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7 super effortless ways to improve your website domain authority

3 mins read

The authority of your website domain is a strong signaling factor that shows how successfully your website is performing. The higher the authority, the better. As competition continues to grow more fierce between tech businesses online, it's critical to keep your  domain authority (DA) high to stay ahead of the competition. 

website performance

What is Domain Authority?

Domain authority is a calculated value based on how well your website is following Google's webmaster guidelines. This metric measures how many good quality links are linked to your site, how often people visit your site and many other Google ranking factors which all adds up and gives you a score. 

Moz is the brains behind Domain Authority, they created the measuring tool to analyse the main ranking factors Google considers as significant when ranking a site. Moz's ranking metric is popularly used by businesses and SEOs because it's a reliable indicator of a website's value.

You can download MozRank for free so you can see what DA your website has.

The higher, the better!

As you click onto different websites you'll see the DA change. Sites with a high DA (over 50) indicate they are successful and high quality websites.

If a website has a low domain value (1-20) it usually suggests the site hasn't been online for very long. They have none or few quality links and they don't have many visitors. 

Every so often, Moz updates their DA metric so the numerical value will rise if the website gets more links, traffic, content, etc. Your domain value will also rise naturally as your website ages.

How to protect your Domain Authority

Your DA is a valuable metric you need to safeguard. As Moz updates their tool, you can see your DA increase when you improve your website and decline when you do something that conflicts with their ranking metrics. 

Moz's Rank Tool is a reliable indicator that shows how well your website is complying with Google's ranking algorithms. Over the last couple of years Google has been improving their search metrics so they can promote high quality websites. 

For businesses: having a high DA is paramount, especially if you want to rank higher over your competitors.

Here is what you can do to safeguard your DA from taking a hit:

1) Get high quality links

If other websites with high DA are linking to your site, it looks great in the eyes of Google. Getting links from authority websites is like a 'recommendation' that your website is high quality. You need to get these links naturally, and you can do that by writing premium content to impress these high DA sites.

Links from spammy sites with low DA can harm your authority. If you notice any spammers linking to you, get them disavowed (so Google won't penalise you for them). 

2) Don't buy links

In a bid to get high quality links, some businesses resort to buying links. You should never do that. Google has said they will punish any sites found to be buying links because it goes against their webmaster guidelines. If you get punished by Google so will your DA.

3) Have high quality AND relevant content

Having content on your website is important for SEO and driving traffic. Google promotes sites that offer relevant information. If you decide to copy content from other websites and put it on your own, Google will find out. Never duplicate, keep your site authority healthy with high quality content about your niche. 

4) Add content regularly

Make sure to add content to your site regularly. This invites Google's bots to come and visit your site and signals to Moz's ranking metrics that you're a current site that is being regularly maintained. Websites that are old with outdated content will eventually fall down the search rankings. Google appreciates up-to-date and regular content. 

5) Traffic

If you're website is busy with traffic this is a strong ranking factor that you have a successful and relevant site people find useful. Market your website to keep your traffic constant. Improving your SEO and investing in PPC can help keep people coming to your site.

6) Use Social Media

Social Media is another valuable means of getting more traffic to your site. And having social signals on your site is extra proof to Google that you're not a spammer but a real person.

7) Follow Google's guidelines

Google's word is law. If you want to increase your DA and keep it high, you need to keep Google happy. As Moz's ranking tool is based on many ranking factors Google uses, the value of your DA can signify how well your site is following Google's guidelines.

Websites with high domain authorities generally rank higher in Google Search. Whilst Moz's DA tool is only based on some of Google's core ranking factors, it's still a strong indicator of how well a website is performing. The higher the domain, the higher your keywords will rank, and the higher you are, the more traffic you'll get.

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