The concepts of domain authority (DA) and page authority (PA) are closely linked to a concept that integrates both, known as link building. If you are not familiar with these terms, we will clarify them and their usefulness here.
What is link building?
This is an SEO strategy aimed at establishing links through which the DA or Domain Authority is created to improve the positioning of a specific website within the network.
In other words, it refers to including third-party links on one’s pages to generate more visits.
Links must be generated naturally, with valuable content. Being named and having content published on websites other than our own will always benefit us considerably in terms of positioning for our most important search terms. If, in addition to this, the website where the valuable content is located has very good authority and usually deals with topics similar to ours, we discuss a link of great value that search engines will consider.
What is DA, and how does it work?
The DA, or Domain Authority, is a parameter that affects the website as a whole. It indicates the potential it has to generate traffic within the global network.
It is measured by the company Moz, and therefore, it is not a metric recognized by Google, so Google is not responsible for its calculation or operation. However, it is a useful parameter to predict a website’s positioning within Google’s digital universe.
It is measured on a scale of 1 to 100. Although Moz does not reveal the positioning method, we know that the quality of backlinks (links that allow you to move from one website to another) has a considerable influence on improving a website’s position.
DA does not affect a particular page but all the content on a domain.
What is PA?
PA or Page Authority is the same as DA but refers to a single page within a website. The type of keywords included is essential for a page to achieve good PA levels. A high PA means that your page has a higher potential to generate traffic and attract potential customers, leading to greater visibility in search engines.
Certain special words help us generate the organic search to obtain the traffic we require for our pages. Organic search corresponds to the results of the algorithm that Google selects to show the user the search results. Thus, more than 74% of all search traffic on the Internet is achieved through organic search, leaving a small percentage of searches derived from direct advertising.
Are high levels of DA and PA important?
Experts differ on how important these metrics are to the success of a website and the pages within it.
Some tell us they have complete confidence that good authority will ultimately lead to greater strength for our website and, therefore, better rankings and traffic levels. Others express reasonable doubts about the importance of these metrics.
What is certain is that obtaining a high rating for these parameters for our page or website will help us achieve the results we expect. Nevertheless, we must not presume that a high rating on High Authority Sites ensures success. A well-balanced strategy that considers other variables will always be the surest way to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves.
How can I determine the domain authority (DA) of my website?
The best way to know your visibility can be offered to you by experts in digital strategies who have the tools, criteria, and knowledge necessary to give you an accurate answer. Beyond the diagnosis, they will have a way to offer you a strategy that will lead your website to achieve the results you expect.
There are also free apps that can provide you with the measurement. However, they all perform their calculations by selecting certain different relative elements for all apps. For this reason, none of them will be able to give you an accurate result.
To get as close as possible to the true position of your pages or website, you will need to compare the results of the measurements from several of these applications to determine the level that your site occupies.
It is worth remembering that authority levels are only one factor that indicates the potential of your online efforts, and they will always have a different say in this regard. Therefore, it is good to consider these indicators without obsessing over them. As stated before, balance in strategy offers the best results.
What can I do to improve the authority of my site or pages?
Without a doubt, through a good Link Acquisition Strategies approach. For this, the quality of the content we publish on other websites that point to ours will be fundamental. In the same way that search engines examine the content that we have published on our website, and from this analysis come the conclusions of their algorithms to determine the positioning of the keywords that we want to position, Google and the rest of the search engines will examine the quality of the content that points to our website and the type of link that is configured. Ideally, the links that point to us should follow.
Various site auditors assess the authority of domains and web pages. The one that has usually been the most trusted has been Moz, but lately, it seems to stagnate in its assessments, and Href seems to be “stealing” Moz’s toast. Various experts increasingly value Href’s DR and are considered when monitoring our linking work. However, this is just another ratio, important without a doubt, but it does not decisively influence seeing better results in any keyword research. Let us keep this in mind, but do not overvalue it.
