What Is Domain Authority (DA) and Does It Still Matter?

Domain Authority, often abbreviated to DA, is a metric developed by the SEO software company Moz. It scores websites on a scale of 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating a greater ability to rank in search engine results. The score is calculated using factors including the number and quality of inbound links.

DA is widely used in the SEO industry as a quick way to compare the relative authority of different websites. However, it’s important to understand what it is and what it isn’t — because misunderstanding it leads to misplaced priorities and wasted effort.

What DA is and how it’s calculated

Moz’s Domain Authority is a third-party metric, not an official Google metric. It’s calculated by Moz’s own algorithm, which factors in the number of links pointing to a site, the quality of those linking domains, and other signals that Moz believes correlate with ranking ability.

Similar metrics exist from other tools: Ahrefs calls theirs Domain Rating (DR), while Semrush uses Authority Score. These tools each use their own methodology, so scores aren’t directly comparable across platforms. A site might have a DA of 45 in Moz and a DR of 60 in Ahrefs — both are valid, but different.

DA is logarithmic, meaning it gets harder to increase the higher you go. Moving from DA 20 to DA 30 is relatively achievable; moving from DA 60 to DA 70 requires a disproportionately larger increase in link quality and quantity.

What DA is not

Domain Authority is not a Google ranking factor. Google does not use DA, DR, or any third-party metric when deciding how to rank your pages. Google has its own internal assessments of site quality and authority, which are not publicly accessible.

A high DA does not guarantee you will rank for any given keyword. A site with DA 80 can be outranked by a site with DA 30 if the lower-authority site has better content, stronger on-page optimisation, and more relevant backlinks for that specific query.

Chasing a DA number is therefore a distraction. The activities that improve DA — earning quality backlinks and producing authoritative content — are the right activities to focus on. But treating the score itself as a goal misses the point.

When DA is genuinely useful

DA is most useful as a comparative tool. When evaluating a potential link opportunity, checking the DA of the linking site gives you a quick sense of its authority relative to other sites. A link from a DA 60 site is likely more valuable than one from a DA 15 site, all else being equal.

It’s also useful for tracking your own site’s progress over time. Even if the absolute number doesn’t map directly to Google rankings, a steadily increasing DA suggests your link-building efforts are working and your site is growing in perceived authority.