SEO, AEO & GEO
What is Domain Authority?
Domain Authority is a third-party metric (popularized by Moz) that scores a website’s likely ranking strength on a 1-100 scale based on its backlink profile — it’s an industry proxy, not a metric search engines themselves use or publish.
Who Is It For?
Domain Authority is used by SEO teams as a quick, comparative gauge of site strength, and often shows up in reporting CMOs see even though it isn’t an official Google metric.
How Is It Used?
It’s used to compare relative site strength against competitors and to gauge whether a backlink-building effort is having an effect over time.
- Compare Domain Authority against direct competitors, not as an absolute target
- Track DA trend over time rather than fixating on a single snapshot score
- Remember DA is a third-party estimate, not a Google ranking factor itself
- Pair DA with actual traffic and ranking data for a fuller picture of SEO health
Related Terms & Concepts
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Google use Domain Authority as a ranking factor?
No — Domain Authority is a third-party metric created by Moz, not something Google publishes or confirms using directly, though it correlates loosely with genuine backlink strength.
What’s a good Domain Authority score?
It only means something relative to competitors in the same space — a DA of 30 might be strong in a niche B2B category and unremarkable in a broader consumer market.
