If you have been working with SEO strategies for a long time, then you may have heard the term “domain authority” used often. Unfortunately, the average person and business do not understand domain authority, or its relevance to SEO strategizing.

Anyone who wants to master SEO must become familiar with this term if they’re going to rank their website higher in Google and other search engines.

Major search engines like Google will rank websites based on their relevance and popularity in a particular subject or industry. A third-party SEO tool creator named Moz has created a specific metric or search engine ranking score to determine a website’s level of authority based on the quality and relevance of its content. This authority is called domain authority.

The Google algorithm rewards domain authority. Knowing your website’s domain authority will help you determine how well it will likely rank in Google search results. Domain authority is usually scored on a scale from 1 to 100, with 1 being the worst authority and 100 being the best authority.

THE HIGHER THE DA, THE BETTER…

If you can get your website a domain authority score of 100, then your website is the most dominant and relevant in its industry. That means it has the potential to rank quite high in Google search results.

For example, it would be better to post your website link on 100 high-authority websites than 100,000 low-authority websites. Google and the Moz Domain Authority Checker can tell whether your backlinks are spam. So, try to obtain legitimate backlinks on relevant websites.

The total number of webpages attached to a domain can play a factor in determining authority. However, they must be high-quality webpages rather than low-quality, spammy pages.

Please note that Google and Moz are two separate entities with their own algorithms and tools for calculating website relevance. A high DA score on Moz doesn’t necessarily translate to a high ranking on Google.

However, the two often overlap because the factors of determining a relevant website on Google and Moz are quite similar, but not always the same. Keep that in mind.

Domain authority is important for any website owner or marketer engaged in SEO. It is a way to measure the competitive strength of a website’s SEO strategy. Again, the Google algorithm does not use Moz’s domain authority score to determine which websites have authority and relevance.

Still, the measurement factors concerning high-quality backlinks are similar for both. Therefore, if you want to satisfy the Google algorithm and score high on Moz’s Domain Authority Checker, you must have high-quality backlinks for your website. The DA score helps you evaluate your website’s current performance by measuring the following elements.

The Domain Authority Checker compares your website’s DA score to your competitors. That goes a long way in determining your website’s overall SEO strength and relevance in its industry or niche. For instance, if your competition has higher DA scores than yours, then you need more high-quality backlinks to compete.

You can continue to check your website’s DA score to track its progress in building authority and relevance. When your DA score is higher, your website has more high-quality backlinks and increased organic traffic. These happen to be the same things that determine strong SEO as well.

Improving your domain authority correlates with strong SEO practices, especially around backlinking. Here are some helpful tips to help you improve your website’s DA score to stay competitive and improve your SEO:

Does your website have linkable assets? In other words, does your website have quality content that others would want to link to? Some examples include:

• eBooks

• Infographics

• Checklists

• Survey results

• Industry benchmarks

• Diagrams

• Online calculators

• Statistics pages

These assets will give other websites a good reason to link to your website if they want to reference them to their audience.

Do not neglect your website’s content. Even if you have unique content with plenty of SEO keywords, you should continue to update the content regularly. Domain authority cares about fresh website content as much as the Google algorithm does.

Find reputable websites in your niche that allow you to publish articles or content as a guest or even as a member. It will create the perfect opportunity to link back to your website. Just make sure you do it right without being too promotional or salesy. The link should be natural while in the context of an informative article.

Create listings in popular online directories, such as Google Business Profile, Yelp, Yellow Pages, Facebook, and Better Business Bureau. Most of these listings are free, so you should not have a problem getting approved if your website represents a business.