Chances are if you’ve ever tried to search for the perfect SEO solution, you’ve come across the term “Domain Authority”. And the most often asked question by many people (yourself included) is: how does Domain Authority help SEO?

To be candid, this can be an inexplicable question for many people especially if you’re a beginner in the SEO world. But again the answer can be simpler than you can imagine. Domain Authority, as a tool, can be used for keeping tabs on your site performance. But as simple as that may sound, it’s not the only metrics SEO guys consider for determining how well a domain will rank.

So the truth is though a site with a high Domain Authority score might be a signal that such a site is more likely to rank on the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) there are many other metrics to consider. 

In this article, I’ll give you a clear picture of what the term means and how it can help your SEO.

What Is Domain Authority?

Domain Authority (simply put as DA) is a big factor that any webmaster or online business owners shouldn’t joke with especially when it comes to the website’s quality or relevance. In fact, the search engines give credence to this fact.

DA, as it’s shortly referred to, is a term that was developed by the renowned SEO SaaS Moz. It’s believed to be a useful tool for determining the ability of a website to rank and compete against competitors within the same industry.

Domain Authority is a score that ranges from 1 to 100. And, in that, it means the higher the better. So a higher DA indicates a higher prospect of your site ranking in search engine results, while a lower DA score can imply likely loss of traffic and low ranking.

To understand what the different DA score ranges mean, here are the scores ranges and interpretations:

• Between 40 and 50 = average
• Between 50 and 60 = good
• Over 60 = excellent.

Why Domain Authority Matters?

Domain Authority is important for many reasons. One of the reasons why it matters is that it’s a metric to predict how your site will likely rank on search engines. Another benefit DA is that it helps you have a better grasp of your site’s quality and credibility and, of course, contribute to improving the quality and credibility of your site.

Additionally, DA helps you to understand how your site competes against the competitions in your industry. This way, you can tweak your strategy to beat the competition. Because once you know your DA score and that of other websites in your industry, you’ll be able to decide which site will be right for you to target for your backlinks, guest blogging, etc. This is so as a few links from a site with a high DA score is more useful and valuable than hundreds of worthless links from a site with a low DA score, which will do no good for your site.

The Truth You Need To Know About DA?

There has been this myth and erroneous view of Domain Authority as Google’s actual metrics for ranking pages. If you’re one of those people who share this view, then you should know that DA isn’t the only metric in the game.

To cut long story short, here are some hard truth to know about Domain Authority:

Tools to Use For Getting DA Score?

There are many tools out there for getting DA score of your website. Some of them are free while others are paid. Some of these tools to use include MozBar (for Chrome extension), Ahrefs, Majestic SEO, Link Explorer, and Keyword Explorer.  While you can do this yourself, using an SEO expert (PJ, insert a link to your service page here instead, if any) will save you a lot of stress as there are some rules to consider in evaluating your DA score.

How Domain Authority Help SEO

The truth is Google is a business tool and, as such, it’s looking for all possible avenues to serve their customers better. Although DA, as earlier mentioned, isn’t used by Google to determine the ranking of a page, it can help your SEO in many ways.

One way by which it can help SEO is by helping you understand how your site ranks and compete with other sites in the same niche as yours. Leveraging this knowledge, you can to track your site performance and make an appropriate strategy change.

Also, DA is an indicator of your site’s credibility and quality. By this, the higher your site DA scores the more credible it appears to the search engines and the web users. And the lower your DA scores the less credible it becomes.

Another way by which Domain Authority can affect your SEO is through the understanding of your site DA score and that of others in your industry. By knowing and analyzing your site DA scores and that of others, you’ll be able to make the right decision as to which link is worth targeting for building backlinks and guest blogging. 

All in all, your domain’s link metrics are though fundamental in Google’s ranking algorithms they’re honestly not the only metric. In fact, some websites do outrank others with higher Domain Authorities than theirs. The point is domain link metrics are still a relevant signal in ranking.

Wrapping Up

So you’re wondering whether Domain Authority still matters in SEO or not. Yes, DA scores are fundamental as they provide you with a real figure you can reference.

And since SEO is extremely important, working to achieve a high DA score is something you should strive to do. However, you shouldn’t take DA as the only metrics to use for your SEO; instead you should see it as a factor.

As you’re keeping tabs on what your Domain Authority score is, you shouldn’t neglect other key and intangible aspects of your site such as user experience, high-quality and relevant content, and credibility.  That’s what can help you improve your click-through and traffic.

One very important point to note here is that Google’s algorithms take cognizance of high turnover rates, so if your site bounce rate is constantly increasing, your DA score will be of no value. Therefore, you should give priority to delivering relevant and high-quality content using relevant links and keywords so that your site can rank well and Google will see it as rendering values to the users.

Finally, you need to consider taking the advantage of your page authority in SEO by offering values that will entice your readers to take the bait (i.e. click through to your site) if they find it in the SERPs. With all these tips taken seriously, your Domain Authority will help your SEO in great ways you can’t imagine.

Are you finding it difficult to improve your site Domain Authority?

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Cheers!!!