How to Measure and Improve Your Domain Authority

In this tutorial, Sandro, co-founder of Gemeos Agency, shows you how to measure and improve your website’s domain authority.

Understanding what domain authority measures

Domain authority (DA, DR) is a metric invented by third-party tools. Google doesn’t use these metrics: it has its own, non-public PageRank. These scores are useful for comparing domains, evaluating the quality of sites where you prospect for links, and tracking your progress. They don’t predict your rankings with certainty: sites with a low DR but excellent content in a low-competition niche can rank very well.

1. Measure your current authority

Moz Domain Analysis (free): DA + PA + spam score + referring domains. Ahrefs Website Authority Checker (free): DR + referring domains. Search Console > Links: the exact number of referring domains according to Google. Note your starting score: an increase of 5 to 10 points over 6 months is solid progress.

2. Analyze the quality of your link profile

In Ahrefs or Semrush, filter your backlinks by high "Spam Score" or "Low quality." Signs of a toxic link: a site that isn’t topically relevant, inconsistent content in multiple languages, DA/DR close to 0, or a site with lots of outgoing links. For clearly toxic links: disavow them via Google Disavow Tool.

3. Track the trend over time

In Search Console > Links, monitor the monthly growth in referring domains. Steady growth (+2 to +5 domains/month for a medium-sized site) is a good sign. A sudden drop can signal a Google penalty or the loss of important links. To build that authority: our guide to backlinks strategy.

Conclusion

Domain authority is a momentum indicator, not a goal in itself. For a full view of your SEO: our guide to running an SEO audit in 30 minutes. Use cases:

• Benchmark before and after a link building campaign
• Assess SEO health during a site acquisition
• Compare against competitors to prioritize efforts