Domain Authority
A search engine ranking score developed by Moz that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search engine result pages, measured on a scale from 1 to 100.
What is Domain Authority?
Domain Authority (DA) is a metric created by Moz that estimates the overall ranking strength of an entire domain. It is calculated using a machine learning model that considers multiple factors, including the number and quality of backlinks pointing to the domain, the diversity of referring domains, and historical ranking performance. Scores range from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater ranking ability.
It is important to understand that Domain Authority is a third-party metric, not a Google ranking factor. Google does not use DA or any similar single score in its algorithm. However, DA is widely used in the SEO industry as a comparative tool to evaluate the relative strength of websites, benchmark competitive landscapes, and assess the quality of potential link building targets.
Similar metrics exist from other SEO tool providers -- Ahrefs has Domain Rating (DR), Semrush has Authority Score, and Majestic has Trust Flow. While each uses a different calculation methodology, they all attempt to estimate the same underlying concept: how authoritative and trustworthy a domain appears based on its backlink profile and other signals. These metrics are best used for relative comparison rather than as absolute measures of quality.