What is Domain Authority & How to Improve It?

If you’re trying to improve your website’s rankings on Google, you’ve probably come across the term Domain Authority (DA). But what exactly is it, and how can you increase it?

In this guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about Domain Authority — what it is, how it’s calculated, and actionable steps to improve it.

💡 What is Domain Authority?

Domain Authority (DA) is a search engine ranking score developed by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank on search engine result pages (SERPs).

DA is measured on a scale from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating a greater ability to rank.

For example:

• A brand-new website might have a DA of 1–10.
• A well-established site with strong backlink profiles can have a DA of 60+.

⚠️ Important Note: Domain Authority is not a Google metric. It’s a third-party score used by SEO professionals to estimate a domain’s strength compared to others.

📊 How is Domain Authority Calculated?

Moz uses multiple factors to calculate DA, including:

• Total number of backlinks
• Quality of linking domains
• Linking root domains
• Spam score
• Site structure and performance

The DA algorithm uses machine learning to predict a site’s ranking ability based on how it performs against other websites.

👉 A DA of 30 doesn’t mean you’ll rank on page 3 of Google. It just means your site has moderate authority compared to others.

✅ Why Domain Authority Matters

Even though DA isn’t a direct ranking factor, it correlates strongly with better rankings in search engines. Here’s why improving DA can help you:

• Better SERP visibility
• Increased organic traffic
• More trust from users and search engines
• Higher backlink potential from other websites
• Easier to rank new content

📈 How to Check Your Domain Authority

You can check your DA using tools like:

• Moz Link Explorer
• Ahrefs (uses Domain Rating – similar to DA)
• SEMrush (uses Authority Score)
• Ubersuggest
• SERanking

Just enter your domain URL and view the DA score along with backlink data.

🛠️ How to Improve Domain Authority

Improving DA takes time and consistent effort. Here’s a step-by-step strategy:

1. 🔗 Build High-Quality Backlinks

Backlinks are the most important factor for increasing Domain Authority.

How to Get Quality Backlinks:

• Guest Posting: Write for reputable blogs in your niche.
• Resource Link Building: Create valuable tools or guides others will link to.
• Skyscraper Technique: Improve popular content and ask those linking to the original to link to yours.
• HARO (Help a Reporter Out): Answer journalist questions to earn backlinks from top sites.
• Broken Link Building: Find broken links on other sites and offer your content as a replacement.

📌 Focus on quality over quantity — one link from a DA 70+ site is better than 100 links from DA 10 sites.

2. 🧠 Create Link-Worthy Content

The best way to earn backlinks naturally is by creating content people want to share and reference.

What Works Best:

• Ultimate Guides
• Original Research / Case Studies
• Infographics
• Video Tutorials
• Tools or Calculators

💡 Use internal linking to strengthen the authority flow from your top pages to lower DA pages.

3. 📱 Be Active on Social Media

While social signals aren’t a direct ranking factor, social sharing can amplify your content, helping it gain visibility and backlinks.

• Share content regularly on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook
• Join industry-related communities
• Collaborate with micro-influencers to boost reach

4. 🌐 Improve Technical SEO

A technically sound website helps search engines crawl, index, and understand your site — indirectly helping improve DA.

Key areas to improve:

• Mobile-friendliness
• Site speed (Core Web Vitals)
• HTTPS (SSL certificate)
• Proper sitemap.xml and robots.txt setup
• Avoid crawl errors and broken links

🔧 Tools like Google Search Console and Screaming Frog help identify issues.

5. 🧩 Earn Brand Mentions

Even if you don’t get a backlink, brand mentions on other websites show Google that your site is being talked about.

• Appear on podcasts
• Give interviews
• Host webinars
• Publish thought leadership content

6. 🧼 Remove Toxic Backlinks

Low-quality or spammy backlinks can hurt your DA and SEO performance.

How to Remove Them:

• Use Moz or Ahrefs to find spammy links
• Reach out to webmasters to request removal
• Use Google’s Disavow Tool (carefully) to tell Google to ignore those links

7. 🧭 Get Listed in Authoritative Directories

Especially helpful for local businesses.

List your site on:

• Google Business Profile
• Yelp
• Crunchbase
• JustDial
• Industry-specific directories

Ensure your NAP (Name, Address, Phone) details are consistent across the web.

8. 🕵️ Analyze Competitors

See how your competitors built their domain authority.

Use tools like:

• Ahrefs Site Explorer
• Moz Link Explorer
• SEMRush Backlink Analytics

Study their:

• Top backlink sources
• Content types that got them links
• Guest post targets

Then replicate and improve upon their strategies.

🧮 How Long Does It Take to Increase Domain Authority?

Increasing your Domain Authority isn’t an overnight process. It can take:

• 3 to 6 months to move from DA 10 to 20
• 6 to 12 months to reach DA 30+
• 1+ year to reach DA 50 and beyond (with strong strategy)

Stay consistent, and focus on building a strong, trustworthy brand.

🧰 Best Tools to Track & Improve Domain Authority

🧠 Final Thoughts

Domain Authority isn’t everything, but it’s a powerful indicator of how well your site might perform in search results.

📌 Focus on what truly matters:

• Earning high-quality backlinks
• Publishing value-driven content
• Optimizing your technical SEO
• Building real relationships and brand trust

By following these strategies consistently, your DA will naturally improve over time — along with your search engine rankings and traffic.