Web
glossary
What is domain authority?
Domain authority is a metric developed by Moz that predicts a site’s ranking potential based on its link profile. Domain authority is scored on a logarithmic scale from 1 to 100, with higher scores representing higher probabilities of ranking well. The scoring takes into account:
- The number of linking root domains pointing to a site, as well as the quality of those domains
- The number of total links pointing to a site
- Various other ranking factors, based on machine learning
Websites with a large number of high-quality inbound links score higher in domain authority, while websites with low link equity score lower in domain authority. New websites typically start with a domain authority of 1.
How can I test my site's domain authority?
You can test your site’s domain authority by using Moz’s free domain analytics tool.
Example domain authority scores
Here are example domain authority scores of major websites based on July 2022 stats:
| Domain | Domain authority | Number of linking root domains |
| instagram.com | 99 | 23.4 million |
| youtube.com | 99 | 20.5 million |
| twitter.com | 99 | 18.5 million |
| linkedin.com | 98 | 16.9 million |
| en.wikipedia.org | 97 | 5.7 million |
| nytimes.com | 94 | 1.7 million |
| cnn.com | 93 | 1 million |
| bbc.com | 93 | 822,000 |
| dailymaverick.co.za | 79 | 72,500 |
What is a good domain authority to target?
What counts as “good” domain authority will vary from industry to industry. Domain authority should always be used as a comparative score to benchmark your site against competitors in your field, rather than an absolute score to measure the efficacy of your SEO efforts. Algorithmic changes will affect domain authority scores over time.
How do I improve my site’s domain authority?
Developing a robust content strategy is the best way to improve your site’s domain authority. The publication of regular, high quality content is one way to attract a steady stream of incoming links to your site from a variety of sources. These efforts can be supplemented by outreach, press, influencer marketing and social media marketing.