What is Domain Authority (DA)?

Domain Authority (DA) is a 1 to 100 score by Moz that estimates a website's ranking strength from its links. It is useful, but it is not a Google metric.

Domain Authority, often shortened to DA, is a score created by the SEO software company Moz. It estimates how likely a website is to rank in search results compared with other websites. It runs from 1 to 100, and it is based mainly on the quantity and quality of links pointing to the site.

Here is the most important point: Domain Authority is not a Google metric. Google does not use it. It is a third-party estimate, like a weather forecast. Useful for planning, but not the weather itself.

How it works

Moz looks at the links pointing to a website, how many different domains they come from, and how strong those linking domains are. It then compares the result with other websites to produce a score. Because the score is relative, it can drop slightly even if nothing changed on your site.

Other tools have similar scores with different names. Ahrefs uses Domain Rating (DR), and Semrush has its Authority Score. Each tool calculates its number in its own way, so one website can have quite different scores across tools.

The scale is also not linear. Moving from 20 to 30 is usually much easier than moving from 70 to 80.

How to use it sensibly

Compare with real competitors: if the sites ranking for your keywords have far higher scores, you may need a more specific angle or more time.
Judge link opportunities: a higher score can hint that a site is established, but relevance matters just as much.
Track trends, not single numbers: a steady rise over months usually means your link profile is improving.

A practical example

Imagine a new SaaS startup with a DA of 12. It wants to rank for "CRM software", where the top results all have scores above 80. Competing there right away is unrealistic. The better approach is to target specific searches like "CRM for real estate agents in India", where the ranking pages are smaller. As the startup earns backlinks and covers its niche well, its score and its rankings tend to grow together.

A few common mistakes are worth avoiding:

Treating DA as a goal. Nobody buys from you because of your score.
Buying links from high-DA websites that have nothing to do with your business.
Worrying over a small drop after a Moz update.
Ignoring sites with modest scores that are deeply relevant to your audience.

What really builds authority

Google looks at trust from many angles, including the quality of your content, the expertise behind it and what others say about you. This is closer to E-E-A-T and topical authority than to any single score. Real authority comes from covering your subject deeply and earning genuine mentions through thoughtful link building.

In one line

Domain Authority is a helpful compass, not a destination. Use it to compare, plan and spot trends. Then put your energy into the things that actually earn trust: useful content, real expertise and relevant links.