Understanding SEO rankings can feel like you’re learning another language. SERPs, keyword optimization, titles, metas, snippets, queries – the list goes on. If you’re just starting to learn about SEO, domain authority is a topic you may not have heard of yet, but it’s one that has a huge impact on understanding your website’s search engine rankings.
What is Domain Authority?
Domain authority is a score that ranges from one to 100, indicating a website’s ability to rank on search engine result pages. The higher a website’s domain authority score, the more likely it is to rank. Many factors go into determining a website’s domain authority, and while it is useful to see how your business stacks up against competitors on Google, it’s not a metric used by search engines to determine ranking.
Using Moz to Understand Your Ranking
Moz created domain authority, so they are the experts. Their domain authority tool is easy to use- all you need to do is create an account and install the Moz toolbar, and you’re on your way to understanding and affecting your site’s domain authority!
It’s important to recognize that domain authority is a relative score- while 100 is the highest-ranking a site can receive, it is not necessarily the score your site needs to achieve. After you have researched your business’s domain authority, check out your competitors. How do you compare? Since they are the ones you will rank against on search engines, it’s much more important to have the highest score in relation to your competition, as opposed to the greatest domain authority score possible.