it matter, and how can my website get a high DA?”. Let’s see through each of these questions in detail.
What is a Domain Authority (DA), and How DA is Calculated?
DA is a search engine ranking score developed by Moz to calculate a website’s credibility, strength, and potential. DA score ranges from 1 to 100, with a higher score having more chances of ranking on SERP pages. Following are the score meters:
| DA Score | Remark |
| 01 to 30 | Poor |
| 30 to 40 | Below Average |
| 40 to 50 | Average |
| 50 to 60 | Good |
| 60 to 70 | Very Good |
| Above 80 | Excellent |
How do I check The Domain Authority for my website?
Various websites let you check DA for your website for free. They list your DA rating, no. of backlinks, linking root websites, ranking keywords, and spam score. Note that Domain Authority does not directly affect your website ranking, nor does Google use it in any way. Hence, it will vary with the type of website on which you are searching for your DA. Some common DA checkers are:
- Moz
- Ahrefs
- Website SEO Checker
- SEMrush
- We Outreach
- Reliablesoft
How Is Domain Authority Calculated By Moz or Similar Websites?
Moz uses more than 40 factors to calculate DA for your website. Some of them are:
- Backlinks
- Quality of links
- Content quality
- SEO performance
- Root domain
- Density of keywords
- Traffic
- User behavior
- Spam %
- Website interface
- Crawlability of your website
- Social media links, etc.
These factors and more are considered to give you a final score. According to Moz, it would be best to see the DA score as a comparative metric. You can compare your website DA with competitors’ websites to assess your performance.
You must know that DA is not a fixed score and can change depending on your link profile updates or if a high DA website suddenly has more growth. Note that getting a score from 30 to 50 is easier than going from 70 to 80.
Domain Authority vs Page Authority
| Domain Authority (DA) | Page Authority (PA) |
| It calculates the strength of the overall domain. | It calculates the rank of a single web page. |
| It accesses all pages of the website to figure out a score. | It only accesses links, content and backlinks on a specific page. |
| A website can have high DA but low PA. | A website can have high PA but still have a low ranking on search engines. |
How can I Increase Domain Authority Score for my Website?
1. Internal Links
What are Internal Links? Think of it as a tree-like structure of your website where all pages are linking to each other. It helps google crawlers to browse easily. It also improves user experience and keeps them engaged. The more engaged user is to your website, the higher dwell time your webpage will have. It will contribute to your overall ranking on SERP.
2. Site Speed & Page Speed
How fast does your website open if someone clicks on your link? Or how easily can a user go from one page to another without waiting for the load time? As you have guessed by now, time is a crucial factor here. When we say time, we mean in seconds.
A faster-loading website and web page will have more views and clicks, and will contribute to your ranking.
3. On-Page SEO
Anything you do with your website to improve its ranking is on-page SEO. So, how do I do it? Let’s see…
First, ensure your keywords are listed correctly in the URL, title, and sub-titles. However, avoid overstuffing words just for the sake of ranking.
Your page title must be catchy and encourage people to click on it. You can also use meta-description to enhance your title.
Visuals such as images, gif files, video links, etc., are highly beneficial as they help users understand your content easily. Do not forget to add ‘alt-text’ to optimize your images.
And lastly, you must add internal and external links to your web page.
4. Backlinks
Speaking of links, link building is one of the crucial factors in improving your DA. It is a sign that your content, research, and data are worth reading. That’s why others are mentioning you in their reference. It increases your authority and expertise on a topic.
A high-quality backlink means that a website with a high DA score mentions you for a particular infographic, image, or piece of content. You can use various backlink auditing tools for your help.
Lastly, remove any harmful backlinks from your website. For example, if a private blogger mentions you many times, it may be seen as a spam link, and you may get a penalty.
5. Technical SEO
It ensures that your content is optimized for search engines and user experience. Some typical technical SEO optimization are:
- Having a site map
- Mobile optimization
- Structured website
- Seamless UI/ UX design
- Included robot.txt file
- XML site map
- Keywords enriched tags, canonical tags, descriptive URL
- No duplicate contents
For your peace of mind, technical SEO is mostly a one-time work. You can either DIY or hire a professional online marketing team.
6. High Quality Content
Writing high-quality and original content can be a tremendous asset when building a domain authority. You can write fresh content to attract your customer base and give them valuable information. Also, you can create content by identifying the content gap on your competitor’s page.
Either you can create new content or find high-performing content through keyword research. High-quality content with thought research will always give you more clicks.
You can’t just sit around and wait for someone to notice how great and authentic your content is to get a backlink! So what can you do? Guest posting and outreach are faster ways to get backlinks. Guest posting allows you to get backlinks from sites with higher DA. It would be helpful to get three different links from three other websites rather than three links from just one.
7. Social Media Links
Now, even though Google does not mention it anywhere, if you look at the top-ranking pages, they all have a very engaging social media platform with a high amount of traffic, likes, and shares. You can link your social media profile to your website pages and vice-versa.
When a user visits your website, they will get a link to your social media platform and if someone is searching about your business niche on X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram, they will get a link to your website. Interlinking is a great way to increase your website traffic and DA.
To Summarize
Domain Authority can become tedious for many new sites when trying to establish themselves as a trustworthy brand in the market. However, you must know it’s not an overnight task for any website to rank 90+. They have walked through the path full of ups and downs to come to a place where they are.
Hence, you can use it positively to improve your website. For starters, try to see the score numbers relative to your competitor rather than looking at the score number itself. Suppose your top competitor, who has been in the industry for 5 years, has a DA of 55 and you, a newbie, have a DA of 40. That’s not a bad start. You can contact a reputable digital marketing firm for further assistance.
