Domain Authority (DA, DR): What Does It Really Measure?
Domain authority is a score estimated by tools, not an official Google criterion. Here is how to use it without being misled.
· 2 min read
In link building, people constantly talk about DA (Domain Authority), DR (Domain Rating) or Authority Score. Does Google use these ratings? What are they really worth?
Where do these scores come from?
They are metrics created by SEO tool vendors: DA comes from Moz, DR from Ahrefs, Authority Score from Semrush, with other tools having their own metrics. They estimate, using each tool's own method, the "strength" of a site's link profile, usually on a scale from 0 to 100.
Does Google use them?
No. These are measures specific to each tool. Google has stated that it does not use a domain authority score of this kind in its ranking. They try to approximate what is assumed about the role of links in ranking, without access to Google's real data.
What are they still useful for?
- Quickly comparing sites with one another: yours and its competitors, or candidates for a partnership.
- Spotting gaps in popularity within your sector.
- First-level filtering when looking for partners, before a finer analysis.
- Tracking a trend: evolution over several months is more telling than the value at one moment.
Their limits
- Estimates: they depend on how many links the tool has discovered.
- Non-comparable scales: a DA of 40 and a DR of 40 don't mean the same thing.
- A domain-wide value: it says nothing about the quality of a specific page or its relevance to your topic.
- Manipulable: sites can inflate their score artificially with low-quality links.
- Not tied to real traffic: a high-scoring site can have few visitors.
How to choose a site for a link, beyond the score
- Topical relevance to your business.
- Real traffic and the site's audience.
- Editorial quality: polished content, identified authors.
- A natural link profile: no signs of mass link selling.
- Link context: placed in relevant content, not in a footer.
Don't make it a goal
Aiming to "raise my DA" leads to choices that don't serve your real visibility, or even to risky practices like buying links. A more useful goal is to increase qualified organic traffic and conversions. If your links are relevant and earned, the scores will rise on their own.