How to increase your domain authority

If your marketing team could see the future, what could you achieve? Know how the blogs and websites you create will rank in the search engine results pages (SERPs). And if you’re building a website that attracts traffic — or more specifically — marketing leads — you know how a month of backlinks, technical SEO optimization, and social media posts can affect your site’s page one rankings.

Of course, no one can see the future, especially if your fate depends on Google’s highly guarded ranking system. But tracking domain authority (DA) can provide insights that keep marketers on track.

What is a domain authority?

Domain authority is a point that shows how good and useful a website is, Moz, a company that helps in website optimization. The results let marketers and SEO experts know how well a page compares to what people are trying to visit their site. Each page on a website can have a different DA score, but if one page has a high score, it can help other pages on the same website perform well. This is done through internal linking.

Domain authority scores range from 0 to 100, anything below 30 is considered low, and the content of that page is unlikely to rank well in search engines. On the other hand, over 80 DA results with excellent domain authority and quality content posted on that website increase the chances of appearing on page one for their keywords.

Note that domain authority scores are based on a logarithmic scale, so you’ll see immediate gains when you start. As the DA score increases, it becomes progressively harder to achieve a score increase. This is why improving a DA score from 30 to 40 is generally easier than improving a DA score from 50 to 60, even though the score difference is the same.

Also, remember that domain authority alone does not guarantee a page a rank. You should produce high-quality content that is relevant to your website’s topic, include links to other pages and resources, and create interest with features such as images, infographics, and video. You should also optimize content for the keywords your audience uses to search for information. Great content on a website with high authority is a winning combination.

How to check your DA score

Moz offers a free link explorer tool that will look at your website – or a competitor’s site – and calculate its domain authority score. The popularity of the website is the most important factor in determining the results. The Moz tool also takes into account various factors, for example, the number of backlinks to the site, how many different domains send traffic to the page, how many domains link to it, and the structure of the website where the page is located.

Older pages on established websites with a history of sharing valuable content will have higher DA scores than pages on newer domains. But a new website with a marketing team actively working to build authority can still rank well in no time.

How can you raise your score?

Businesses can take several steps to build strong domain authority, including:

Create content that your audience wants

Your main focus should always be on creating content that your audience will find useful. While incorporating good SEO practices will make that content more visible, once your customers find it, you’ll want to impress them with your ability to answer their questions and provide solutions to their problems. This will keep them coming back.

Add backlinks from high profile sites

Use an SEO tool to monitor the number of backlinks you have to your site and take steps to increase them. This can include asking your partners to link to your site, sharing marketing assets like surveys, e-books or infographics you’ve created, and asking media to mention and link to them. In addition to increasing the number of backlinks, you want to get backlinks on websites with a good DA score and a healthy amount of organic traffic.

Do a site audit and fix red flags

A site audit reveals your website’s issues with the technical aspects of SEO and shows you the priorities for fixing them. Fixing broken links, adding missing meta descriptions and image alt tags, solving subpage load speed and other problems will result in better DA scores for your websites.

Expand your social media presence

Sharing blogs, marketing assets and website links on social media can help drive traffic to your site. While those links aren’t “backlinks” per se, they can have a positive impact on your website’s popularity.

Start with your domain

Websites that are easy to find in the search engine results list can expect more traffic than others. But remember, not every click comes from a SERP. New web addresses that use both sides of the dot to describe what a business does can result in more visits — and return visits — because they’re more memorable. A web address ending in .io, .cafe or .agency stands out from run-of-the-mill legacy domains, so it’s likely to attract more interest. New web addresses signal to your audience that your business is forward-thinking and determined.

Once you’ve chosen a domain name that truly conveys your digital identity, it’s time to build domain authority by focusing on content quality, backlinks, technical SEO, social media activity, and other factors that build traffic to your website and demand for your content. You print there.