What Is Domain Authority?
Domain Authority is a score, typically from 1 to 100, that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search engine results. It was created by the SEO software company Moz and is calculated from signals such as the number and quality of links pointing to a site. A higher score suggests a stronger, more trusted website that should, in theory, rank more easily for competitive search terms.
It is important to be clear about what the score is and is not. Domain Authority is a third-party metric produced by Moz. It is not used by Google and is not a ranking factor in Google's algorithm. Other tools publish their own versions, such as Ahrefs Domain Rating and Semrush Authority Score, each calculated differently. They are useful for comparison and tracking trends, but no single number controls your rankings.
It Is a Third-Party Metric, Not a Google Factor
This distinction matters because chasing a vendor score can lead you astray. Google has stated many times that it does not have a single overall authority score for a website that it uses to rank pages. Domain Authority is a prediction built by Moz to model ranking ability; it is an estimate, not a verdict. Treat it as a directional health check, the way you might glance at a credit score, rather than a target to optimise for directly.
The risk of focusing on the score itself is that you may pursue tactics, such as buying low-quality links, that nudge a third-party number while doing nothing for or even harming your actual visibility in Google. The score should reflect good practice, not drive it.
How to Build Real Site Authority
The fastest way to improve both your authority scores and your genuine standing with search engines is to earn quality links and publish content people want to reference. Create genuinely useful pages, original research, and clear guides that other sites in your industry choose to link to. Earned links from relevant, reputable South African and international sites carry far more weight than any number of low-quality directory listings.
Strengthen the rest of your site too: fast loading, a sensible structure, helpful internal linking, and content that satisfies search intent. These fundamentals support your meta descriptions, click-through rate, and overall performance. If you want a clear plan for building authority that translates into rankings, our SEO services focus on the signals that genuinely move the needle.
Domain Authority versus Page Authority
Domain Authority and Page Authority are both third-party scores from Moz, but they describe different things. Domain Authority estimates the ranking strength of a whole domain, while Page Authority estimates it for a single page. A strong domain can carry a new page some way, but a specific page still earns its own signals, chiefly relevant links and content, which is what Page Authority reflects. Neither is used by Google. They are useful only for rough comparison, for instance sizing up a link prospect against competitors, and should never be treated as the goal of SEO in place of rankings, traffic and conversions.
How to interpret a Domain Authority score
Domain Authority is a logarithmic score from 1 to 100, so climbing from 20 to 30 is far easier than 60 to 70, and the score is relative rather than absolute. It is best read comparatively: a prospect with a DA of 55 is broadly stronger than one at 20, but a five-point difference is noise. Because it is modelled on link data, DA can be inflated by spam links and does not measure relevance or content quality. Treat it as one rough input when assessing a linking site, alongside the site's relevance, traffic and editorial standards, never as a verdict on your own site's health.
FAQ
Is Domain Authority a Google ranking factor?
No. Domain Authority is a third-party metric created by Moz. Google does not use it and has confirmed it has no single overall authority score that it uses to rank pages.
How can I improve my Domain Authority?
Earn quality links from relevant, reputable sites and publish content worth referencing. Strong technical health and helpful content support both the score and your real search visibility.
What is a good Domain Authority score?
There is no universal threshold, because DA is relative and varies by industry. What matters is how you compare with the specific competitors ranking for your terms. Chasing a round number is less useful than earning relevant, authoritative links, which improve rankings whether or not the third-party score moves.
Why did my Domain Authority drop?
DA is recalculated periodically as Moz updates its index and model, so scores can fall even when nothing on your site changed, often because competitors gained links or the model was adjusted. Because Google does not use DA, a drop in the score does not mean a drop in rankings.