Whether you are doing competitor analysis or looking to improve the SEO of your domain, it is crucial to determine website authority.
Having good website authority is very essential for every domain because it can affect your site’s organic rankings. Search engines like Google also want to provide valuable information to users from trusted sources. So, if you have a good website authority then Google can consider your website at top places on the search results. In simple words, “more authority means more users and traffic”.
But on the other hand, if your website doesn’t have authority then it’s going to be very difficult for you to get rankings on SERP. Hence, you might lose potential customers.
Your website authority has a direct impact on your site’s online visibility.
But how can you determine your website authority? On the web, there are different metrics that can be used to determine authority.
Here are the top metrics to determine your website authority:
Metric 1: DA (Domain Authority)
Domain authority is the most important metric for determining website authority. DA is developed by Moz that predicts the website rankings on search engines like Google.
Moz calculates DA using multiple factors like links and referring domains. Domain authority is measured on a scale of 1 to 100. This score can be used to measure website authority over time.
Related: Tips To Increase Domain Authority
Higher DA means higher website authority and rankings. Like if a website has 80 DA then it has more authority as compared to a 20 DA website.
Related: List Of Top Bulk DA Checkers
How To Check Domain Authority:
To check domain authority, you can use the Moz Domain Analysis tool.
Simply visit the tool, enter your website address, and click on the “Analyze domain” button as seen in the image below.
After clicking on the button, you will see the domain authority of your site.
Related: What is Moz Spam Score? Complete Guide
Metric 2: DR (Domain Rating)
Domain Rating is very similar to Domain Authority. DR is developed by Ahrefs to measure the strength of a website. It also measures website authority in a range of 0 to 100 with higher DR means more authoritative website.
Related: Ahrefs vs SEMrush vs Ubersuggest
DR is calculated by identifying the linking of unique domains to your site, the authority of these unique domains, and the number of do-follow links.
How To Check Domain Rating:
Ahrefs offers a free tool to check DR. Visit the tool here and enter your website URL as described in the below image.
Now, click on the button and it will display the DR of your domain.
Metric 3: Alexa Global Rank
Like DA and DR, Alexa Rank is also considered a good factor to find out the website authority. Calculation of Alexa Rank is based on multiple factors but primarily it is measured by calculating the website traffic and user engagement of the past 3 months.
Related: Alexa SEO: Complete Guide
Every website has a unique ranking and Alexa provides rank for both global and country. The lower the rank, the higher the website authority. For example, if your Alexa rank is 1000 then your website has a very high authority.
How To Check Alexa Rank:
To find the Alexa rank of your website, simply go to Alexa Site Info and put your website URL under the given box, refer screenshot below.
Now, click on the “Run Analysis” button, and Alexa will display the rank of your website.
Apart from Alexa rank, you can also check the traffic, competitor’s sites, bounce rate, and social engagement.
Metrics 4: SEMrush Authority Score
If you use SEMrush for various SEO activities like keywords research and backlinks audit, then you may have seen “Authority Score” under domain overview.
Related: SEMrush Review
An Authority Score is a metric used for measuring website authority and SEO performance. SEMrush uses various factors like machine learning, organic traffic, backlinks data, number of trusted referring domains, and unique IP addresses to calculate Authority Score.
Related: SE Ranking vs. SEMrush: Which SEO Tool is Best
Like Alexa Rank, the lower the SEMrush Authority Score, the higher the website authority.
How To Check SEMrush Authority Score:
First, you need to visit SEMrush’s Domain Overview and enter your website address like the image below.
Now, click on “Search” and see your website’s Authority Score.
Metrics 5: Trust Flow (TF) and Citation Flow (CF)
Trust Flow and Citation Flow are also used to determine website authority. These metrics are developed by Majestic. Both these are measured on a scale of 1 to 100. It is measured by calculating the number of links pointing to your site.
Citation Flow is the amount of influence that you have that means how many websites are pointing to your domain and how many websites are willing to link to your domain.
Related: Best Dofollow Links To Acquire
Whereas, Trust Flow is the trustworthiness of those links like the quality of those links, how many people are going to that website that’s actually linking to your website.
In simple words, TF and CF are influenced by only backlinks.
How To Check Trust Flow (TF) and Citation Flow (CF):
Checking Trust Flow and Citation Flow is very simple, you just need to open Majestic and search your website URL.
Now, you can check your website’s TF and CF scores as seen in the image below.
How To Increase Website Authority
There are various ways of increasing your website authority. Some of them are:
- Build backlinks from various authority websites.
- Offer a good user experience as it is an excellent method of improving your website authority.
- Internal linking is also important since it helps to pass the flow of authority properly to all the pages of your site.
- Share content over various social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It helps to acquire indirect links.
- Try to create content that can be a good resource to link. Creating shareable and linkable content has a good impact on website authority.
How Long Does It Take to Improve Website Authority?
Improving your site authority takes time. Do not fall into the trap of buying links to increase your website authority because this is against the Google guidelines.
The best way to improve site authority is by doing content marketing. Invest in adding high-quality and relevant content to your site. Over time, it will help to naturally acquire links to your site.
Related: Content Marketing Ideas
Conclusion
Determining website authority is crucial for higher organic rankings. Every SEO strategy is centered around links and website authority. Use the above metrics to find out how authoritative your domain is as compared to your competitors. Higher domain authority makes it easier for your business to rank on Google and generates more leads for your business.
