23 Jul Demystifying Domain Authority & How To Improve It
If you’ve never watched Talladega Nights, you should hit play right now because it’s a hilarious movie. This Will Ferrell movie is famous for many things, including its absolute ridiculousness, but one other thing is a quote: “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”
Nearly 25% of people searching via Google click on the first organic result. So, when it comes to the world of Search Engine Optimisation, if you ain’t first, you’re last. A range of factors influence where your website lands on Google’s search engine results page (SERPs), including keyword optimisation, content quality and user experience.
While these are usually the ones people are familiar with, Domain Authority is a phrase often thrown into the SEO mix. While Google has stated it does not use Domain Authority as a ranking factor, it’s still a great metric to use when comparing your site to other competitor websites.
So what is it? And why should you consider it when developing your SEO Strategy?
What is Domain Authority?
Domain Authority is a concept developed by Moz and is used to predict how likely a domain will appear in the SERPs. Again, it’s important to note that Google doesn’t consider Domain Authority a ranking factor, but it’s always a great way to determine whether you’re beating the competition. Understanding your Domain Authority can help you determine how well your site is competing against your competitors.
How is Domain Authority calculated?
One of the ways you can build Domain Authority is through backlinks. These are links from another website that link to your website. It’s a great way to push up your score. While Domain Authority may not be a ranking factor, backlinks are important for SEO as they signal to Google that another website considers your content valuable enough to link to.
Unfortunately, you won’t be gaining any points with multiple links from just one website. If you have multiple links from one website, even if it’s from different pages, it is still considered one backlink. Along with this, the quality of each backlink is also essential. A link from BBC, for example, is always going to take precedence over a link from a random betting website.
With these factors in mind, Domain Authority considers the number and quality of backlinks your website receives. If you’re eager to check your score, Moz or SEMrush are good websites to utilise.
What’s a Good Score?
Do you remember being at school and receiving a 90% test score? There’s no better feeling, which is exactly why receiving an 85 or 90 score for your Domain Authority is top notch.
It’s important to keep in mind that while we all love receiving a high score, the score for your Domain Authority isn’t the number on a report card. Instead, it’s a great metric to use when determining how well you’re doing against competitors and the overall health of your website.
As previously mentioned, having backlinks from websites and pages with a high authority is going to push your score up. Google, reputable news websites, Wikipedia and governmental pages are all websites that have a higher page authority and will likely give your website a boost. Keep in mind that your industry plays a part in your score too! Therefore, a good domain authority will differ from one business to the next. For example, if your business is vertical farming, you may find that you have a score of 10 or 20 – a number that’s quite good for the industry you’re in.
With so many factors to consider, it’s best to analyse your competitors and use your own discretion.
How to build Domain Authority
One of the main components to building Domain Authority is building credible backlinks. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done, as we can’t always control who links to our website. You don’t have to resort to black-hat practices to improve your overall score, and the best SEO practices often go hand-in-hand with Domain Authority. Here are just a few ways:
Create Quality Content
A great way to encourage other websites to link to your website is by creating valuable content. People looking for information are never going to head to the second page of Google, so the key is to create keyword-rich content that ranks. Additionally, you want to make sure you’re the authority in your industry by creating content that’s well-researched and can’t be found anywhere else on the internet. Opinion pieces are an excellent way to do this.
Update Older Content
Google loves prioritising content that’s fresh and relevant. So it’s always a good idea to go through your old blog posts and update content where relevant. This will signal to Google that your content is current and valuable. It’s also just a good practice to implement as audience taste and overall understanding is constantly evolving, and what was relevant in 2020 may not be in 2024.
Identify Competitors
You’re only as good as your last performance, but in this case, your last competitor. Identifying and analysing competitors allows you to set realistic goals and identify areas where you can improve. It’s also a good idea to research and find out which websites are linking to competitors and then work on getting similar links to your website. This form of research also allows you to uncover gaps and opportunities you would not have been able to initially spot.
Contribute to Guests Posts
If you have something valuable to say, why not share it with relevant websites? There are several benefits to contributing to guest posts, including tapping into a new audience, expanding your network, and possibly earning backlinks. Publishers are always looking for relevant content, but make sure you choose online publications that are industry-specific and have topical relevance.
Increase Your Domain Authority, Improve Your Ranking?
Can you increase your Domain Authority and improve your ranking? While having a high Domain Score may feel like receiving straight As on your report card, it doesn’t determine your overall success. Domain Authority can be a great metric to use as it relies on factors that are used by Google, but there are other ways to show Google you are the authority in your industry.
If you’re eager to make a mark in the world of Google or Bing, speak to SOMS Digital Agency about creating a SEO Strategy that works for your business!