Domain Authority: What It Is, and How To Improve It

Domain authority (DA) was originally developed by Moz, and ranks your website from 0 to 100 depending on how often your domain name appears in the SERPs (search engine results pages) and how well it performs against competitors. The algorithm pulls from a number of factors, including backlinks and organic traffic.

DA is a basic SEO metric that benefits businesses since it highlights your website’s overall health, but it’s not something that Google relies on when setting the rankings.

➡️ I recommend reading our SEO glossary page to learn other key definitions.

While domain authority isn’t an official ranking factor for Google’s algorithm, there are several reasons why domain authority (DA) matters for your website:

• Check your site health – Your domain authority score gives you a good reference to understand your site’s quantity and quality of backlinks
• Assess performance vs competitors – Domain authority helps you judge and compare your site against competitors who are ranking well for particular keywords
• Boost your SEO – Sites with a good DA score are more likely to rank well in the SERPs since it indicates that your site is credible and authoritative
• Identify areas to improve – You can monitor your DA score and rank in the SERPs after implementing changes to see what measures have been effective and what areas need refining

Checking your site’s domain authority is straightforward since there are plenty of free tools available to use, such as Moz’s Link Explorer and Ahref’s Website “Authority” Checker. For example, if I enter the Wikipedia URL into Ahref’s free SEO tool, I can see that the site has a domain authority score of 91.

Websites should review their domain authority score at least every three months to track progress, identify trends, and adjust SEO strategies accordingly. Frequent monitoring ensures you stay competitive and responsive to search engine algorithm changes.

Heleana Neil Content Strategist, MVF

If your site currently has a low domain authority score, it’s worth taking action to improve your DA to show Google that your site is a trustworthy source. Below, I share eight top tips to help increase your domain authority:

#1. Get Credible Backlinks

The number one way to prove your website’s trustworthiness is to get other reputable sites to link back to it. But, how can you do this? The simplest way to get backlinks is to produce high-quality content that other websites want to link to.

Alternatively, you can contact others in your industry for linking opportunities, respond to media requests, or write guest posts. This helps you build up a network of connections – plus, it’s a great way to showcase your expertise and increase brand awareness.

However, I don’t recommend getting desperate and securing backlinks through dodgy link exchanges. Buying backlinks can send a negative signal to Google since they provide no real value to your content.

#2. Create Quality Content

Another way to increase traffic and backlinks – which can boost your site’s domain authority – is to deliver amazing, out-of-this-world content on your site, so that other sites will link back to you unprompted.

If people find your content helpful, they’ll naturally want to share it with others. Focus on what your target audience wants to read about.

You can shake things up to keep your pages engaging, too! I recommend you complement your high-quality copy with videos, infographics, podcasts, and downloadable content, as bonus extras. Just ask people to credit your work with a link back to your website if they want to use or share the content.

#3. Remove Broken Links

If your website has links to spammy or nonexistent sites, you might incur a major penalty from Google for violating its spam policy guidelines. The search engine needs to see that your site is fresh and actively being worked on. Bad or broken links show negligence and inactivity.

To avoid this, I recommend conducting a link audit every few months. This will help you stay on top of removing and updating any bad links, showing Google that you’re delivering relevant and helpful information to readers, which will ultimately boost trust in your brand.

#4. Optimize Your Website Structure

Another way to improve domain authority is by making sure your site is user-friendly and easy to navigate. All the backlinks and fresh content in the world won’t help if a visitor to your site can’t find what they’re looking for. I recommend checking off the following steps when optimizing your site’s structure:

• Prepare your site for mobile users – Over 62% of all website traffic comes from mobile devices in 2025, so you have to make your site mobile-friendly with a responsive design, easy-to-see visuals, and speedy load times
• Optimize your navigation – Consider the user journey by creating a clear navigation bar or menu so visitors can find what they’re looking for with ease
• Edit your on-page SEO – Add click-worthy meta titles, engaging meta descriptions, and relevant keywords to help boost your site’s visibility in the SERPs

#5. Improve Internal Links

While having backlinks is an important factor in building your domain authority, it’s also crucial you have internal links between your own pages to keep visitors engaged on your site.

With more links pointing to a certain page, Google finds it easier to crawl and understand your website’s content. This helps Google show relevant results to users when they input a query since strategic links can help bolster your site’s authority.

Author's Notes

I recommend adding two to three internal links to each new page. This doesn’t overwhelm visitors (or Google) since you’re focusing on links that provide value and are relevant to the subject matter.

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

#6. Broaden Your Channels

You can expand your site’s reach and authority by increasing visibility on other channels, such as social media or email. This is a great way to build brand awareness and encourage traffic back to your website, which ultimately increases your domain authority.

If you’re active on platforms like TikTok or Instagram, you can share content with an engaged online community. As a result, your business nurtures valuable customer relationships, while also encouraging others to link to your content.

#7. Review Competitors

Domain authority helps you understand your competitors and identify areas to improve so you can outperform them for certain keywords. To increase your domain authority, you must be aware of what others in the market are doing. What does their site have that yours is missing? Can you fill any content gaps? Have they got more backlinks?

Once you’ve got a list of actions, start rolling them out across your site and see if the changes impact your domain authority.

#8. Be Patient

My final tip to increase your domain authority is to be patient. Change takes time, and domain authority can take a few months to update depending on the competition. 

You need to review the market, optimize your content, and engage with your audience – none of these steps are immediate fixes. And domain authority will fluctuate as your website ages, so you’ll need to constantly adapt and assess your site’s overall health.

By this point, you should understand what domain authority is, how to review it, and how you can increase your DA to boost your site’s visibility.

Your domain authority score is mainly a comparative tool that you can use to assess your site’s performance, helping you measure the success of your business against competitors. Just remember that different industries and the age of your site can impact your domain authority score – what’s “bad” for one site might be “good” for another.