What is Domain Authority?

Domain Authority (DA) is a score from 1 to 100, created by Moz, that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search results compared to other sites. It is not a Google metric — Google doesn’t use DA — but it’s a useful shorthand for how much ranking strength your store has built up.

CataSEO tracks your store’s authority metrics through Moz as part of monitoring how your SEO develops over time.

What Domain Authority measures

DA is calculated almost entirely from your link profile: how many other websites link to your store, and how authoritative those linking sites are themselves. A store that has earned links from many established, relevant sites will have a higher DA than a store with few links, regardless of how good either store’s product pages are.

That means DA is a measure of your site’s reputation on the web — not a grade on your content, your design, or your products.

Does Google use Domain Authority?

No. Google has repeatedly said it has no single “authority” score. DA is Moz’s independent estimate of ranking ability, built by studying what actually ranks. Treat it as a thermometer, not a lever: it summarizes your link reputation, but improving it is done by earning links and rankings — not by optimizing “for DA.”

Is my Domain Authority good or bad?

DA only means something as a comparison. A DA of 13 sounds low next to a big brand at 70+, but big marketplaces and household names have spent years accumulating links. Most small and mid-size independent stores sit well below the big brands, and that’s normal.

The comparison that matters is against your direct competitors — the stores that show up for the same searches you want to win. If your DA is close to theirs, you’re competing on even footing, and better page content can tip results your way. You can check any site’s DA, including competitors’, with Moz’s free Link Explorer.

Why Domain Authority moves slowly

The DA scale is logarithmic: climbing from 10 to 20 is far easier than climbing from 50 to 60. Links also take time to be discovered, crawled, and factored in. A DA that holds steady for a few months is not a sign that something is broken — it’s how the metric behaves for most stores most of the time.

DA can also change when other sites gain or lose links, because the score is comparative. Your number can drift a point or two without anything changing on your site at all.

How CataSEO affects your Domain Authority

CataSEO optimizes your on-page content — titles, meta descriptions, product and category copy. That directly improves your pages’ relevance for the specific searches shoppers use, which is what moves individual rankings.

On-page content doesn’t change your link profile overnight, so don’t expect an optimization batch to move DA the next week. The connection is longer-term: pages that rank better get found more, and content that answers shoppers’ questions well is what other sites link to. Rankings respond to optimization first; DA follows the links that better-ranking content earns.

FAQ

Is Page Authority the same as Domain Authority? No. Domain Authority scores your whole site; Page Authority (PA) scores a single page. A new product page can have a low PA on a store with a solid DA, and one heavily-linked page (often the homepage) can far outscore the rest of the site. Both come from Moz and both are link-based.

How often does Domain Authority update? Moz recalculates DA as its link index refreshes, so the score updates on Moz’s schedule, not yours. Scores can also shift when Moz adjusts its model — another reason a small change in the number, up or down, usually isn’t news.

My DA hasn’t moved in three months. Is something broken? Almost certainly not. DA is slow-moving by design, especially in the middle of the scale. If your rankings and traffic for target keywords are improving, your SEO is working — DA is a lagging indicator, not the scoreboard.

What would raise my Domain Authority the most? Links from established, relevant sites. In practice: content worth citing, relationships with suppliers and industry publications that link to their stockists, and time. Avoid buying links — low-quality link schemes are what Moz’s spam score (and Google’s spam policies) flag.

How high can my DA realistically get? Look at the DA of the stores that outrank you — that’s your realistic near-term ceiling, and it’s usually far below the famous brands. Getting within range of your direct competitors matters; chasing a specific number doesn’t.