# Domain authority explained: DA, DR and what actually matters

> Agent-friendly Markdown of https://www.buildseo.org/guides/domain-authority-explained — full index for AI agents: https://www.buildseo.org/llms.txt

_Pillar guide · Authority metrics_

Domain Authority, Domain Rating and Authority Score are third-party estimates — useful for comparison, easy to game, and not used by Google. Here's how they differ and how to judge a site properly.

By Anurag Pattnaik · Updated 28 Sep 2026

**Key takeaways**

- DA (Moz), DR (Ahrefs) and Authority Score (Semrush) are proprietary metrics, not Google signals.
- Open PageRank is a free, open metric based on Common Crawl link data.
- Scores are relative and can be inflated; never judge a site on one number.
- Check indexing, real organic visibility, relevance and spam signals.
- An explainable score beats a black box you can't defend to a client.

## What "domain authority" means

"Domain authority" is shorthand for how strong a site's link profile looks compared with others. Several companies publish their own version, each computed differently from their own crawl of the web.

Google has said it doesn't use third-party authority metrics. They're proxies built by SEO tools to help you compare sites quickly.

## The main metrics compared

| Metric | From | Scale | Based on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Domain Authority (DA) | Moz | 1–100 | Moz's link index and machine-learned model |
| Domain Rating (DR) | Ahrefs | 0–100 | Strength of a site's backlink profile in Ahrefs' index |
| Authority Score | Semrush | 0–100 | Backlinks plus organic traffic and spam signals |
| Open PageRank | Open PageRank initiative | 0–10 | Common Crawl link data, freely available |
| BuildSEO Authority Score | BuildSEO | 0–100 | Index status, domain age & HTTPS, organic visibility, technical health, spam signals, category fit |

Scores from different tools aren't interchangeable: a DR 50 site isn't a DA 50 site. Compare sites using the same metric, and treat all of them as estimates.

> **Free tool:** [Domain Authority Checker](https://www.buildseo.org/free-tools/domain-authority-checker.md) — Look up any domain's Open PageRank score for free.

## Why a single score misleads

- **It can be inflated.** Sites can buy or swap links to raise a metric without gaining real visibility.
- **It ignores relevance.** A high-score site in an unrelated niche may be a worse link than a modest site in yours.
- **It ignores indexing.** A strong-looking domain can have large parts deindexed.
- **It lags.** Tool indexes update on their own schedules.
- **It hides the why.** You can't defend "it's a 60" to a client who asks what that means.

We wrote about this in [Why We Stopped Buying Domain Authority and Computed Our Own](https://www.buildseo.org/blog/why-we-stopped-buying-domain-authority.md).

## How to judge a link source properly

- Indexed: site: search returns pages
- Real organic visibility (ranking pages, traffic estimates)
- Relevant to your category or country
- Healthy technically: HTTPS, loads, no mass errors
- Outbound links look editorial, not sold in bulk
- No adult, casino, pharma or PBN footprint
- Content written for readers, not for links
- Domain age and history make sense

> **Free tool:** [Redirect & SSL Checker](https://www.buildseo.org/free-tools/redirect-ssl-checker.md) — Confirm HTTPS and redirect health.

> **Free tool:** [Console Error Scanner](https://www.buildseo.org/free-tools/console-error-scanner.md) — Spot broken, neglected sites.

## Spam signals to watch

- Thousands of outbound links to unrelated sites
- "Write for us" pages selling dofollow links
- Sudden traffic collapse or deindexing
- Thin, spun or AI-filler content across the site
- Footer or sidebar links to casinos, loans or pharma
- Networks of near-identical sites

## What is a good score?

"Good" is relative to your niche and competitors. Look at the scores of sites already linking to pages that rank for your keywords — that's your realistic range. Relevance and indexing matter more than crossing an arbitrary threshold.

## How BuildSEO scores publishers

BuildSEO's Authority Score (0–100) combines index status, domain age and HTTPS, organic visibility, technical health, spam signals and category fit — and you can open any score and read it signal by signal. Candidates that fail hard checks (adult, casino, spam, deindexed, PBN) are excluded before any submission; borderline ones go to an operator review queue.

## More in Authority metrics

- DA vs DR vs Open PageRank (coming soon)
- How to judge a publisher before you submit (coming soon)
- Spam signals: 10 red flags on a link source (coming soon)
- [Why we stopped buying Domain Authority](https://www.buildseo.org/blog/why-we-stopped-buying-domain-authority.md)
- [Free Domain Authority Checker](https://www.buildseo.org/free-tools/domain-authority-checker.md)

## Other guides

- [Directory submission](https://www.buildseo.org/guides/directory-submission.md) — Guide
- [Link verification](https://www.buildseo.org/guides/verify-backlinks.md) — Guide
- [Cost per link](https://www.buildseo.org/blog/link-building-cost.md) — Guide

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Google use Domain Authority?

No. DA is a Moz metric. Google has said it doesn't use third-party authority scores.

### What's the difference between DA and DR?

DA is Moz's 1–100 score; DR is Ahrefs' 0–100 score. They're built from different link indexes and models, so they don't match.

### What is Open PageRank?

A free, open authority metric (0–10) computed from Common Crawl link data. BuildSEO's free Domain Authority Checker uses it.

### What is a good domain authority?

It depends on your niche. Compare against the sites linking to pages that already rank for your keywords.

### Can I raise my domain authority quickly?

You can inflate a metric, but that doesn't improve rankings. Earn relevant links from indexed, real sites.

## Link building you can prove

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14-day free trial · Pending and rejected submissions are never billed · Cancel anytime

Start your 14-day free trial: https://www.buildseo.org/pricing.md · Talk to a human: sales@andolasoft.com

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