Domain Authority (DA)

A Moz score (1–100) predicting how likely a domain is to rank in search results based on its backlink profile.

Domain Authority is a proprietary metric created by Moz, not an official Google metric. It predicts the relative ranking strength of an entire domain on a logarithmic scale — going from DA 20 to 30 is easier than going from DA 70 to 80. Similar metrics include Ahrefs' Domain Rating (DR) and Semrush's Authority Score.

DA is useful for: comparing your site's link authority against competitors, evaluating the relative value of potential link opportunities, and tracking the growth of your overall link profile. However, DA should not be your primary optimisation target — Google does not use DA. Focus on earning links from high-quality, relevant sites rather than optimising for a third-party metric.

CA common DA misconception: a high-DA site linking to you is not automatically valuable. Relevance matters — a DA 40 link from a highly relevant niche site can outperform a DA 80 link from an unrelated site for ranking purposes.