Google uses more than 200 ranking factors in its algorithm. While it has revealed a few, it keeps others shrouded in mystery—and although there’s no way you can completely manipulate your website rankings, there’s a tool that will help measure how likely your website is to rank. Introducing Domain Authority.
If you are an SEO specialist some five or more years ago, you haven’t probably heard of Domain Authority (DA) until the past few years—and it’s because before there was DA, there is the Google PageRank (Google PR) which served as one of the most valuable metrics of quality and success in search performance.
Eventually, Google began to deprecate PR, making it less valuable in SEO until it finally stopped updating the tool. It’s then when DA came to replace it, as created, introduced, and maintained by Moz.
From an in-depth definition of Domain Authority to the ways on how you can improve it, we are discussing in this article everything you need to know about DA.
What is Domain Authority?
Domain Authority is a search engine ranking score developed by Moz that predicts how well a website will perform in search engine result pages (SERPs). It’s based on a logarithmic score of 0 to 100, with higher scores suggesting a higher possibility to rank.
The DA is calculated based on multiple factors such as but not limited to:
- Trust
- Social signals
- Linking root domains
- Total backlink profile quality
- User experience
- Website structure
- Technical SEO
- Site loading time
- Domain age
- Search engine friendliness
What is Domain Authority For?
While the DA is not a Google ranking factor and has no effect on the SERPs, you can use it to compare with other websites and track the ranking strength of your website over time. You can check your DA by using the following Moz tools and features:
- MozBar – a free Chrome extension
- Link Explorer – a backlink analysis tool; and
- Keyword Explorer – found in the SERP Analysis Section
Domain Authority and Page Authority
MozBar will measure the DA of the site you are browsing, along with the Page Authority (PA) of the specific URL. Whereas the DA measures the ranking strength of the domains or subdomains, the PA measures the strength of individual pages.
How the Domain Authority 2.0 Update Will Affect Your Website
Early in March, Moz has rolled out the new version of its DA metrics, which is designed to provide a more accurate predictive ranking score for your domain. The updated metrics include new factors that will affect the measurement of your site resistance.
While the previous DA algorithm calculates the domain score based on the number of backlinks, it now uses the quality of backlinks as a basis. Before such an update, many websites create backlinks on low-quality websites so they can easily boost their DA score. But, now that there’s the DA 2.0, how should you influence your DA?
Techniques for Boosting Your Domain Authority
Audit Link Profile
Google prefers high-quality backlinks to your website, which should consist of links from a wide variety of high-authority sites. The search engine considers this as an attribute of a trustworthy site. The Link Explorer as and the SEMrush Backlink Checker are some of the free SEO tools that will help you measure the health of your link profile.
There are at least three ways to boost your link profile:
- Build Quality Links – Create backlinks on websites that are relevant to your niche. For instance, if you’re running a lifestyle blog, make sure to have a good amount of backlinks from websites of the same niche.
- Disavow Spammy Links – Spammy links are links that come from low-quality websites that increase your spam score. By disavowing them using the Google Webmaster Tool, you can help strengthen your link profile.
- Balance No-Follow & Do-Follow Backlinks – Keep a balanced ratio between no-follow and do-follow backlinks. While essential, no-follow links only help you establish authority and drive traffic to your website.
Create Quality Content
Another way to build a strong link profile is through natural link building. It happens when other sites link to yours just because they find your content informative and/or engaging and decides to link to it. For this to happen, you have to, of course, create high-quality content, that others will want to link to as a reference or merely to share others.
There are some factors that increase your chances of creating linkable content:
- Long-Form Content – Well-written, in-depth posts are more likely to be used as references which others may share for informational value.
- Images – Adding images in your posts offers a visual interest to your readers. Optimising them by adding alt text and compressing them will guarantee it’s accessible and will not slow down your website.
- Call to Action (CTA) – An engaging CTA can draw readers into your content and drive them to interact more with your site either by commenting, making a purchase, or subscribing to your email list.
- On-Page SEO – In addition to these, don’t forget to factor in the value of on-page SEO and your white hat SEO efforts, overall.
To conclude, make sure to promote your brand through social media, press releases and blogger outreach. While these efforts will not directly impact your rankings or DA, it will open up opportunities for link building and reaching out to a wider audience.
There’s no way you can take control over your DA in the short-term. Nevertheless, by constantly monitoring your link profile’s health, creating engaging content, and earning high-quality backlinks, your DA is bound to improve and boost your rankings in the long-term.
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