Wondering how to increase domain authority of a website?
Then, you are in the right place.
Check out this post and learn how to build real SEO authority for your website that Google loves to rank.
Your Domain Authority score is 25. A competitor’s is 75.
You assume that’s why they rank higher. You build a plan to increase your DA to 75. Then your rankings will improve automatically.
There’s one problem with that logic:
Google doesn’t use Moz Domain Authority to determine search rankings.
Domain Authority is a third-party metric created by Moz to estimate how well a domain might compete in search results. Google doesn’t look at your DA score and decide whether to rank your website.
That doesn’t mean authority is irrelevant to SEO.
The factors that often contribute to a stronger Domain Authority score are valuable backlinks, useful content, technical quality, and established topical presence.
They are signs of a healthy website that Google does reward.
The mistake is making a specific DA number your primary goal instead of building the kind of authority that actually produces search rankings and traffic.
This guide explains what Domain Authority actually measures, when it’s useful, why chasing it can waste time, and how to build real SEO authority that produces measurable results.
What Is Domain Authority and Why Do People Confuse It With Google Ranking?
Domain Authority, abbreviated as DA, is a 1-100 score developed by Moz that attempts to predict a domain’s ranking potential by analyzing its backlink profile.
The key word is predict.
Moz looks at factors like number of linking domains, link quality, link patterns, and other signals to create a model. That model then predicts:
“If this website competes with others on similar topics, it’s more likely to rank well than a DA 20 website would be.”
But predicting is not the same as causing.
A website has a DA 75 not because Google assigned it that score, but because Moz’s algorithm determined that its link profile suggests competitive strength.
Why People Think DA Affects Rankings
The confusion happens because:
- Websites with high DA often do rank well (correlation)
- Moz’s model is based on signals Google uses (like links)
- Increasing DA requires actions that can help SEO (earning legitimate links)
- There are hundreds of “increase your DA” guides promoting the false equivalence
This creates a cycle where people think:
High DA = More likely to rank = I need to increase DA to rank = Let me do whatever increases DA fastest
That last step is where people go wrong.
Other Tools Have Their Own Authority Metrics
Moz isn’t the only company that created an authority score:
- Ahrefs uses Domain Rating (DR)
- Semrush uses Authority Score
- Majestic uses Trust Flow and Citation Flow
- Moz uses Domain Authority
These metrics calculate authority differently. A website with DA 50 might have an Ahrefs DR of 45 or 55. They’re not the same measurement.
That alone should tell you that none of these scores is a Google ranking factor.
If Google used DA, why would Ahrefs spend resources building a completely different authority metric?
The answer is that these are tools for analysis and comparison, not Google ranking factors.
Is Domain Authority Actually a Google Ranking Factor?
No.
Google has never stated that Domain Authority is a ranking factor.
Moz doesn’t claim that DA is something Google uses.
Google’s own guidance focuses on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), links from relevant sources, helpful content, technical quality, and user experience.
Domain Authority doesn’t appear anywhere in that list.
This matters because it changes what you should actually optimize for.
If DA were a ranking factor, optimizing for it would make sense. But since it isn’t, spending weeks on tactics designed solely to move a DA score from 30 to 40 is misdirected effort.
When Domain Authority Is Actually Useful
DA isn’t useless. It just isn’t what most people think it is.
Use Case 1: Competitive Benchmarking
If you’re entering a competitive market and notice that nearly every ranking competitor has a substantially stronger link profile, DA provides quick context.
It tells you:
“These websites have accumulated links from many different domains over time. That’s one signal of their market position.”
Knowing this doesn’t change your strategy, but it provides realistic context about what you’re competing against.
Use Case 2: Tracking Your Link Profile Growth
If you’re consistently earning legitimate links from relevant publications and your DA gradually increases over 12-24 months, that’s a secondary indicator that your link profile is strengthening.
But don’t celebrate the score increase if:
- Organic traffic declined
- Relevant keyword rankings disappeared
- Conversions fell
- Links came from irrelevant or low-quality sources
SEO performance is what matters. DA is just a measurement.
Use Case 3: Prospecting for Editorial Opportunities
When evaluating whether to pitch a guest article or pursue a partnership with a publication, DA can be one of many data points.
But never evaluate a website using DA alone.
A relevant industry publication with DA 20 is far more valuable than an unrelated DA 70 website. Look at:
- Topical relevance to your industry
- Actual organic traffic and rankings
- Editorial quality
- Real audience
- Whether the publication exists to sell links or publish quality content
A high-DA website selling guest post placements is not a legitimate editorial opportunity.
What Actually Matters More Than Domain Authority
Let us see what actually matters more than domain authority
Real Organic Traffic
Does the website receive real visitors from Google for relevant searches? Check using SEMrush, Ahrefs, or SimilarWeb.
A DA 30 website getting 10,000 monthly organic visitors is more valuable than a DA 60 website with 500 monthly visitors.
Check out our detailed guide on how to promote your blog to increase traffic to your website.
Relevant Rankings
For what keywords does this website actually rank? Are they searches your audience cares about?
A website ranking for competitive, high-volume keywords is demonstrating real SEO strength. DA alone doesn’t tell you that.
Check out: Free Backlink Checker Tools
Referral Traffic Quality
Where does the website’s traffic actually come from? Does it convert?
A website with lower DA but higher-quality referral traffic is often better for partnership than a high-DA site with unqualified visitors.
Link Relevance
Do the linking domains relate to your industry? Or is the high DA score powered by random links from unrelated websites?
100 links from topically relevant websites matter far more than 1,000 links from random directories and low-quality sites.
Check out our detailed guide on How to build Quality Backlinks.
Actual User Engagement
How long do visitors stay? Do they return? Do they complete actions?
A DA 40 website with genuine engaged users often outperforms a DA 80 website with high bounce rate.
How to Increase Domain Authority of a Website
If you stop optimizing for a DA number and instead build real website authority, you’ll accomplish something better than a higher score: you’ll actually rank and drive traffic.
Choose a Topic You Can Genuinely Contribute To
Don’t publish about WordPress one month, cryptocurrency the next, and fitness tips the month after.
Develop expertise in a specific area. That doesn’t mean your site can only cover one topic forever, but it should build logically.
For OnlineDecoded, expertise areas might include:
- WordPress (hosting, speed, plugins, security)
- Affiliate marketing (strategies, program selection, monetization)
- Blogging (starting blogs, driving traffic, growing audience)
- SEO (keyword research, content strategy, technical SEO)
When someone reads your content about WordPress hosting and then your WordPress security article, they should recognize a coherent expertise area forming.
Publish Content Worth Referencing
Most websites publish content because they want traffic. Better websites publish content because they have something to contribute that existing resources don’t.
What would make another publisher cite your page?
Original research. If you conduct your own studies or surveys, that’s a resource others don’t have. Publish the methodology, data, and analysis clearly.
Original testing. If you test products yourself, document it reproducibly. Screenshot the configuration. Record the measurements.
Expert perspective. If you’ve worked in a field for years, share insights you’ve learned that aren’t obvious from reading competitors’ articles.
Unique data. If you track metrics over time, compile statistics, or maintain datasets, publish them.
Useful tools or calculators. If you create something that solves a real problem, it becomes a natural linking asset.
For OnlineDecoded specifically, your hosting speed tests and WordPress performance measurements are valuable original assets. Many websites publish generic “best hosting” lists.
Fewer conduct their own TTFB and Core Web Vitals testing. That’s where the linking opportunity exists.
Build Around Original Testing and Data
Since you already test web hosting performance and WordPress plugins, productize that testing.
Instead of burying speed data in a hosting review, publish it as a standalone asset:
30-Day Hosting Speed Study
Include:
- Test methodology (server location, test configuration, number of runs)
- Test environment specifications
- Raw data and summary statistics
- Visual charts
- Key findings
- Limitations and caveats
Then update periodically (quarterly or semi-annually).
Other publishers now have something concrete to reference when writing about hosting performance. Journalists, bloggers, and researchers can cite your actual testing.
That’s far more effective than trying to acquire links through outreach or guest posts.
Use Your Content to Build Link Opportunities, Not Link Manipulation
Legitimate backlinks come from:
- Other writers citing your original research.
- Publishers linking to your detailed guides because they’re useful.
- Industry experts referencing your methodology.
- Journalists finding your data valuable.
- Communities discovering your tools or calculators.
These links happen because your content is worth referencing, not because you asked for them.
Avoid:
- Bulk link-buying packages (explicit link spam per Google’s policies).
- Automated link creation (link spam).
- Private link networks (designed for manipulation, not editorial).
- Comment links and forum profile backlinks (spam).
- Reciprocal link exchanges (manipulative).
- Excessive guest posts with optimized anchor text (spam).
Google’s current spam policy explicitly identifies several forms of manipulative link building as link spam.
If you’re doing something that requires secrecy or feels artificial, it’s probably not helping long-term SEO.
Make Outdated Content Actually Better
Old content isn’t automatically bad. Wrong content is.
Regularly audit pages for:
- Outdated pricing information (especially for software and hosting).
- Feature changes that are no longer accurate.
- Deprecated product names or versions.
- Screenshots showing old interfaces.
- Broken external links.
- Incorrect statistics or claims.
- Withdrawn company policies.
If an article contains outdated recommendations, update it. Don’t just change the publication date. Make material improvements.
A thoroughly updated 2-year-old article often performs better than leaving it stale while publishing a nearly identical new version.
Consolidate Weak Overlapping Content
A website sometimes fragments authority by having three weak articles competing for the same search intent instead of one strong article.
For example, these three URLs might target the same intent:
/best-wordpress-caching-plugins/
/top-wordpress-caching-plugins/
/wordpress-caching-plugins-list/
Instead of ranking one of them strongly, Google has to distribute authority among all three.
Solution:
Identify your strongest existing URL on the topic.
Merge useful material from the weaker articles into it.
Update internal links pointing to the weak pages.
301 redirect the weak URLs to the consolidated article.
This consolidates authority and improves user experience (one great resource instead of three mediocre ones).
- Improve Your Internal Linking Structure
Internal links help:
Users discover related content.
Search engines discover and crawl pages.
Establish relationships between topics.
Distribute internal link authority.
Communicate site hierarchy.
You don’t need 30 internal links per page. You need contextual links where readers benefit from the destination.
Example
In a WP Rocket review, if you discuss WordPress caching, linking to your Best WordPress Caching Plugins article makes sense.
Linking “WordPress hosting” because you want that page to rank higher might not.
Context matters.
- Build Topical Clusters, Not Random Articles
A topical cluster is a set of related articles structured so that:
A pillar article covers the broad topic.
Cluster articles cover subtopics.
Each article links to related articles logically.
Example: WordPress Speed Pillar
Pillar: How to Speed Up WordPress
Cluster articles:
What is Core Web Vitals?
Best WordPress Caching Plugins
WP Rocket Review
How to Reduce LCP
How to Optimize WordPress Images
WordPress CDN Guide
Each of these naturally connects. A reader learning about WordPress speed might want to understand each of these topics.
The pillar article acts as a hub. Cluster articles support it with deeper dives.
This structure builds topical authority far better than random individual articles.
- Establish Clear Author and Publication Credibility
Make it obvious who created the content and why they’re qualified to write about it.
Use:
Real author names and bios.
Author experience and credentials (where relevant).
Clear publishing policies.
Transparent testing methodology.
Citations for factual claims.
Screenshots showing actual product interface (proving you’ve tested it).
Affiliate disclosures (required by law and good practice).
Contact information.
Corrections when something is wrong.
A website where readers can identify the author and understand their background builds credibility. Anonymous content or vague attribution doesn’t.
- Fix Technical Problems That Interfere With Rankings
Technical SEO doesn’t directly increase Domain Authority, but technical problems can prevent ranking.
Audit for:
Crawlability issues preventing Google from accessing pages.
Indexation problems where pages aren’t being indexed.
Canonicalization issues confusing which version of a page should rank.
Mobile usability problems (important ranking factor).
Core Web Vitals problems (page experience factor).
HTTPS implementation (ranking factor).
Broken internal links.
Redirect chains.
Poor site architecture.
You can’t build authority on top of a technically broken website. Fix the foundation first.
- Earn Links Through Relevance and Reciprocal Value
Instead of:
“Please link to my page because I have a high DA score.”
Build relationships where linking benefits both parties.
For OnlineDecoded, that might mean:
Hosting review partnerships where hosting companies link to your comparisons (both benefit from the exposure).
Affiliate program pages linking to your promotions (natural business relationship).
WordPress communities linking to your testing data (useful resource).
Guest contributions on industry publications (gives them content, gives you credibility).
Partnerships with complementary sites (both benefit).
The principle is reciprocal value. Don’t ask for links. Build things worth linking to.
- Monitor Real Outcomes, Not Just DA
Track metrics that actually matter to your business:
Organic traffic: Real visitors from Google, not scores.
Relevant rankings: How many searches relevant to your business do you rank for?
Conversion rate: What percentage of visitors take action?
Revenue from organic: How much does organic search actually earn you?
Referral quality: What’s the quality of traffic from affiliate links, clicks-through-rate, conversions?
Link growth: Are you earning new links from relevant sources?
Indexed useful pages: How many of your pages are actually indexed and contributing?
User engagement: How long do visitors stay? Do they return?
Branded search demand: Are people searching for your brand?
Domain Authority should appear in your monitoring as a secondary metric. But it shouldn’t be the headline.
great link building site.
Nice Share Umapathy,
No Doubt, Domain authority is one of the most important things when it comes to SEO. However, this algorithm was introduced by Moz and not Google. And, their crawlers are not as powerful as that of Google, for this reason there is always a margin of error with actual DA of any given site.
It’s not so easy to increase DA of a website in some days. It is a long-term process and very difficult to increase DA from 30. I have my new site but still, its DA is only 1. Really we have to do some activities like infographics as you mentioned in your article.
Yes right, I agree with these all points. In traditional language people call “customer is king” and in online world, we call content is king Therefore we can say “content is the greatest asset for any website.