You've probably heard someone mention "Domain Authority" in an SEO conversation and nodded along without being entirely sure what it means. Maybe an agency mentioned your DA score. Maybe a competitor bragged about theirs. Maybe you ran across it in a tool and wondered whether your number was good, bad, or somewhere in between.

This guide cuts through the jargon. You'll learn exactly what Domain Authority is, how it's calculated, why it matters for your rankings, what score you actually need as a small business, and — most importantly — how to improve it with practical actions you can start today.

🔑 Key takeaway upfront: Domain Authority is a third-party metric, not a Google metric. Google does not use DA to rank your site. But it's still useful as a competitive benchmark and a proxy for your site's link profile health.

What Is Domain Authority?

Domain Authority (DA) is a score created by Moz, an SEO software company. It predicts how likely a website is to rank in search engine results pages (SERPs). The score runs on a logarithmic scale from 1 to 100 — the higher the number, the more authoritative the site, and the easier it should theoretically be for that site to rank for competitive keywords.

The scale is logarithmic, which means it gets progressively harder to increase your score the higher you go. Moving from DA 10 to DA 20 is much easier than moving from DA 50 to DA 60. Most large media outlets, universities, and government sites sit above DA 70. Most small business websites start between DA 1 and DA 30.

You may also encounter similar metrics from other tools:

  • Domain Rating (DR) — Ahrefs' version of the same concept
  • Authority Score — Semrush's equivalent metric
  • URL Rating (UR) — Ahrefs' page-level version

All of these metrics are attempting to answer the same question: how much trust and authority does this website have based on its backlink profile? The methodologies differ slightly, so scores won't match between tools — but the concepts are the same.

How Is Domain Authority Calculated?

Moz calculates Domain Authority using a machine learning model that considers dozens of factors. The most important inputs are:

  • Linking root domains: How many unique websites link to yours. 100 links from 100 different sites is far more valuable than 100 links from the same site.
  • Quality of linking sites: A link from the New York Times carries far more weight than a link from a random directory no one visits.
  • Link profile diversity: Links from a mix of industries, regions, and site types look more natural and signal more authority than links from a single source.
  • Spam score of linking sites: Links from low-quality or spammy sites can actually hurt your DA — and your real rankings.
  • Total number of links: Both internal and external links are factored in, though unique domains matter most.

Moz updates DA scores regularly as it recrawls the web. A significant change in your score doesn't necessarily mean something changed on your site — it may reflect changes in Moz's index or in how your competitors' profiles changed.

Why Does Domain Authority Matter?

To be completely accurate: DA is not a Google ranking factor. Google has its own internal signals — PageRank being one of them — that it uses to evaluate websites. Moz's DA is a third-party estimation, not Google's internal score.

So why should you care about it? A few reasons:

It's a useful competitive benchmark. If you're trying to rank for a keyword and all the top-ranking pages come from sites with DA 50+, and your site is DA 12, you know you have a significant authority gap to close before you can compete. DA gives you a rough sense of how hard the climb will be.

It correlates with real rankings. While DA isn't a direct Google signal, the factors that influence DA — quality backlinks, strong link profiles — are also the factors that drive real Google rankings. Improving your DA usually means improving your actual search performance.

It reflects your backlink health. If your DA is dropping, it often signals that you've lost important backlinks or that toxic links are accumulating. That's a real problem worth fixing, regardless of what you call the metric.

Agencies and partners use it as a benchmark. If you work with an SEO agency or a content partner, DA gives everyone a common language to discuss authority and link-building goals.

What's a "Good" Domain Authority Score?

This is the question everyone asks — and the answer depends entirely on your market. A DA of 25 might be dominant in a small local market. A DA of 45 might not be enough to compete in a major metro area for competitive keywords.

Here's a general benchmark by business type:

Business Type Typical DA Range What You Need to Compete
Local service business (plumber, HVAC, dentist) DA 5–30 DA 15–25 is often enough for local pack + organic
Local restaurant or retail DA 5–25 DA 15–20 with strong GBP can dominate locally
Regional or multi-location business DA 20–45 DA 30+ helps compete across broader markets
E-commerce (small) DA 10–40 DA 25–35 needed to rank product pages competitively
B2B / Professional services DA 15–50 DA 30–40 for niche industries; DA 50+ for broad terms
National media / large brand DA 50–90+ DA 60+ to compete for high-volume national keywords

The key insight: you don't need a high DA to rank locally. Most local competitors have low DA scores. A well-optimised site with a DA of 20, a complete Google Business Profile, and consistent local citations can outrank a lazy competitor with DA 35.

📍 For small business owners: Stop chasing a specific DA number. Instead, focus on having a higher DA than your local competitors. Use a free tool like Moz Link Explorer or Ahrefs' free checker to compare your DA against the top 3 businesses ranking for your main keyword. That gap tells you more than any benchmark chart.

8 Ways to Improve Your Domain Authority

Improving DA means improving your backlink profile — and doing the technical groundwork that lets strong links take full effect. Here are the 8 most impactful actions:

8 DA Improvement Strategies
1
Earn high-quality backlinks This is the primary driver of DA. One link from a DA 60 local news site is worth more than 50 links from low-quality directories. Focus on earning links through genuinely useful content, local PR, partnerships, and getting listed in authoritative industry directories. Guest posting on reputable industry blogs is another solid approach.
2
Create link-worthy content People only link to content that teaches them something, solves a problem, or gives them data worth citing. A comprehensive guide ("The Complete Guide to [Your Industry] in [Your City]"), original research, useful tools, or a definitive resource list all attract links naturally. Thin content — 300-word pages with no depth — earns nothing.
3
Fix your technical SEO foundation A site with broken links, slow load times, and crawl errors signals low quality. Google can't pass link equity through broken pages. Make sure your site loads quickly, has no broken internal links, uses HTTPS, and is properly indexed in Google Search Console. Technical health allows the links you earn to count fully.
4
Build local citations For local businesses, getting listed on authoritative local directories — Yelp, Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Maps, BBB, your industry's top directories — counts as a link signal. Each citation builds a small amount of domain authority while also boosting your local SEO directly. Consistency of your NAP (Name, Address, Phone) across all listings matters.
5
Pursue local PR and community links Local newspapers, community blogs, event listings, Chamber of Commerce member directories, and sponsorship of local events often result in legitimate backlinks. A mention in "[City] Business Journal" or the local school's sponsor page is a high-trust local signal. These links are easier to earn than national media and disproportionately help small businesses.
6
Strengthen internal linking Internal links distribute authority across your site and help Google understand your site structure. Make sure every important page on your site is linked from at least 2–3 other pages. If you publish blog content, link from new posts back to your key service pages. This alone can improve rankings for pages that have strong content but few external links.
7
Remove or disavow toxic backlinks Spammy backlinks from low-quality directories, link farms, or irrelevant foreign sites can drag your DA down and signal bad practices to Google. Use Moz's Spam Score or Google Search Console's link report to identify toxic links. Contact webmasters to remove them, and use Google's Disavow Tool for links you can't remove.
8
Be consistent and patient DA improves slowly. A realistic timeline is 3–6 months of consistent link-building to see meaningful movement. Don't chase quick wins — they don't exist in legitimate DA growth. Businesses that build steadily over 12–24 months end up with durable authority that compounds. Focus on earning 2–5 quality links per month rather than chasing bulk tactics.

Common Domain Authority Myths (Busted)

There's a lot of misinformation floating around about DA. Here are the most persistent myths — and the truth behind each one:

Myth 1: "DA is a Google ranking factor"

False. Google has confirmed repeatedly that it does not use Moz's Domain Authority as a ranking signal. Google has its own internal PageRank algorithm and hundreds of other signals. DA is a third-party metric that correlates with Google rankings but does not directly influence them. Don't obsess over your DA number as if raising it will automatically boost your Google position.

Myth 2: "Buying links will raise my DA"

Dangerous and false. Purchasing backlinks from link brokers or link farms violates Google's guidelines and can result in a manual penalty — which can drop your site from search results entirely. Even if it temporarily moves your DA number, the risk is not worth it. Moz has also gotten better at detecting and devaluing paid links. Build links the right way: earn them.

Myth 3: "A higher DA always means better rankings"

Not necessarily. A DA 40 site with perfectly optimised content, strong local signals, and excellent user experience can outrank a DA 55 site with mediocre content and no local optimisation. DA is one signal. On-page quality, relevance, content depth, page speed, and user engagement all contribute to real rankings. Don't ignore these factors while fixating on DA.

Myth 4: "My DA dropped — something is broken"

Not always. Moz periodically updates its algorithm and recrawls the web. Your DA can change even if nothing changed on your site — because your competitors gained or lost links, changing how you rank in Moz's relative model. A single drop isn't cause for alarm. A sustained downward trend over several months is worth investigating.

Myth 5: "I need a DA of 50+ to rank for anything"

Completely false for local businesses. Most local competitors for small businesses have DA scores below 30. A focused local SEO strategy — optimised Google Business Profile, consistent citations, targeted content — can drive significant local rankings with a DA in the teens or twenties. Local SEO is a different game from national keyword competition.

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How to Check Your Domain Authority (Free)

You don't need a paid subscription to check your DA. Several free tools give you a baseline reading:

  • Moz Link Explorer (moz.com/link-explorer) — The official source of DA scores. Free accounts can check their own domain and a limited number of competitor domains per month.
  • MozBar — A free Chrome extension that overlays DA scores on any search results page. Useful for quickly seeing competitor scores while you browse.
  • Ahrefs Free Checker (ahrefs.com/website-authority-checker) — Shows Domain Rating (Ahrefs' equivalent metric) for free, no account required.
  • Semrush Free Account — Provides Authority Score checks with limited daily lookups on the free plan.

Check your DA against your top 3 local competitors. If you're within 5–10 points, other factors (content quality, GBP optimisation, reviews) may matter more than closing the DA gap. If you're 20+ points behind, a link-building strategy should be a priority.

The Bottom Line on Domain Authority

Domain Authority is a useful compass, not a GPS. It tells you roughly where you stand compared to competitors and whether your link-building efforts are moving in the right direction. But it's not a ranking guarantee, not a Google metric, and not worth obsessing over at the expense of more impactful actions.

For most small business owners, the path to better rankings runs through better content, a fully optimised Google Business Profile, consistent local citations, and a steady stream of genuine backlinks from your community and industry. Do those things well, and your DA will improve as a natural byproduct.

If you want a prioritised action plan that tells you exactly what to focus on — without having to decode every SEO metric yourself — Plinr's SEO planning tool does that automatically for your specific business and location.