Domain Authority (DA) is a 1 to 100 score developed by Moz that estimates how likely a domain is to rank, based mainly on its link profile. Other SEO vendors have similar metrics, such as Domain Rating or Authority Score.
Why it matters
It is a quick way to compare sites and judge link opportunities. But Google has stated that it does not use any such score, so treat it as a relative, outside estimate and never as a target in itself.
Example
Your site: DA 28
Competitor A: DA 61
Competitor B: DA 35A link from a DA 61 site that is topically relevant is probably worth pursuing, but a link from an unrelated site with a high number may add little.
Common misconceptions
- DA is a Google ranking factor. It is not.
- A high score guarantees traffic. Many high-DA pages rank poorly for specific queries.
- You can compare scores across tools. Each vendor computes its own metric and values differ.
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