How to Calculate Domain Authority?

Do you want to get your website noticed? Are you struggling to understand why it's not performing as well as others in SERPs? It could be that your domain authority isn't high enough. But what is domain authority, and how is it calculated? In this blog post, we're going to dig deep into the concept of domain authority and provide some effective strategies for improving yours. So read on if you're ready to take your website from obscurity towards higher visibility!

What is Domain Authority?

Domain authority (DA) is an SEO metric developed by Moz. It is a score that predicts the chance of a website ranking on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). The score is assigned between 1-100 with 100. A domain with the highest score will likely be ranked in the search results. 

Domain authority of a website is calculated based on Moz's Link Explorer index. The algorithm considers several essential factors while assigning a score. 

The domain authority metric uses machine learning models and comprises predictive data. This model keeps getting more sophisticated by accumulating thousands of data from search results.

Is domain authority directly linked to Google ranking factors?

Google has its own unique algorithms to assign ranks to a website. It doesn't use domain authority as a deciding factor. So, this metric won't magically improve or guarantee ranking in SERP. 

However, the domain authority metric is an excellent indicator for SEO experts. It gives you the necessary details of your website, its performance, and its relation to competitors. This helps you take the required steps to boost your website domain authority. 

As mentioned above, the domain authority metric comprises a series of sophisticated algorithms. Moz claims the algorithm is closely similar to the algorithms of Google. If your website's Domain Authority increases, it multiplies your site's chance of getting into search results. According to Moz, the Domain Authority and Page Authority algorithm keeps changing every 3-4 weeks in real time. 

Now the domain authority metric is something only Moz provides. You will find various tools on the internet. For example, SEMrush's authority metric comprises an algorithm based on backlinks, search traffic, and referring domains, among others, to predict the Authority score of a website.

How is Domain Authority Calculated?

Moz released Domain Authority 2.0 in early 2019. It uses machine learning algorithms to predict the DA score. 

If Domain A appears mostly on Google SERP than domain B, then Domain A has better domain authority than B. 

Since Moz uses machine learning to predict DA, your site score is going to fluctuate every once in a while. This may happen when the machine discovers new data points and incorporate them into its calculation. 

Let's assume Facebook decided to acquire 1 billion new links. Facebook is more established and has higher Authority. So, undoubtedly it must already have more extensive link profiles of high authority backlinks. Adding one billion more links will boost Facebook's DA to a new high. This could trigger a DA drop in other websites.

What is a Perfect Domain Authority Score?

Domain Authority scores closer to 100 are considered the best score. To assign the value of a site, the tool considers both the quantity and quality of the links pointing to your site.

A website with backlinks from highly authoritative sites like Google, Wikipedia, Government sites, reliable newspapers, or magazines will likely get a higher DA Score.

The quality of backlinks a website receives also depends on other factors. For example, sites from specific industries or characteristics will likely get more valuable backlinks. The age of the site also matters. This is because you don't receive quality backlinks in one night. It takes months and years to create a reliable link profile. Websites that have been active for years will likely have better DA than others.

Regardless of all, the value of the backlink makes all the difference. Suppose you offer study courses or training on your website, university links, and govt. Sites, academic articles, newspapers, etc., will matter a lot. Getting links from such credible sources can boost your DA. This is applicable even if you don't have the highest domain authority.

How to Check the Domain Authority of Your Site?

You can check your site's domain authority for free by visiting Moz's Link Explorer tool. 

Next, enter the website URL in the search box and click "Get free link data." The free version of the tool comes with limited usage. Meaning, you cannot check more than a certain number. You can sign up for Moz and open a free account. 

Moz even provides 30 days of free trials. This will allow you to access unlimited features, insights, statistics, and metrics.

Returning to the DA checking process, once you hit the search button, the tool will display a wide range of information on the dashboard. 

This includes information about −

• Domain Authority

• Page Authority

• Linking domains

• Ranking keywords

• Inbound links

• Top links of the site

• Top pages on the site

• Metric over time

Then other features instruct you on ways to improve your site DA.

How to Increase the Domain Authority of Your Website?

The SEO health of a website is linked to the domain authority and vice versa. You must first focus on your site's overall SEO health to influence your domain authority score.

Domain authority takes a wide range of data into evaluation besides backlinks. This makes it difficult for you to influence the DA score directly. 

Using 100s of factors to assign a DA score is understandable from a technical point of view. The Link Explorer tool claims to be as sophisticated as Google. Google uses several factors (most of them are undisclosed). It only makes sense for the Moz tool to have a similar complex algorithm.

Why did the Domain Authority Changes on my Website?

As mentioned, domain authority is a collection of several metrics and calculations. This makes it pretty hard to determine the exact changes causing the drop in domain authority.

If your DA scores are affected, it could be due to any or some of the followings −

• The Moz web index is still yet to capture your site's profile growth.

• High authoritative sites may have more link growth than yours.

• You have links that google rankings don't consider necessary or reliable.

• The tool may have crawled and indexed lesser linking domains than previously.

• Your Domain Authority is significantly low. A slight fluctuation in algorithm change can impact the score.

• Your site may have been affected by 2019's Domain Authority 2.0 algorithm. This has caused an average 6% drop in DA.

Note − The domain authority score of your site depends on the DA of other domains. Meaning, if the DA of your competitors increases, it could lower yours.

Conclusion

Domain Authority is an important metric for any website to understand. It is a complex and nuanced tool that can help measure the overall strength of a domain, and it takes into account various factors such as website age, content quality, social signals and backlinks from relevant domains. While its exact methodology remains confidential, it provides a useful insight into how Google perceives different websites in terms of rankings. In conclusion, having an understanding of your domain’s authority is essential for any webmaster looking to boost their visibility on search engine results pages. From creating more authoritative backlinks from reliable sources to optimizing content regularly, there are many ways to help improve your site’s domain authority score. With dedication and effort, increasing the Domain Authority of a website is certainly achievable with practice.