First things first: Google doesn’t use domain authority
I want to be upfront about this because it’s one of the most common misconceptions in SEO. Domain Authority (DA) is a metric created by Moz. Domain Rating (DR) is from Ahrefs. Domain Trust is from SE Ranking. These are all third-party scores that try to predict how well a site might rank. They are not metrics that Google uses in its algorithm.
Google has said repeatedly that they don’t have a single “authority score” for websites. Their ranking systems are more complex than that, evaluating content on a page-by-page basis rather than slapping a single number on an entire domain.
So why do SEO professionals still talk about domain authority all the time? Because even though Google doesn’t use these specific scores, the factors that contribute to them, primarily backlinks and content quality, absolutely do influence rankings. Domain authority is a useful proxy. A rough indicator of your site’s overall competitive strength. It’s not the scoreboard, but it’s a decent way to check which league you’re playing in.
How domain authority is calculated
The specifics vary between tools, but the core methodology is similar across all of them:
- Backlinks are the biggest factor. How many other websites link to yours, and how authoritative are those linking sites? A single link from the BBC carries far more weight than 100 links from obscure blogs nobody has heard of.
- Linking domains matter more than total links. 50 links from 50 different websites is generally more valuable than 50 links from one website. Diversity of referring domains is a key signal.
- Link quality is critical. Links from relevant, trustworthy sites in your industry or geographic area count for more than random links from unrelated sites.
- It’s scored on a logarithmic scale. This is important to understand. Moving from a DA of 10 to 20 is much easier than moving from 50 to 60, and moving from 70 to 80 is harder still. The higher you go, the more effort each point requires.
If some of this terminology is new to you, our jargon buster covers the common SEO terms in plain English.
Why it matters for your business
Here’s where it gets practical. If you’re a small business competing for keywords against websites with domain authority scores of 60, 70, or 80, and your site is sitting at 15, you’re going to struggle. Not because Google looks at those numbers, but because the factors behind them, specifically the backlink profiles and content depth of those competitor sites, give them a significant advantage.
Think of it like opening a new restaurant on a street where every other restaurant has been established for 20 years, has regulars, and gets written up in the local press. You might have the best food, but you need to build your reputation before people start choosing you over the places they already know and trust.
Domain authority is a way to measure that reputation gap and track your progress in closing it.
Domain authority isn’t the scoreboard. But it’s a reliable way to check which league you’re playing in and how far you need to go.
How to check your domain authority
Several tools let you check, and they’ll all give slightly different numbers because they use different databases and algorithms:
- Moz Link Explorer (moz.com/link-explorer) gives you Domain Authority (DA). Free to check a limited number of domains per month.
- Ahrefs (ahrefs.com) uses Domain Rating (DR). Paid tool, but they have a free site authority checker.
- SE Ranking (seranking.com) uses Domain Trust. Also available in free and paid versions.
- Ubersuggest (neilpatel.com/ubersuggest) provides a domain authority score and is free for limited searches.
Don’t get hung up on the specific number from one tool. What matters is the relative comparison. Check your score and check your competitors’ scores using the same tool. That gap is what you’re trying to close.
How to improve your domain authority
This is the bit everyone wants to know. The honest answer is that it takes time, there are no shortcuts, and anyone promising to boost your DA by 30 points in a month is either lying or using tactics that will get you penalised. Here’s what actually works.
Earn quality backlinks
This is the single most influential factor. You need other websites to link to yours, and ideally those websites should be authoritative and relevant themselves.
Practical ways to earn backlinks:
- Create content worth linking to. Original research, thorough guides, useful tools, or unique data. If your content is genuinely the best resource on a topic, other sites will reference it naturally.
- Get listed in relevant directories. Business directories, industry associations, and local listings all provide backlinks. Our post on local citations explains which ones matter and why.
- Build relationships, not just links. Connect with other businesses, industry publications, and local organisations. Guest contributions, joint projects, and genuine partnerships lead to natural backlinks.
- Reclaim broken or unlinked mentions. If someone mentions your business online without linking to your site, reach out and politely ask for a link. Tools like Ahrefs can help you find these mentions.
Publish strong, consistent content
Content quality affects domain authority in two ways. First, good content attracts backlinks naturally. Second, thorough content that covers topics in depth signals expertise to search engines, even if they don’t call it “authority” in those exact terms.
What this looks like in practice:
- Cover your topic areas thoroughly. Don’t just write one post about SEO. Build a cluster of content that demonstrates depth of knowledge. As we discussed in our post on keyword research, understanding what people actually search for is the starting point.
- Publish regularly. A blog that hasn’t been updated in a year doesn’t signal an active, authoritative business. Consistency matters.
- Update existing content. Don’t just publish and forget. Revisit older posts, update statistics, add new information. Fresh content performs better than stale content.
Get your technical SEO right
Technical issues won’t directly tank your domain authority score, but they can prevent search engines from properly crawling and indexing your content, which limits the SEO value you accumulate over time.
Key technical factors:
- Make sure your site is fully crawlable. No accidental noindex tags on important pages, no broken internal links, clean XML sitemaps.
- Site speed matters. Slow sites provide a worse user experience, which affects engagement metrics, which can indirectly impact your rankings.
- Fix broken links. Both internal and external. Broken links waste crawl budget and create dead ends for users and search engines alike.
- Use HTTPS. This should be standard in 2026, but you’d be surprised how many sites still have mixed content issues or incomplete SSL implementations.
Our guide on how to conduct a website audit walks through the full technical checklist.
Realistic expectations for small businesses
Here’s the truth that a lot of SEO content glosses over. If you’re a small business with a relatively new website, your domain authority is probably going to sit somewhere between 10 and 30 for a while. That’s normal. Competing against established sites with DA scores of 60+ takes years of consistent effort.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t rank. Domain authority is a domain-level metric, and Google ranks pages, not domains. A small site with a fantastic, well-optimised page on a specific topic can outrank a high-authority site with a mediocre page on that same topic. This is especially true for:
- Local searches. A local business with solid local SEO fundamentals can outrank national sites in geographic searches, regardless of domain authority.
- Long-tail keywords. Specific, niche queries have less competition, giving lower-authority sites a realistic chance of ranking.
- Emerging topics. Being first to publish thorough content on a newer topic can establish your page before high-authority competitors catch up.
The point isn’t to obsess over your DA number. It’s to understand the factors behind it and work on them consistently. The number will follow.
A small site with a brilliant page on a specific topic can outrank a high-authority site with a mediocre one. Domain authority matters, but it’s not the whole story.
What NOT to do
A quick word on tactics that will hurt you rather than help:
- Buying links. This violates Google’s guidelines and can result in manual penalties. The risk far outweighs any short-term benefit.
- Spammy directory submissions. Submitting to hundreds of low-quality directories in bulk is a tactic from 2010. It doesn’t work and can actively harm your profile.
- Link exchanges. “I’ll link to you if you link to me” schemes are easily detected and devalued by Google.
- Private blog networks (PBNs). Networks of sites created solely to link to each other. Google has been cracking down on these for years. As we covered in our post on SEO beyond keyword stuffing, the shortcuts don’t work anymore.
Action steps
- Check your current score. Use Moz Link Explorer or Ahrefs’ free checker. Note your score and check your top three competitors using the same tool.
- Audit your backlink profile. How many referring domains do you have? Are they relevant and quality, or mostly junk directories? Identify gaps.
- Create one link-worthy piece of content. A thorough guide, original research, or genuinely useful resource in your area of expertise. Something other sites would want to reference.
- Claim your directory listings. Make sure you’re listed on the major UK directories: Google Business Profile, Yell, Bing Places, Thomson Local, and any relevant industry directories.
- Set a 6-month benchmark. Check your DA again in six months. If you’ve been consistent with content and link building, you should see movement. Don’t check weekly. It changes slowly.
If you want a professional assessment of where your site stands and what it would take to improve your search visibility, get in touch. We’ll give you an honest picture of the competitive landscape and a realistic plan for making progress.
