What Is Domain Authority? Definition
A score (0–100) that measures the strength and authority of a domain compared with its competitors.
What is Domain Authority?
Domain Authority (DA) is a metric (0–100) developed by Moz that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search results. The higher the score, the stronger the domain.
Example: an online shop wants to know how hard it will be to compete for a product category. It compares its own DA with the scores of the shops that already rank at the top. A clearly lower score suggests that more high-quality backlinks are needed.
What influences Domain Authority?
- Backlink profile – number and quality of incoming links
- Domain age – older, established domains often have higher scores
- Content quality – high-quality content published regularly
- Technical health – no serious technical problems
Important: DA is not a Google ranking factor but a third-party score. It is a useful benchmark for comparing yourself with competitors.
The signals behind the score still matter for search. Links from respected sources raise trust with Google and with AI systems, which prefer authoritative sources, as our article on E-E-A-T for generative AI shows. Earning such links is the job of link building.
Frequently asked questions
What is Domain Authority?
Domain Authority (DA) is a metric from 0 to 100 developed by Moz. It predicts how likely a website is to rank in search results.
Why does Domain Authority matter for SEO?
DA is not a Google ranking factor, but it is a useful benchmark for comparing your domain with competitors. It reflects factors such as the backlink profile, domain age, content quality and technical health.
What is an example of Domain Authority?
An online shop compares its DA with the shops that already rank at the top of its category. A clearly lower score suggests it needs more high-quality backlinks.