6 Steps to Get AI to Recommend Your Brand

Understanding Website Authority (Metrics Compared)

Website authority is a concept in SEO that refers to a site’s overall strength and likelihood to rank high in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Although not an official Google metric, it’s frequently used in the SEO industry as an indicator of a website’s potential ranking power.

The term Domain Authority is often used interchangeably with website authority. However, Domain Authority (DA) is actually a specific metric developed by Moz to predict how likely a website is to rank in search results.

DA is a widely recognized metric. But it’s just one tool’s interpretation of website authority. Other SEO tools like Semrush and Ahrefs have their own metrics for measuring website authority, each with its own unique calculation methods.

How Is Your Domain’s Website Authority Calculated?

The three leading SEO tools—Semrush, Moz, and Ahrefs—each offer metrics for assessing website authority.

While these metrics share similarities, they also have differences in their calculations, which often results in varying scores for the same website across platforms.

For example, Backlinko’s website authority is 62 in Semrush, 90 in Ahrefs, and 74 in Moz.

Does this mean that one tool is more accurate than the other? Not necessarily.

Each tool uses a unique algorithm and dataset, leading to variations in the factors considered and how they are weighted.

For example, all tools consider similar factors, like backlinks. However, they might prioritize them differently, with some emphasizing link quantity while others focus more on link quality.

7 Strategies to Increase Website Authority for Your Domain

Here are the seven proven strategies that have worked well for Backlinko. Use them to boost your website’s authority and search engine rankings.

Strategy #1: Create Linkable Assets

One of the most effective ways to earn high-quality backlinks is to create high quality and valuable stats or data pages. These pages act as linkable assets, providing bloggers, journalists, and other content creators with reliable data to reference and cite.

Strategy #2: Focus on Content Marketing

Publishing high-quality content that ranks well in search engines is another great way to attract backlinks and increase website authority for your domain. This strategy aligns perfectly with how Semrush calculates Authority Score.

Strategy #3: Do Digital PR

Digital PR is a strategy that uses online channels to increase brand awareness, build relationships, and earn valuable backlinks. This involves creating newsworthy content and promoting it to journalists and bloggers.

Strategy #4: Respond to Media Requests

Journalists often seek expert opinions, data, and quotes to add credibility and depth to their stories. Use platforms like Featured to discover journalist queries and respond to relevant requests.

Strategy #5: Keep Your Backlink Profile Healthy

Building authority backlinks is a long-term process requiring time and effort. Focus on earning links from real, authoritative websites that are relevant to your niche.

Strategy #6: Improve User Experience

A website that’s easy to navigate and provides a seamless user experience is more likely to attract and retain visitors.

Strategy #7: Build Backlinks with Outreach

Use tactics like broken link building and claim unlinked mentions to enhance your backlink profile and strengthen your online presence.

What’s a Good Authority Score?

There’s no universal number that defines a “good” authority score. What’s considered good depends on factors like your industry, competition, and goals.