What is Domain Authority (DA)? How to Increase It (Complete Guide)
What is Domain Authority (DA)?
Domain Authority (DA) is a scoring metric developed by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank in search engines on a scale of 0-100. The higher the DA, the greater the site's competitive power in organic search. Important note: DA is not an official Google ranking factor — but it's a widely used benchmarking tool in the SEO industry.
How is Domain Authority Calculated?
Moz evaluates over 40 factors when calculating DA score. Key factors include:
- Backlink Profile: Quality links from unique (different) domains are the biggest factor.
- Link Quality: Links from high-DA sites are far more valuable than those from low-DA sites.
- Content Quality: Comprehensive content with E-E-A-T signals indirectly boosts DA.
How to Increase Domain Authority
1. Earn Quality Backlinks
Earning natural, relevant backlinks from high-authority sites is the most effective way to increase DA. See our backlink strategies article for details.
2. Clean Up Toxic Links
Use Google's Disavow tool to get rid of spam backlinks. Toxic links lower DA score.
FAQ
What is a good DA score?
DA 40-50: Average, DA 50-60: Good, DA 60+: Very good, DA 80+: Elite (Wikipedia, BBC, etc.). New sites typically start at DA 10-20.