Domain Authority is a score out of 100 that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search results. It is produced by Moz, calculated from that company’s own index of links across the web, and it is probably the most misunderstood number in SEO.
This guide covers what the score actually measures, what it does not, and what genuinely moves it, because most advice on raising it is aimed at the number rather than at the thing the number is estimating.
What Domain Authority actually measures
Moz crawls the web, builds a picture of which sites link to which, and turns that into a single score for each domain.
It is a prediction, not a measurement. The question it answers is roughly: based on this site’s link profile, how likely is it to outrank another site in a search result?
The scale is not linear. Moving from 20 to 30 is far easier than moving from 60 to 70, because the score is designed so that the top of the range stays reserved for the small number of genuinely dominant sites.
That is why new sites climb quickly at first and then appear to stall. Nothing has gone wrong, the scale has simply got steeper.
It also moves when you have done nothing. If Moz updates its index or adjusts its model, every site’s score shifts, including yours, which is why a drop with no explanation is usually not about your site at all.
What it is not, and this is the important part
Google does not use Domain Authority. It is not a ranking factor, it is not something Google can see, and it plays no part in how your pages are ranked.
It is one company’s estimate of how Google behaves, built from that company’s own crawl of the web, which is a different thing entirely.
Every major tool has its own version, and they do not agree. Ahrefs has Domain Rating, Semrush has Authority Score, Majestic has Trust Flow and Citation Flow.
These are built on different indexes, so a site at 42 in one is not at 42 in another. Comparing scores across tools tells you nothing.
Which means it cannot be optimised directly. There is no setting, no fix and no technical change that raises it, because it is an output of your link profile rather than an input to anything.
What genuinely raises it
Since the score is a summary of your links, only things that change your link profile change the score, and they do it slowly.
Earn links from sites that are themselves trusted and relevant. A handful of links from respected sites in your subject moves the number more than hundreds from directories and unrelated blogs.
Relevance matters as much as strength here, and it is the part people skip when chasing volume.
Publish things worth linking to. Original research, tools, data, and genuinely useful guides attract links without asking, which is the only link building that scales without risk.
Most content earns no links at all, and that is normal. A small number of pages will earn nearly all of them, which is where the effort belongs.
Fix your internal linking. It does not directly raise the domain score, and it decides how the authority you already have flows to the pages that need it.
Link from your strongest pages to the ones you want to rank, using anchor text that describes the destination honestly.
Be patient about time. Links accumulate slowly, and the score follows them rather than leading them, so months is the right unit rather than weeks.
What to do instead of chasing the number
The most useful reframing is this: Domain Authority is a thermometer, not a treatment. Watching it more closely does not change your temperature.
Compare rather than track. The score is most useful as a rough way to size up a competitor or judge whether a site is worth pursuing a link from, and least useful as a KPI in your own reporting.
Measure the things it is estimating. Referring domains earned, rankings for terms that matter, and organic traffic to pages that convert are all real, and all of them move before the score does.
Ignore anyone selling you a score. Services offering to raise your Domain Authority to a target number are manipulating the metric rather than your site, usually through link networks, and the result is a higher number attached to a weaker site.
That is the clearest sign the number has been mistaken for the goal.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good domain authority score?
Domain authority runs from 1 to 100, and what counts as good is relative to your niche and competitors. New sites often sit in the single digits, established blogs reach the 30s and 40s, and major brands score 70 plus. Rather than chasing a number, aim to beat the sites you compete with in search.
How can I increase my domain authority?
Increase domain authority by earning quality backlinks from relevant, trusted sites, publishing strong content that attracts links naturally, and keeping a clean technical setup. Solid internal linking and removing toxic backlinks also help. Authority grows slowly, so consistent effort over months matters more than any quick trick.
How long does it take to increase domain authority?
Raising domain authority usually takes several months, since it depends on earning links and building trust over time. There is no instant method. Steady publishing and link building move the score gradually, and early gains from a low base often come faster than later gains near the top of the scale.
Is domain authority a Google ranking factor?
No, domain authority is a third party metric from Moz, not something Google uses directly. It estimates how likely a site is to rank based on its link profile. It is useful for comparing sites, but improving it should really mean improving the real factors behind it, like links and content.
Does domain authority matter for SEO?
Domain authority matters as a rough guide to your site’s strength and for benchmarking against competitors, but it does not directly cause rankings. Focus on the things that raise it, such as quality backlinks and helpful content, and your actual search rankings tend to improve alongside the score.