Domain Authority is one of those SEO terms that often sparks curiosity, confusion, and debate.
I remember when I first started learning about SEO, I was obsessed with checking website’s DA score every week, wondering why it wasn’t climbing as fast as I wanted.
Over time, I realized that increasing domain authority isn’t about chasing a number; it’s about building a solid foundation for long-term search engine success.
And that is why, I’ve decided to create a guide about it.
In this guide, I’ll explain domain authority, why it matters, and the steps you can take to improve it.
So, whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to boost an existing website, I’m hoping these actionable strategies will help you naturally strengthen your domain authority.
Let’s start with a definition.
What is Domain Authority?
Domain Authority (DA) is a ranking score developed by Moz that predicts how well a website is likely to rank on search engines.
It ranges from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating a stronger ability to rank.
Think of DA like a website’s reputation score: the more authoritative and trustworthy your site is, the higher your DA will be.
But here’s an important note: Google doesn’t use DA as a ranking factor.
Instead, it’s a third-party metric that provides insight into how competitive your site is compared to others in your industry.
Why is Domain Authority Important?
So, even though DA isn’t a direct Google ranking factor, it correlates strongly with SEO success.
Here’s why it matters:
✅ Competitive Benchmarking: DA helps you compare your site’s authority against competitors. If your DA is significantly lower than top-ranking sites in your niche, you may need to improve your SEO efforts.
âś… Better Link Building Opportunities: Websites with high DA scores are more attractive for guest posting and backlink exchanges.
✅ Improved Search Visibility: While DA itself isn’t a ranking factor, the elements that increase DA, such as quality backlinks, content optimization, and technical SEO, are crucial for ranking higher on Google.
Domain Authority vs. Page Authority
While domain authority (DA) measures the overall authority of an entire website, page authority (PA) focuses on individual pages.
For example, if you have a high DA website, your domain is generally strong and has a good backlink profile.
However, if an individual page has low PA, it might mean that a specific page lacks optimization, backlinks, or engagement.
A high DA can help boost the rankings of new pages on your site, but optimizing each page is still essential for long-term SEO success.
4 Factors That Influence Domain Authority
Now that you understand what domain authority is, let’s look at the 4 factors that influence it the most:
1. Quality and Diversity of Backlinks
Not all backlinks are created equal.
A single backlink from a high-authority website (like Forbes or HubSpot) is far more valuable than dozens from low-quality sites.
So, this is how you can improve the quality and the diversity of the backlinks you secure:
- Focus on earning links from reputable, industry-related websites.
- Avoid spammy, low-quality backlinks that can hurt your DA.
2. Website Structure and User Experience
A poorly structured website with slow loading times, broken links, or confusing navigation will struggle to build authority.
So, here’s how to improve your website’s structure:
- Fix any broken links or redirects to improve crawlability.
- Ensure fast page speeds by compressing images and using caching.
- Use SEOBoost’s Content Optimization tool to improve on-page structure.
3. Content Quality and Consistency
Google rewards high-quality, in-depth content that provides value to users and follows the EEAT guidelines.

That’s because the better your content, the more backlinks and engagement you’ll attract.
So, to improve your content quality and follow the EEAT guidelines, consistently publish authoritative and well-researched content.
4. Social Signals and Online Presence
While social signals (likes, shares, comments) don’t directly impact DA, they increase visibility and drive traffic, which indirectly helps boost rankings.
So, here are 2 things you can do to improve them:
- Share content regularly on platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
- Engage with your audience through comments, discussions, and social shares.
How to Improve Your Domain Authority in 5 Steps
Before we proceed with the step-by-step guide, remember that increasing your domain authority isn’t about quick wins.
It’s about building long-term credibility and trust with search engines.
After years of working in SEO, I’ve seen firsthand that a solid DA comes from consistent effort in backlink strategy, content quality, and technical SEO improvements.
Here’s the step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Conduct a Backlink Audit
Backlinks are one of the strongest indicators of a website’s authority.
However, not all backlinks help because some can harm your DA if they come from low-quality, spammy websites.
Here’s how you can conduct a backlink audit:
- Use Ahrefs or Moz to analyze your backlink profile and identify toxic links.
- Disavow spammy backlinks using Google’s Disavow Tool to prevent search penalties.
- Focus on acquiring high-quality backlinks from relevant, authoritative sites in your industry.
- Check for broken backlinks and reclaim lost link equity by using AIOSEO’s broken link checker.
Step 2: Focus on High-Quality Content Creation
Great content is the foundation of strong SEO strategy.
No matter how many technical optimizations you do, if your content isn’t useful, engaging, and well-structured, your DA won’t improve.
I’ve noticed that some of my biggest content wins come from refreshing outdated blog posts with better data, visuals, and insights.
Here’s how you can improve your content quality:
- Use SEOBoost’s Content Optimization Tool to refine keyword placement, enhance readability, and improve engagement.
- Write long-form, value-driven content that fully answers user intent and outperforms competitors.
- Update older content regularly to refresh statistics, remove outdated references, and improve search rankings.
- Use data and expert insights to make content more credible and link-worthy.
Use SEOBoost’s Topic Reports to find trending, high-volume keywords that fit within your content strategy.
Step 3: Build Relationships for Link Building
In my experience, the best backlinks have almost always come from strong relationships and not just cold outreach.
Instead of spamming 100 websites with a generic link request, I’ve had more success building connections through genuine collaborations.
So, here’s how you can earn high-quality backlinks:
- Guest blog on industry websites with high DA. Offer valuable insights that genuinely help their audience.
- Engage with influencers and experts on Twitter, LinkedIn, and industry forums to create natural link opportunities.
- Submit to expert roundups and interviews. HARO (Help A Reporter Out) is an amazing way to get featured on top-tier publications.
- Create linkable assets like in-depth guides, infographics, or research reports that naturally attract backlinks.
Step 4: Optimize On-Page SEO
On-page SEO might seem basic, but getting it right across your site significantly impacts DA.

In fact, Google uses page-level optimizations to determine topic relevance, content quality, and internal site structure.
Here’s how to improve your on-page SEO score:
- Use AIOSEO to optimize meta titles and meta descriptions and add proper header tags.
- Improve internal linking using AIOSEO’s link assistant tool.
- Optimize your content for on-page elements using SEOBoost’s content optimization feature and checklists.
- Optimize your images for SEO by compressing images for faster load times and adding proper alt tags.
Check your Google Search Console for indexing errors and fix duplicate or missing meta tags.
Step 5: Improve Technical SEO
Even the best content and backlinks won’t help if your website has technical SEO issues.
I’ve worked on sites that struggled to rank not because of poor content but because they weren’t crawlable, had slow load times, or had security issues.

So, here’s what you can do to improve your technical SEO:
- Ensure fast-loading pages by using compressed images, enabling browser caching, and using a CDN (Content Delivery Network).
- Implement HTTPS for secure browsing (SSL certificates).
- Fix broken links and redirects.
- Optimize mobile-friendliness and device-friendliness for your site.
- Submit an updated sitemap to Google Search Console to help search engines crawl new pages faster.
3 Misconceptions About Domain Authority
Understanding domain authority is essential, but many misunderstand its role in SEO.
After working on multiple SEO projects, I’ve seen several common misconceptions about DA that can mislead businesses and marketers.
So, let’s bust the 3 most common myths about domain authority:
DA is a Google Ranking Factor
One of the biggest misconceptions is that Google uses DA as a direct ranking factor – it doesn’t.
Here’s the truth:
- Domain Authority is a third-party metric developed by Moz, not Google.
- Google doesn’t consider DA when ranking websites. It focuses on its ranking signals like backlinks, content quality, and user experience.
- A high DA doesn’t guarantee top rankings if other SEO fundamentals (technical SEO, content, and UX) aren’t in place.
DA is More Important Than Other SEO Metrics
Many SEO professionals and business owners fixate on domain authority scores, thinking a higher DA automatically means better rankings and traffic.
But DA alone is not enough.
In fact, DA is just one piece of the puzzle as it gives a general idea of a site’s backlink profile strength but doesn’t tell the full SEO story.
Organic traffic, keyword rankings, conversions, and engagement rates are far more important than DA when measuring SEO success.
Honestly, I’ve seen low DA sites (under 30) rank higher than competitors with DA scores of 60+ simply because they had more relevant, high-quality content that matched search intent better.
You Can Compare DA Across Different Niches
Comparing domain authority across different industries is like comparing apples and oranges.
A DA of 30 in a niche market might be excellent, while it could be considered weak in competitive fields like finance or tech.
Remember, DA benchmarks vary by industry.
Some industries naturally have higher DA websites due to more backlinks and competition.
So, instead of comparing your DA to every website, compare it to direct competitors in your niche.
A steady increase in domain authority over time is a better success indicator than trying to match big brands with massive link-building budgets.
3 Tools to Measure and Track Domain Authority
When all is said and done, tracking domain authority is crucial for monitoring your website’s SEO progress.
Here are the 3 tools I use to measure and track domain authority:
1. Moz DA Checker – The Original Domain Authority Metric
Moz created domain authority as a way to predict how well a website might rank in search engines based on its backlink profile.
I use Moz’s DA Checker when I need a high-level view of a website’s authority. It’s a great starting point for link-building strategies and competitor analysis.
Here are the key features of its tool:
- Measures DA on a scale of 1-100, based on link quality, quantity, and domain reputation.
- Provides Spam Score analysis to identify potentially harmful backlinks.
- Offers a Link Explorer tool to analyze competitors’ backlinks and find linking opportunities.
- Tracks DA fluctuations over time, helping you see if your SEO efforts are working.
2. Ahrefs Website Authority Checker
Ahrefs’ website checker is another popular domain authority metric that focuses heavily on backlink quality and strength.
I think Ahrefs’ DR metric is more backlink-focused than Moz’s DA. I use it to analyze competitors’ strongest backlinks and identify high-authority domains for outreach opportunities.
Here are the key features of this tool:
- Evaluate a website’s backlink profile on a scale of 0-100 based on referring domains and link equity.
- Provides detailed backlink insights, showing new, lost, and broken links.
- Helps find high-quality backlink opportunities by analyzing competitor DR scores.
- Offers a traffic prediction feature, estimating how much organic traffic a domain might receive.
3. SEMrush Authority Score
SEMrush’s Authority Checker is a comprehensive website authority metric that evaluates multiple SEO factors, not just backlinks.
SEMrush’s Authority Score gives a broader view of a site’s overall SEO health, making it ideal for assessing long-term growth and ranking potential.
Here are its key features:
- Analyzes backlink strength, organic traffic, and domain trustworthiness in one score.
- Uses traffic data, website health, and referring domain quality to calculate authority.
- Helps compare competitor sites side-by-side, showing why they rank higher or lower.
Detects toxic backlinks that could harm your domain’s authority.
Final Word
Increasing domain authority isn’t about quick fixes but a long-term SEO strategy.
By focusing on quality content, backlinks, and technical SEO, you’ll build a strong foundation for ranking success.
And if you’re serious about improving your DA for long-term growth, this is where SEOBoost can also help.
With SEOBoost, you can take your SEO strategy to the next level with AI-powered optimization tools, backlink audits, and keyword insights.
FAQs
1. What is Domain Authority?
Domain Authority is a Moz metric that predicts how well a website will rank on search engines.
2. Is a DA of 30 good?
It depends on your niche. 30 is low in competitive industries, but it may be strong in small niches.
3. How do I increase my DA?
Focus on high-quality content, earning backlinks, and optimizing SEO performance.