What is Domain Authority?
Domain authority is a score that estimates the overall strength of a website based on its backlink profile. Tools such as Ahrefs (Domain Rating) and Moz (Domain Authority) express it on a scale of 0 to 100. A higher domain authority usually means a better chance of ranking well in Google.
How is domain authority determined?
The score is mainly based on the number and quality of the backlinks pointing to a website. Sites with lots of relevant, reliable links get a higher authority. It is an estimate by external tools, not an official Google value.
Why is domain authority useful?
It gives a handy indication for comparing your site with those of competitors and for tracking the progress of your link building. Keep in mind: it is a tool, not a goal in itself. Good content and relevance still come first.
Increasing domain authority
You raise the score mainly with quality backlinks from relevant, authoritative websites and with strong content that others like to share. This is a gradual process that is part of structural SEO.
Does a high domain authority guarantee rankings?
No. It correlates with rankings, but Google does not use the score from these tools itself. Relevance and search intent remain decisive.
What is a good score?
That is relative: always compare within your own industry and with direct competitors.