---
title: "Domain Authority"
description: "A third-party score (0–100) developed by Moz that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search engine results pages based on its backlink profile."
url: "https://skribra.com/glossary/domain-authority"
type: "glossary-term"
category: "SEO Fundamentals"
updated: "2026-06-08"
---

# Domain Authority

**Definition.** A third-party score (0–100) developed by Moz that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search engine results pages based on its backlink profile.

**In short.** Domain Authority (DA) is Moz's 0–100 score estimating your site's ranking potential. It's not a Google metric, but it correlates well with actual rankings and is widely used to benchmark SEO progress.

## Key points

- Domain Authority is a Moz metric, not an official Google ranking factor — Google uses its own internal signals
- DA is calculated primarily from the quality and quantity of inbound backlinks to the root domain
- The scale is logarithmic: moving from 20 to 30 is easier than moving from 70 to 80
- Similar metrics include Ahrefs' Domain Rating (DR) and Semrush's Authority Score — all measure backlink strength differently

## How Domain Authority Is Calculated

Moz calculates Domain Authority using machine learning against Google's actual [search results](https://skribra.com/glossary/serp)[1]. The primary inputs are the number of unique root domains linking to your site, the authority of those linking domains, and the overall quality of your [Backlink](https://skribra.com/glossary/backlink) profile. Moz updates DA scores regularly as its link index refreshes. A new website starts at DA 1, and scores increase as the site earns more high-quality inbound links over time.

## How to Use DA in Practice

Domain Authority is most useful as a relative benchmark, not an absolute target. When evaluating link building opportunities, compare your DA to potential link sources — earning a [Backlink](https://skribra.com/glossary/backlink) from a DA 70+ site carries more weight than one from a DA 15 site[1]. Similarly, when entering a new [keyword niche](https://skribra.com/glossary/keyword-intent), check the DA of the top-ranking competitors: if they're all DA 80+ and you're at DA 20, you'll need significant content and link building investment to compete. Track your own DA trend over months to measure link building momentum.

## Domain Authority vs. Page Authority

Domain Authority measures the strength of the entire root domain (skribra.com), while Page Authority (PA) measures the ranking potential of a specific URL (skribra.com/blog/seo-tips)[1]. Both use the same 0–100 scale and similar methodology. For competitive analysis, DA helps you evaluate the overall site; for specific [keyword battles](https://skribra.com/glossary/keyword-difficulty), PA helps you compare the exact pages competing in the [SERP](https://skribra.com/glossary/serp).

## Related terms

- [Backlink](https://skribra.com/glossary/backlink): A hyperlink from one website pointing to a page on another website, used by search engines as a signal of authority and trust.
- [SERP](https://skribra.com/glossary/serp): The page Google or another search engine displays in response to a user's query, containing organic results, paid ads, and rich features like featured snippets, image packs, and knowledge panels.
- [Organic Traffic](https://skribra.com/glossary/organic-traffic): Website visitors who arrive through unpaid search engine results, as opposed to paid ads, social media, direct visits, or referral links.
- [Keyword Difficulty](https://skribra.com/glossary/keyword-difficulty): A score (typically 0–100) that estimates how hard it would be to rank on the first page of Google for a given keyword, based primarily on the authority of pages currently ranking.

## Sources

1. [Moz — What Is Domain Authority?](https://moz.com/learn/seo/domain-authority)
2. [Ahrefs — Domain Rating: What It Is and How to Improve It](https://ahrefs.com/blog/domain-rating/)

## Machine-readable index

- HTML version of this page: https://skribra.com/glossary/domain-authority
- Site index for agents: https://skribra.com/llms.txt
- Sitemap: https://skribra.com/sitemap.xml
- Public REST API: https://skribra.com/api/v1
- OpenAPI specification: https://skribra.com/openapi.json