Updated On: October 28, 2024
Today, we're looking at two well-known domain scores: Ahrefs' Domain Rating (DR) and Moz's Domain Authority (DA). People often use these to gauge how solid a website is, but how reliable are they really?
A high DR suggests a solid backlink profile, while a strong DA hints that your site could perform well in search results. But honestly, relying only on these metrics can be misleading.
Sure, 68.3% of SEO experts we surveyed still consider domain scores important for judging backlink quality, but there’s more to the story.
It’s not just about the numbers Moz and Ahrefs give you.
If you want to know a site’s true value, you need to look at things like its traffic, what keywords it ranks for, and the overall link profile. These things give you a better idea of whether the site’s worth going after for backlinks.
That said, many people still put a lot of weight on DR and DA, sometimes even more than they should. In this guide, we’ll explore how these metrics differ and how much they matter when improving your SEO.
Ever since Google shelved PageRank (displayed in a screenshot below), SEOs needed new ways to measure a website's clout.
That’s why we have Domain Authority (DA) and Domain Rating (DR) from Moz and Ahrefs, respectively.
These metrics have become the new norm for gauging site strength, but here’s the catch—they're not flawless.
Take this scenario: you compare two sites, https://naplab.com/ with a DR of 44
and https://startup.info/ at 77
At first glance, the higher DR might seem like the better bet, right?
Not so fast.
Dig a bit deeper, and you might find the site with the lower DR buzzing with traffic (more than 130k) and engagement:
while the other one is just a link farm hit by Google penalties.
Why does this matter?
Because Google doesn’t just look at DR or DA to rank sites. Even though many in this industry, including sponsored ads, hail these metrics as the ultimate standards, they only tell part of the story.
For example, here’s what happens if you type “link building agency” in the search bar:
The thing is, both DA and DR are calculated by bots that crawl the web and analyze search results—much like Google's own algorithms.
But these bots aren’t perfect.
They collect tons of data to predict how well a site might rank, but they can miss the nuances that show a site's true value.
This is why DA and DR should be used carefully.
They’re useful, sure, but not the be-all and end-all. Consider them as part of a broader strategy that considers multiple factors to truly boost your SEO game.
And when it comes to mastering the backlink game, Editorial.Link has got you covered! We don’t just rely on DR or DA; we secure links from top-tier sites that truly add value, regardless of metrics. So, if you need help, just get in touch!
Moz's Domain Authority (DA) is a metric designed to predict how well your website will rank on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Developed by Moz in 2004, DA helps SEO professionals gauge a site's potential performance against its competitors. Thus, it quickly became a go-to metric for SEO professionals.
As you can see from the screenshot, the latest version pulls data from a vast index, with over 43.8 trillion links across nearly 743 million domains.
In other words, DA is a score Moz developed to compare websites on a scale from 1 to 100. The higher your DA, the more likely your site is to rank high in search results.
💡Note: DA is different from Page Authority, which looks at individual pages instead of the whole site.
DA is based on a comprehensive mix of factors, like the number of quality inbound links and the age of the domain. These elements are crunched by Moz’s machine learning algorithm, making DA a robust indicator of potential search engine success.
DA isn't perfect. It's a predictive tool, not a definitive measure of ranking. That means while a high DA points to potential success, it's not a guarantee. Just like Ahrefs’ DR, it’s best used as a comparative tool, not the only metric you rely on.
For a practical take, say you're sizing up your site against a competitor's. A quick check on Moz's Domain Authority Checker can show you how you stack up 😉
For example, here’s what hubspot.com (a respected platform that makes it easier for companies to attract customers, close sales, and offer great support) looks like to Moz:
If your DA is higher, you're likely in a good spot! But if it’s lower, it’s a signal that you might need to beef up your site with better content or stronger links. It is what it is.
The cool part?
Moz keeps refining DA. Since 2019, their Domain Authority 2.0 has been tapping into an even broader data set, making the score more reliable than ever.
The DA score is calculated using about 40 key SEO factors, including linking root domains, social media signals, and the site's spam score. Plus, they update DA every few weeks or so, so it's always tuned to the latest web dynamics.
All in all, DA is a powerhouse in your SEO toolkit, and you should use it to see where you stand and refine your strategies. You can mix it with other metrics and insights to fully understand your site’s authority and potential. That’s how it works!
Developed by Ahrefs in 2016, DR is a metric that measures the strength of a website’s backlink profile on a scale from 0 to 100. It's become crucial for SEO experts to gauge a site's influence and potential in search rankings.
📝 Fact: in our research, 69% of SEO experts trusted Ahrefs' Domain Rating (DR) as the go-to metric for measuring a site's strength.
Here’s an example of great DR results for monday.com (the company helps teams organize their work and projects):
So what makes DR special?
It zeroes in on the number and quality of external backlinks a website garners. High-quality links boost your DR, signaling a robust backlink profile.
Just like DA, DR is updated regularly to reflect the dynamic nature of the web. As websites gain or lose backlinks, their DR can change, providing SEO experts with up-to-date insights into link profile strength.
Here’s why DR matters:
A high DR means your site has influential backlinks that could help elevate your presence in search results.
Yet, remember, DR is just one part of your SEO toolkit. While it points to potential, it doesn’t guarantee top rankings. Other factors like content quality and technical SEO play huge roles too.
Ahrefs has one of the best crawlers out there, scanning billions of pages daily to keep its massive backlink database up to date.
When you run your site through Ahrefs' Website Authority Checker, it looks at all the links pointing to your domain—both do-follow and no-follow.
Domain Rating (DR) considers the number of unique sites linking to you, the total number of backlinks, and the DR of those sites.
High-authority links are the most valuable as they carry weight.
Using DR gives you a snapshot of your backlink profile. It’s a handy way to spot link-building opportunities and see how you stack up against your competitors. If you want to dig deeper into how it’s calculated, Ahrefs has a full guide.
Just remember, having a high DR isn’t everything. Focus on building real, quality links that help your site grow and improve your SEO.
While both metrics gauge a website’s influence, they do so from different perspectives.
DA evaluates your website’s overall potential to rank in Google. It considers multiple factors, including the age of the domain, the size of the site, and the quality of your link profile.
DR, on the other hand, focuses specifically on your backlink profile, emphasizing the number and strength of links pointing to your site.
Here’s a quick table to help you understand their key differences:
| Aspect | Domain Rating (DR) | Domain Authority (DA) |
| Developed by | Ahrefs | Moz |
| Focus | Backlink strength | Overall site authority |
| Calculation Factors | Quality, quantity, and diversity of backlinks | Links, domain age, site size |
| Best for | Assessing backlink strength | Estimating ranking potential |
Basically, DR looks at how strong and varied your backlinks are, while DA takes a wider view to estimate how well your site might rank.
Both Ahrefs’ Domain Rating (DR) and Moz’s Domain Authority (DA) help measure how solid your site’s backlink profile is compared to others.
But what counts as a "good" score?
For DR, hitting 50+ means you’ve got a decent overall link profile, and anything above 80 shows real authority. With DA, it’s pretty similar—a score over 50 means you're ahead of a lot of competitors, and 80+ gives you a serious edge.
Here’s a quick look at how these scores compare:
| Score Range | DA Quality | DR Quality |
| Below 30 | Needs improvement | Needs improvement |
| 30-50 | Average to good | Average to good |
| 50-80 | Strong | Strong |
| 80 and above | Excellent to elite | Excellent to elite |
Keep in mind, though, that these numbers are most useful when comparing sites within your industry. To keep improving, focus on building a stronger link profile, enhancing your content quality, and tightening up your technical SEO.
Just like monday.com does, for example. That’s exactly why their DR score is so high.
Want to level up your DA or DR? Then do things the right way, and your scores will grow naturally.
When your site grows in all the right areas—your brand awareness takes off, you start earning reputable backlinks, and your technical SEO gets better—your DR and DA will follow suit.
If your site is well-structured with strong internal linking and you’re keeping a close eye on your link profile, you’re already on the right path. Add good user behavior (hello, low bounce rate!) and everything will come together.
It’s all about building real authority—no shortcuts.
Now, if you're obsessed with those numbers from Ahrefs or Moz, you could try some of the, let’s say, “not-so-white-hat” methods and risk it all.
Fiverr, for instance, has sellers offering DR services to artificially inflate those scores.
But we DO NOT recommend it in any way. While it might give you a quick score bump, it won’t do anything meaningful for your rankings or traffic. So, do the right thing and avoid that rabbit hole.
Stick to legit methods, and watch those numbers rise naturally.
With all the buzz around DA and DR scores, do they actually influence your SEO rankings directly?
The short answer is no.
Both DA and DR help measure potential, but, as you already know, Google doesn’t use these metrics to rank your site.
Here's something you might find surprising: a site with a sky-high DA or DR can have almost zero traffic and low-quality content.
Why?
Because these scores don’t guarantee that real users find the content valuable—they only reflect the site's backlink strength.
Ever had trouble getting backlinks because your DA or DR seemed too low, even though your site is active and runs a legitimate business?
I have…
And the worst thing is that this common issue can make it harder for you to get valuable collabs and endorsements from top-rated sites.
For example, here’s what you can get in response when reaching out to websites and trying to build links for a low-DR site:
Another one
💡 Note: Some websites with a 60 DR still aren't seeing significant business results. This could be because they're supported by many low-quality links that don't effectively impact their real-world performance.
Understanding DA and DR is critical for refining your SEO tactics, but remember—they're just part of the broader SEO puzzle.
These metrics offer insights into possible search engine performance based on backlink profiles but aren’t foolproof predictors of ranking success.
Use DA and DR to:
Ultimately, DA and DR should inform your strategy, not dictate it.
By integrating these insights with comprehensive SEO practices, you’ll not only boost your website’s authority but also its overall search engine performance and user engagement.
