Want to get your website to the top of Google’s search results? An important factor is to increase domain authority. But you might wonder, what exactly is domain authority and how do you increase it?
Domain authority (DA) can be a bit confusing especially if you’re new to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In fact, Google doesn’t directly use this metric to rank your site. But it’s still a good factor in gauging how well your site can perform in search engines.
To boost your domain authority, you need to use certain strategies that not only make this number go up but also improve your overall SEO. In this article, we’ll explain everything you need to know about DA.
But first, let’s define what Domain Authority is.
What is Domain Authority?
Created by Moz, Domain Authority is a score used to estimate how well a website might perform on search engine results pages (SERPs).
You can think of it as a grade for your website, ranging from one to a hundred. The higher your score, the better your chances of ranking on the first page in Google searches.
But how is DA calculated?
Moz uses data from its Link Explorer web index and considers dozens of factors. Through a machine learning model, it finds the best algorithm that correlates link data with actual search rankings. This process ensures that DA is a reflection of real-world performance potential.
Domain Authority vs. Page Authority
Now, alongside Domain Authority, you might also come across the term Page Authority (PA).
The difference between the two is quite simple. While PA focuses on the likely success of a specific web page, DA gives you the big picture. Domain Authority assesses how well your entire website is likely to perform in SERPs.
Aside from gauging your site’s potential ranking strength against competitors, DA is also useful for monitoring the growth of your backlink profile over time.
Remember, though, that DA is a proprietary metric. It’s best used as a guide, not an absolute measure of success. There are even instances when a site’s DA is just in the 50s but it has outranked other websites with a higher DA.
So perhaps the lesson here is not to sweat too much in boosting your DA. There are a lot of factors that determine the search engine ranking of a website. But still, following the best practices to improve your DA will do you no harm.
The Importance of DA in SEO
Domain Authority is a reflection of your site’s backlink strength. Strong backlinks are important, as they act as endorsements from the web. They show that your content is valued and trusted.
Increasing your domain authority signals your commitment to building a robust online presence. An increased domain authority score indicates your website is growing in the right direction.
Increasing your ranks also comes with inherent benefits for your site, including:
- Enhanced Visibility: High DA scores push your website up in search engine rankings. This visibility leads to more clicks and significantly increased traffic.
- Credibility Boost: A high DA score marks your website as authoritative and trustworthy. It encourages other sites to link to your content, which further enhances your SEO.
- Attract High-Quality Traffic: Websites with high DA scores draw in users genuinely interested in what you offer. This can lead to better engagement and higher conversion rates.
- New Opportunities: Having a high DA attracts high-ticket advertisers and potential partners, opening up new revenue and growth avenues. It’s a gateway to better advertising deals and partnerships.
Overall, focusing on strategies to increase domain authority not only boosts your SEO performance but also lays a foundation for sustainable online growth and success.
Evaluating Domain Authority Scores
A while ago, we mentioned that DA is a score that ranges between 1 to 100. Now, let’s talk about what these scores mean.
If your website is relatively new, don’t expect it to have a high DA yet. New websites typically have a low DA, which ranges from 0 to 20. But don’t worry, as it’s generally easier to boost your DA score when it’s still on the lower end.
How about a score between 40 and 50? That’s average. But if your website hits between 50 and 60, give yourself a pat on the back because that’s considered good.
Achieving over 60 is outstanding. Yet, it’s crucial to consider the context. For example, the average DA in your industry or the DA of competitors’ pages ranking for similar keywords can give you better insight into where you stand.
For small business owners, a DA around 40, especially with SEO efforts in the mix, is impressive. It’s a different ball game for larger companies, though.
With more resources, the expectation is to aim higher, ideally over 60. Falling short of this benchmark might mean reassessing your strategies to better increase domain authority.
How Can I Know My Site’s Domain Authority?
If you’re looking to increase your website’s ranking and visibility on search engines, knowing your site’s domain authority (DA) is the first step. Here’s how you can check your site’s DA with ease and clarity.
Moz Domain Authority Checker Tool
Moz, the creator of DA, offers a tool that evaluates the quality of backlinks to your site and calculates its DA and page authority. This gives you a clear picture of where your site stands and areas where you can improve.
The checker tool allows checking the authority of individual pages, known as page authority. Aside from that, it also offers insights into the quality of backlinks and helps in identifying the strength of specific pages.
Ahrefs
Known for its detailed analysis, Ahrefs shows you the domain rating (similar to DA) and URL rating (similar to page authority).
It provides a detailed view of the backlinks and linking domains to your site. Overall, Ahrefs is great for analyzing backlink profiles and for finding link-building opportunities.
Majestic
This tool offers unique indexing capabilities that let you check the authority score of domains and analyze backlinks.
The tool’s key features include Historic Indexing which allows you to view backlink data up to five years old and Fresh Indexing which provides up-to-date backlink information.
SEMRush
A comprehensive tool for digital marketing analysis, SEMrush gives instant insights into any website’s DA by simply entering its URL.
In addition, this tool allows you to specify the location to view the website’s performance in specific regions. It’s useful for a broad analysis including site performance, keyword research, and competitor analysis.
Factors Influencing DA
Before we provide you with actionable tips to boost your Domain Authority (DA), let’s first talk about the important factors that influence it and how you can check them yourself.
Strong Link Profile
A big part of your DA is your link profile. This includes:
- How Many Inbound Links You Have: The more websites that link to you, especially if they’re trustworthy and respected, the better it looks for your site.
- The Quality of Those Links: Getting links from high-DA websites is much better than getting them from low-DA or spammy ones.
- Link Diversity: It’s better to have links from a bunch of different sites than many links from just one site.
Site Volume
How much content and how many pages you have also affect your DA. Search engines tend to see bigger sites with lots of good content as more trustworthy.
Content quality matters too. Make sure what you’re putting on your site is useful, interesting, and well-written. Good content tends to attract more links.
Furthermore, adding new content regularly can help your site grow and seem more authoritative.
Spam Score
Moz gives sites a Spam Score to guess how likely they are to be penalized by search engines. A high score can hurt your DA and rankings.
Too many bad links from spammy sites can raise your spam score. In addition, pages that are poorly written and don’t have much useful content can also increase your spam score.
Realistic Ways of Boosting Your DA
Boosting your site’s Domain Authority (DA) isn’t just about making small tweaks; it’s about a holistic strategy that improves your site’s overall health and visibility online.
Here are some effective strategies to increase domain authority, broken down into digestible steps:
1. Optimize Your Website Structure and User Experience
Fine-tuning your on-page SEO is essential to increase domain authority. This can significantly improve both user experience and search engine visibility. Here’s how to achieve that in an accessible and straightforward manner:
Optimize Page Titles and Meta Descriptions
Your first step should be to ensure every page on your site has a unique and compelling meta description. Avoid using duplicate descriptions across your site, as nearly 30% of websites do.
Use Proper Headings
Organize your content with correct headings (H1, H2, etc.) to make it easier for both readers and search engines to navigate your articles. This structure helps in understanding the hierarchy and importance of your content.
Optimize Images and Media
Enhancing the load speed and accessibility of your site includes optimizing all images and media. This is beneficial for user experience and can contribute to better search engine rankings.
Research and Utilize Keywords
Conduct keyword research to find the terms your audience is searching for. Then, integrate these keywords naturally into your content. This strategy helps in attracting the right audience to your site.
Create Internal Links
Linking your content internally guides visitors to more relevant information, improving their overall site experience. This practice also aids search engines in crawling your site more effectively.
Format Articles for Featured Snippets
Aim to structure your content in a way that increases the likelihood of appearing in Google’s featured snippets. This visibility can lead to more traffic and improved domain authority.
Keep Content Fresh
Regularly post new content and update older articles to keep your site active and relevant. An updated website signals to search engines that you are providing ongoing value to your audience, which can help increase domain authority.
2. Address Technical SEO Issues
Technical SEO focuses on things that help search engines find, understand, and index your content easily. Here are some of the most important issues that you need to address in this part of SEO.
Google Search Console
First, you need to register your site with Google Search Console. This is your starting point for a healthy website, as it allows Google to communicate directly with you about any issues.
While you’re at it, consider registering with Bing Webmaster tools as well. This covers all your bases, making sure your site is recognized and indexed properly across major search engines.
XML Sitemaps
Next up, generating and submitting an XML sitemap is crucial. This map guides search engines through your site, showing all the places they should visit and index. There are plenty of tools and plugins available to create one, especially if your site is on WordPress.
Don’t let your content go unnoticed because search engines can’t easily determine its key information without an XML sitemap.
Robots.txt File
Don’t forget to check your robots.txt file. A robots.txt file is a simple text file that tells search engines which parts of a website they can and can’t look at. Think of it as a guide or a set of instructions you give to search engines when they visit your site.
The main reason to use a robots.txt file is to prevent search engines from accessing parts of your site that are not useful to them or that you want to keep private.
However, it’s important to use it carefully. If not used correctly, you might accidentally tell search engines to ignore important content, which could affect how well your site shows up in search results.
HTTPS
Securing your website with HTTPS is no longer optional; it’s a must. This security measure not only protects your visitors but also boosts your site’s credibility in the eyes of search engines.
Luckily, getting an SSL certificate has become easier and often free. There’s no excuse for not securing your site.
Structured Data
Structured data, or schema, is a way to organize and label your content so that search engines can understand it better and more easily.
This helps them display your content in more attractive and informative ways in search results, like showing recipe ingredients directly in the search results for a cooking site.
This can lead to what’s called rich snippets, which are enhanced search results. For example, if you have a website that reviews movies, structured data can help show ratings, release dates, and actor names directly in the search results.
While it might sound technical, there are plugins that can simplify this process, especially for WordPress users.
3. Acquiring High-Quality Backlinks
To increase domain authority, getting high-quality backlinks is a must.
Think of each backlink as a vote of confidence from another site, vouching for your content’s value. The better the website links back to you, the more impactful that endorsement is. But how do you earn them?
Start by exploring the top referral sources for your site. These are the websites already linking to you, showing they find your content valuable. By analyzing these sources, you can understand what kind of content resonates with them.
This insight allows you to tailor future content to attract more of these valuable backlinks. Tools like Google Analytics make this step straightforward and offer a clear view of who’s sending traffic your way.
Another effective strategy is to claim unlinked mentions. Often, your brand or content is mentioned on other websites without a link back to your site. These mentions are golden opportunities waiting to be converted into backlinks.
Set up alerts using tools like Google Alert, BuzzSumo, or Mention. This way, whenever your brand is mentioned, you’re in the loop. Reaching out to these sites to request a link back is a simple yet effective approach.
4. Create Top-notch Content
Perhaps one of the most important rules to increase domain authority is simple — Offer valuable insights first through high-quality content.
When your content is seen as reliable and trustworthy, it naturally draws in backlinks.
Valuable content usually comes from unique ideas, your own research, or data you’ve collected. This special content offers something new that can’t be found elsewhere.
So, trustworthy websites, like schools and government sites, might link to your work. This not only reaches more people but also makes your website more authoritative.
If you’re trying to decide what new content to make, the first step is to look at what’s already working well on your website. What pages get the most visits? What keeps people interested?
Use what you learn from looking at your website’s data to help decide what to create next. This guarantees you’re making content that your audience will like, making your efforts more effective.
5. Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly
Mobile devices likely account for around 60% of your website traffic. Ignoring this trend can be a potential setback for your site’s visibility and ranking. Google, with its ever-evolving algorithms, places considerable emphasis on the mobile-friendliness of a website.
A lack of a responsive or mobile-optimized site version can negatively impact your domain authority. Here are some of the factors you must consider to optimize your website for mobile users.
Responsiveness
At the center of a mobile-friendly website is its responsiveness. Responsiveness here refers to a website’s ability to adapt its layout to various screen sizes, ensuring an optimal viewing experience across devices.
A responsive design is crucial, as it not only affects usability but also contributes to faster page loading times, another factor Google considers in its ranking algorithm.
Mobile Buttons and Menus
When designing for mobile, the usability of buttons and menus cannot be overlooked. On a desktop, closely placed buttons pose no issue, but on a mobile screen, they can become a navigational nightmare.
With this, ensuring buttons and links are adequately sized and spaced is essential for a seamless mobile user experience. It’s about making every interaction on your site as effortless as possible, regardless of the device used to access it.
6. Checking and Monitoring DA
Using tools like Moz, Ahrefs, or SEMrush, you can easily track your DA. Regularly looking at this number and making improvements is important for boosting your domain authority.
But how often should you check your DA? Definitely not every day! In general, doing it at least once a month is a good habit.
If you’re focused on SEO tasks, like building backlinks or improving your content, you might want to check your DA every two weeks. This lets you quickly see how your recent work is affecting your score.
Remember, boosting your DA is not an overnight success. Being patient and consistent with your SEO work is key to getting better over time.
If you suddenly see a big change in how much traffic your site gets or how many sales you’re making, it’s a good idea to check your DA. This can show you if changes in how authoritative your site is are affecting your results.
Fixing any problems quickly can help you avoid bigger issues later on.
Also, when new competitors show up, it’s a good reason to keep an eye on your DA. Knowing where you stand compared to others in your field can give you useful ideas. This knowledge can help you improve your online marketing.
FAQs About Increasing Domain Authority
The short answer is no. Increasing your DA is a long-term process, and quick fixes are usually not sustainable. For starters, focus on consistent quality content creation and building high-quality backlinks.
Moz updates DA scores periodically, roughly every month, reflecting changes in your site’s backlink profile and other factors.
While paid links can temporarily increase your DA, they are against Google’s guidelines and can result in penalties. Overall, it can negatively affect your site’s ranking.
Yes, changing your domain name resets your DA since it’s essentially a new site. You’ll need to redirect old backlinks to maintain some of the authority.
A good DA score varies by industry, but generally, a score above 50 is considered good. This score indicates a strong likelihood to rank well in SERPs.
Yes, DA can decrease if you lose backlinks, if higher-quality sites enter your niche, or if Moz adjusts its scoring algorithm.
Website speed indirectly impacts DA by affecting user experience and engagement, which can influence backlink quality and quantity.
Yes, small websites can achieve a high DA by focusing on niche authority, building a strong backlink profile, and offering unique, valuable content.
Use tools like Moz’s Link Explorer to compare your DA with competitors. This can help identify areas for improvement and competitive advantages.
Wrapping Up
Domain Authority is crucial for doing well in SEO. A high DA means your website is seen as credible and reliable, making it more visible in Google Search.
As mentioned above, improving your website’s DA includes making great content, getting strong backlinks, and making sure your site is easy to use. Together with other factors, all these parts work together to make your site’s authority and search ranking better.
It’s important to know that DA isn’t just a short-term goal. This process needs you to keep learning, adjusting, and improving. No matter if you’re just starting or trying to boost an already good DA, the effort to get better never stops.
But at the end of the day, a domain authority score is only one of the metrics that can affect your overall SEO results. You may have a relatively low DA, but if your site is already ranking really well on your niche and target keywords, then you’re good to go.
If this is the case, then there’s no need to focus too much on improving it for now.