Domain Authority
A search engine ranking score, developed by Moz, that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search results on a logarithmic scale from 1 to 100. It is influenced by the quality and quantity of backlinks, site age, referring domain diversity, and content authority. Because the scale is logarithmic, moving from DA 20 to 30 is significantly easier than moving from 70 to 80. Similar metrics include Ahrefs Domain Rating and Semrush Authority Score, each using slightly different methodologies.
Why It Matters
Domain authority helps you assess competitive difficulty for target keywords. Competing against sites with much higher authority requires a different strategy, such as targeting long-tail keywords or building topical authority in a specific niche before pursuing broader terms. Research shows that pages on domains with DA above 60 are 5x more likely to rank on page one for competitive keywords. Monitoring DA trends over time also reveals whether your link-building and content investments are compounding effectively or stagnating.
Example
A new marketing blog has a domain authority of 15, while competitors for 'email marketing guide' have scores of 70 to 90. The blog instead targets 'email marketing for Shopify stores' where competitors average DA 25 to 40, successfully ranking on page one within 4 months. Over the next year, the blog earns 200 referring domains through guest posts and original research, increasing DA from 15 to 38 and unlocking the ability to compete for mid-difficulty keywords with search volumes of 5,000 to 15,000 monthly.
Related Terms
Backlink
An incoming hyperlink from one website to another. High-quality backlinks from authoritative, topically relevant sites are a strong ranking signal that helps improve a page's position in search results. Backlinks are categorized as dofollow (passing link equity) or nofollow (signaling editorial endorsement without directly passing ranking power). The value of a backlink depends on the linking domain's authority, the relevance of the linking page, anchor text usage, and whether the link appears within editorial content versus footers or sidebars.
SERP
Search Engine Results Page is the page displayed by a search engine in response to a query. It includes organic listings, paid ads, featured snippets, knowledge panels, People Also Ask boxes, local packs, image carousels, and video results. Google alone displays over 20 distinct SERP feature types, and the composition varies significantly by query intent — informational queries trigger more featured snippets, while transactional queries surface shopping ads and product listings.