Domain authority (DA) is one of the most important ranking factors for SEO. It measures the strength and trustworthiness of your domain in the eyes of search engines. The higher your DA, the better your website will rank in SERPs.
But how do you know what your domain authority is and how to increase it? That's where DA checker tools come in handy.
In this comprehensive guide, we'll cover everything you need to know about domain authority and page Authority also called PA, you can check it through <Link to tool>PA checker, from what it is to ways to boost your website's DA, PA using free and paid tools.
Domain authority is a score between 1 and 100 that predicts how well your website will rank in search engines. The higher the score, the better.
DA indicates the strength and trustworthiness of a domain. It shows search engines how influential your website is in its niche.
Websites with higher domain authority tend to rank higher and faster compared to new websites with lower DA scores.
Here are some key reasons why domain authority matters:
Clearly, every business must make efforts to monitor and improve its domain authority. But how exactly can you check your website's current domain authority?
There are a number of free and paid tools available to check your current domain authority score. Here are some of the best options:
Moz invented the concept of domain authority. Their DA checker tool is one of the most accurate and trusted options to gauge your website's authority.
To use it, simply enter your domain and hit Check DA. The tool will show your latest DA score along with metrics like page authority distribution and link profile.
Moz also offers a paid MozBar browser extension that displays domain authority metrics right in your search engine results pages (SERPs).
Ahrefs uses a slightly different 0-100 scale called Domain Rating (DR) to measure authority. Despite the different terminology, it works very similarly to DA.
Just enter your URL in the Ahrefs DR checker to see your current domain rating, total backlinks, referring domains, and other key SEO metrics.
While Ahrefs is paid, you can get limited free reports to check your domain rating.
SEOToolsPark is a free alternative that also provides domain authority scores. Enter your URL in DA Checker and hit Get DA to see your latest score along with trust flow and citation flow metrics.
While the scores may not be completely accurate, this tool is handy for quickly checking domain authority trends over time.
SEMrush is another renowned SEO tool with a domain authority checker feature. It uses a database of over 200 search engine ranking factors to generate accurate DA scores.
Beyond just the score, SEMrush provides actionable suggestions to improve website authority based on your link profile evaluation.
Linkody is a link-building platform that incorporates a free DA checker tool. Just add your website URL to see its latest domain authority score.
Linkody also generates a link-building plan along with top-performing competitors' backlinks. You can use these insights to strategically earn DA-boosting links.
Checking domain authority at a single point in time has limited value. The real benefit comes from monitoring how your DA changes monthly or quarterly.
Look for tools that provide historical DA data visualizations to track trends and progress.
Here are some ways to monitor shifts in your website's authority over time:
Regularly monitoring domain authority and backlink monitoring will help you assess the impact of your SEO efforts. If DA is steadily rising, it indicates your strategies are working. A drop in DA requires quick action to diagnose and resolve the issue.
Wondering what goes into calculating a domain's authority score? Here's a simple breakdown:
Based on these factors, a proprietary algorithm determines the domain authority score on a 0-100 scale. While the exact formula is secret, you can do a manual approximation using Moz's Correlation study insights.
However, manual checking is quite time-consuming. Automated DA checker tools are recommended for regular use.
Now that you know your current domain authority, let's look at some proven ways to improve it.
High-quality content signals authority and expertise. Write comprehensive blog posts, guides, case studies, etc. interlinked internally to boost DA.
Relevant backlinks from high authority domains are DA gold. Reach out to industry websites for guest posts, contributor content, or other partnerships. Keep an eye on Backlinks through the Backlink checker.
Earn social shares by creating engaging content formats like stats posts, list posts, infographics, etc. Install social share buttons to make it easy for readers.
The more visitors your site receives via search engines, the higher its domain authority. Focus on increasing organic traffic through on-page SEO, content promotion, and link building.
Boost brand signals by getting verified social profiles, securing interviews/guest posts on authority websites, and building citations, reviews, etc.
Fast loading speeds, modern design, easy navigation and effective calls-to-action enhance user experience, in turn improving DA.
Eliminate site errors, broken links, duplicate content issues, or other technical problems that hurt authority. Monitor site health for problems.
Install trust badges, publish privacy policy/terms pages, enable HTTPS, and use other trust-boosting elements to improve DA.
Join high-authority publisher networks like Taboola to get your content and brand in front of millions of monthly visitors.
Regularly check domain authority and other site health metrics. Keep producing high-quality content and acquiring links to maintain upward momentum.
With a combination of these tactics, you can organically increase your DA over time. The higher your authority, the better your pages will rank in SERPs and the more search traffic your site will attract.
Here are quick answers to some common questions people have about domain authority checkers:
A: No, PageRank is Google's proprietary metric while DA was created by Moz. But they work similarly in gauging site authority.
A: DA scores are updated monthly. So you should check back at least once a month to track changes.
A: There are no shortcuts for fast DA gains. A steady, long-term approach focused on quality content and links works best.
A: Scores above 30 are considered good, while anything above 60 is excellent. Top authority sites have DA in the 90s range.
A: Factors like site errors, broken links, duplicate content, shady backlinks, and poor user experience cause DA drops.
A: Yes, MozRank reflects the overall link strength and authority of a specific page rather than the entire domain.
Regularly monitoring and building your website's domain authority is crucial for ranking higher in search results. DA checker tools take the guesswork out of gauging your site's authority.
Follow this guide's tips like creating high-quality content, earning backlinks, improving UX, and tracking DA changes over time. This will help steadily grow your website's authority and visibility in search engines.
Focus on providing genuine value to users through your content rather than chasing quick DA wins. Over time, you will be rewarded with higher authority, more organic traffic, and greater success.