Domain authority is an SEO metric that is used to predict how a website will rank in search engines. The higher the website’s domain authority, the better chance of ranking in search results. In this article, you will learn more about the best domain authority checker tools and why you need one.
Quick Links:
- What Is Domain Authority?
- The Best Tools To Check Domain Authority
- Comparison Table
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Domain Authority?
Domain authority was created by Moz (SEO marketing company) to identify the SEO strength of websites and compare them with other websites to see which ones have a better ranking potential. The score ranges from 0 to 100; the higher the score, the better the chances of ranking well.
Factors that affect Moz domain authority are
- Linking root domains
- The number of links on the web page (external links/internal links)
- Moz’s machine-learning algorithm
- Websites with a high domain authority score
Apart from this, there are other factors that influence domain authority. Most of them can be found in the Moz algorithm which obviously follows a set of rules and guidelines which determine how the score will be calculated.
What happens is, they take all of this information and then evaluate it to get the final DA score. However, keep in mind that domain authority is not an official Google ranking factor; instead, it is just a metric used to determine the strength of a website.
The Best Tools To Check Domain Authority
Here are the four best SEO tools to check the domain authority of websites:
1. Moz Domain Authority Checker Tool
Moz’s domain authority checker tool is probably the most popular one in this list right next to Ahrefs domain authority checker. The reason Moz’s tool is so popular is that they are the ones who came up with domain authority in the first place. They also have one of the best crawlers at their disposal to check authority by evaluating how many quality backlinks a site has.
In addition to this, you can also check the authority of individual pages. The authority score of specific pages is termed page authority. It is similar to domain authority except here, you will be able to identify the strength of a specific page when compared to other sites.
The name of the tool is called Mozbar and it uses machine learning to score websites by evaluating multiple factors. The algorithm is frequently updated, so there may be times when the score of a site fluctuates if there is a change in link activity within that site or if the algorithm is being updated.
2. Ahrefs
If you want an alternative to Moz that is equally powerful you can always rely on Ahrefs to get the job done for you. There are some notable differences in the way certain processes are termed. For example, unlike Moz, you won’t find a separate section for domain authority and page authority. Instead, you’ll find “domain rating” and “URL rating.” They may look and sound different but serve the same purpose: domain and page authority.
A useful feature to check domain authority that Ahrefs offers is that when you enter the URL of a domain you can see the linking websites and backlinks. You can take advantage of this feature by looking at what backlinks your competitors are using and see if you can use the same or something similar on your site. Furthermore, you can also see which of those links are do-follow and which ones are the most valuable. Overall, it is a great tool to check website authority and for link building.
3. Majestic
This is another tool similar to Ahrefs. It lets users check the authority score of domains and what type of backlinks they use.
Majestic’s most notable feature apart from being able to check domain authority is its indexing capabilities. Majestic has two types of indexing.
1. Historic: This option lets users take a look at the older data that Majestic has crawled in the last 5 years. This can be valuable information for marketers. With the help of these features, users will be able to understand where they might have lost links and when that happened. This knowledge will help them focus their efforts on areas that need improvement.
You can even target the lost links of competitors, find out what they were using and implement them in your sites if they are worthy. This will give you the opportunity to gain the links that were lost and improve your domain authority score.
2. Fresh: This option will allow users to view fresh data on backlinks multiple times in a day. This feature is frequently updated to always show fresh data.
With the help of these two features, users will be able to get a complete overview and performance of any domain they search for. Majestic places more emphasis on the quality and quantity of inbound links which is helpful for SEO specialists to know where they can improve.
4. SEMRUSH
Semrush is one of the top digital marketing tools to perform site analysis, keyword research, competitor analysis, content marketing, and marketing campaign management for businesses. You get instant insight into any website URL you enter into the specified field.
To check domain authority of any website, copy the homepage link or URL of the website and paste it into the Enter domain field. You can specify the location to view the performance of the website in a specific region. Hit the Search button to check the Semrush DA score of the website.
Comparison Table of the 4 Domain Authority Checker Tools
| Tools | Free Trial | Pricing / Month | DA Checker – Websites Limit | Other free SEO tools | ||
| Basic / Lite | Pro / Standard | Advanced | ||||
| Moz | 30 days | $ 99 | $ 179 | $ 299 | 3 per day | Link explorer, page optimization, crawl and audits, rank tracker |
| Ahrefs | 2 months free with an Annual subscription | $ 99 | $ 199 | $ 399 | Ahrefs Webmaster Tools offers unlimited searches | Site audit, keyword explorer, backlinks, content gap, organic competitors, etc |
| Majestic | Sign Up for free and an overview of the site explorer feature | $ 49.99 | $ 99.99 | $ 399.99 | 1 on anonymous usage, and requests for free sign up to continue your search | Site explorer, Referring domains, Trust flow, Rank tracker, Custom reports, and more |
| Semrush | 7-Day free trial | $ 119.95 | $ 229.95 | $ 449.95 | Free upto 10 searches per day | SEO, PPC, Content Marketing, Keyword Research |
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Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is page authority?
Page authority is the score that Moz gives to specific pages based on the quantity and quality of links present in them. It will also be compared with other pages in the same industry and then evaluate the final score.
2. Is there a good DA score?
A good DA score is relative; it depends on the industry and what score your competitors have. The final score will be decided based on the score that other sites have, especially the websites that have high domain authority.
3. Is there a free domain authority checker?
Yes, Moz and Ahrefs offer their services for free and anyone can use them to check domain authority of websites.
4. Can you improve the domain authority of a website?
If you want to improve the score of your site, then focus on improving key areas like:
1. Perform a Website Audit
2. Competitor Analysis
3. Creating engaging, useful, and quality content
4. Utilize social media to promote your content
Note that it becomes extremely hard to increase the DA of a website from 60 to 70 than increase it from 20 to 30. The higher the domain rating, the harder it is to increase it further.
Understanding The Importance Of Domain Authority Score
A website’s DA is a helpful metric for users that want to improve their website performance in search engines. It is not an absolute metric. Instead, take it as a metric that you can use to self-evaluate your website with your competitors and see how much of a difference there is in terms of their rankings in the search results, the keywords they used to get there, and most importantly, what type of backlinks they use, and the quality and quantity of it all.
The bottom line is that it is a helpful metric that can help SEO marketers and new webmasters to understand where they are in terms of performance and what else can be done to improve it.
