Domain authority check & increase (3 tips)

First things first

Please note: domain authority is not an official Google ranking factor. While the score does correlate with higher rankings, you should primarily use it as an indication of how well websites can potentially rank in Google.

You can use it to compare your own website with those of the competition. As input to better assess whether your website has any chance of reaching the top of Google.

Or just to check whether a backlink from a website is actually worth it, of course…

How is domain authority measured or calculated?

Major SEO tools like Ahrefs, Semrush and Moz all have their own version of domain authority that measure or calculate it slightly differently.

Moz Domain Authority

Moz calculates Domain Authority using :

• the total number of links to your website
• the number of domains that link to your website
• The quality of those links

Ahrefs Domain Rating

To determine a website's authority, Ahrefs uses a Domain Rating based on:

• the number of unique domains that link to your website
• the authority of those domains
• and the number of websites those domains link to in total

Semrush Authority Score

Semrush uses the following to assign an Authority Score to your website:

• Quantity and quality of your backlinks
• organic traffic
• spam (e.g. no good rankings, but unnaturally many backlinks or many links from the same IP address)

So you see: for domain authority, links are pretty important. And for your rankings, too.

Domain age: why older websites often rank better in Google

You often see that older websites rank better and easier in Google than new websites. This is because of domain age. By how long your website has been on the air.

Older domains have often accumulated a lot of links over the years. This happens almost automatically. For example, they might just happen to get a backlink from a homepage (check here to see how that works).

As a result, older websites have often built up higher domain authority and are therefore more likely to rank with their content than new websites that still need to build that authority.

How can you check your domain authority?

Do you want to check the domain authority? Of your own website or that of one of your competitors? You can. For free even. Moz, Ahrefs and Semrush have all developed a free authority checker for you.

Choose your favorite:

• Moz Free Domain Authority Checker
• Ahrefs Website Authority Checker
• Semrush Website Authority Checker

Note: These tools often only give you a score and a brief summary of the backlinks. That’s fine for a one-time check, but obviously not if you’re serious about SEO and online marketing.

How to increase your domain authority: 3 tips

We do not advise you to blindly stare at the score, but of course it helps to work on a stronger website if you want to get higher in Google. With these 3 tips you can at least increase your domain authority.

1. Focus on link building

Links to your website show that others find your content valuable. You can think of them as a kind of recommendation. Do you have a lot of recommendations from other websites? Then your website is apparently trustworthy and relevant. That boosts your domain authority—and your rankings.

Important: Prioritize quality over quantity. A link from another “strong” website in your industry often has more impact than multiple links from small websites that have nothing to do with your business or topic.

Pro tip: Find out here how to remove bad backlinks!

2. Create good content

Good content is important. For several reasons.

First, good content meets the search intent of visitors and potential customers. This is good for brand perception and for your website’s conversion rate. So it’s good for your business (see also Helpful Content: 5 Useful Tips).

But good content can also provide quality backlinks without you having to put in extra effort. Saves hours of searching for link building opportunities on other blogs and professional websites.

3. Be active on social media

For example, share that valuable content you created on LinkedIn. That's because it increases the chances that others will pick up your content and link to your website (if you're lucky, that is). Small effort, big result.

Moreover, you can position yourself there nicely as an expert. As a thought leader. As an authority in your field. As a trusted source. And you guessed it: people are more likely to link to such a reliable source.

In short: more visibility, more trust and more chance of natural and qualitative links. More domain authority, in other words.

Pro-tip

It may go without saying, but of course the technology of your website must also be good. That means: fast load times, logical structure, good internal links and so on. You know the drill.

Want to know more?

Want to learn more about domain authority? Need help with link building, your content, or social media? We’d be happy to help. Feel free to contact us .