Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA) are third-party metrics — created by the SEO software company Moz, not Google — that predict how likely a whole domain (DA) or a single page (PA) is to rank in search results, scored on a 1–100 logarithmic scale based mainly on backlink profile strength. They are useful as a rough, comparative signal — for example, when judging whether a site is worth pursuing for a backlink — but they are not official Google ranking factors, and Google has confirmed it doesn't use them at all.
| Myth | Reality |
|---|---|
| DA is a real Google ranking factor | Google has confirmed it does not use DA/PA at all |
| A higher DA always means more traffic | DA reflects backlink strength, not content quality or relevance |
| You should chase DA number as a goal | DA is only useful as a comparative signal, not a target |
| All DA tools give the same score | Moz, Ahrefs and Semrush calculate slightly different, non-interchangeable scores |
The practical use of DA/PA is comparative, not absolute — for example, when deciding which of several potential guest post or backlink opportunities is worth prioritising, a higher DA/PA site is a reasonable (though imperfect) signal of quality. It's a shortcut for judging relative site strength quickly, not a metric to optimise directly, since no amount of DA-chasing substitutes for genuinely relevant content and links.
Since DA/PA don't directly affect rankings, the better long-term focus is what actually drives them up naturally: earning genuine backlinks from relevant sites, publishing content worth linking to, and maintaining solid technical SEO — the real ranking factors Google does use.
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