The New and Improved Domain Authority Is Here!

[BrianChilds]

Update: Domain Authority 2.0 has arrived! Check it out over in Link Explorer or in your Campaigns, and visit our resource center for more information about the change.

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Hey Moz friends,

I’m excited to share some news from the Moz product team. In the last few months our team of data scientists have been hard at work developing an improvement to one of the favorite SEO metrics used in digital marketing: Domain Authority, also referred to as “DA.”

On March 5, 2019, we’ll release the new and improved Domain Authority algorithm, which includes a number of new factors that make this score even more accurate, trustworthy, and predictive than ever before.

Having worked with marketing clients in the past and reported on Domain Authority during monthly reviews, I wanted to make sure we give our community enough advance notice to understand what is changing, why it’s changing, and what it might mean for your reporting.  Sudden, unexpected fluctuations in any core metric you use in reporting have the potential to make your job more difficult, so we want to help you start the conversation about this change with your stakeholders. Let’s start with the “why” ...

Why is Moz changing the DA algorithm?

The Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is constantly changing. Rankings change and the algorithms that drive those rankings change. For Moz to ensure you have the most accurate prediction possible, it means we need to update our algorithm from time to time to ensure it delivers on its promise.

You trust Moz, in part, because of the accuracy of the data we create. We want to make sure that we’re providing you with the best data to make your work easier. To ensure that DA continues to accurately predict ability of sites to rank, and to remain reliable over time, we’ve decided to make some improvements.

What can I expect from the DA algorithm update?

Many sites should expect to see a change to their current Domain Authority score. Depending on the site, this change might be insignificant, but it’s possible the new algorithm will cause material adjustments. The new Domain Authority takes into consideration a number of additional factors, such as link pattern identification and Moz’s Spam Score metric, to help you deploy your SEO strategy.

How can I prepare for this algorithm update?

I recommend that you reach out to your stakeholders or clients prior to the March 5th launch to discuss this upcoming change. This can be an opportunity to both refresh them on the utility of Domain Authority, as well as plan for how to use it for additional link building or ranking projects. Visit this page to check out resources that may help you to have conversations with your stakeholders.

If you feel inclined to save a snapshot of your current Domain Authority and history, you can consider exporting your historical data from your Moz Pro account.

Is historical data changing?

Yes. When the new DA algorithm goes into place, all historical data will be affected. However, for anyone who has an active Moz Pro campaign, you will be able to see a historical representation of the old DA line for reference for an interim period.

As the “Metrics over time” chart is designed to help track your work over time, we believe applying the update to both past and present DA scores will help you to best track linear progress.

Is Domain Authority an absolute score or a relative one?

Domain Authority is a relative, comparative metric. Moz evaluates over 5 trillion pages and greater than 35 trillion links to inform Domain Authority. Your site’s links are evaluated amongst those trillions of links. Because of this, it is important to compare your DA to your competition, peers, and other sites that show up in search results important to your strategy.

In terms of how to use Domain Authority, nothing is changing. If you use it to evaluate domains to purchase, it will function exactly the same. If you use it to find hidden keyword ranking opportunities, it will still be your best friend. It’s the same trusty tool you used before — we just sharpened for you.

I saw a change to my DA when Link Explorer launched last April. What’s the difference between that change and this one?

In April 2018, Moz released its new link index along with its new research tool, Link Explorer. Because the link index was so much larger than the previous index, and because Domain Authority is based on attributes discovered in that index, scores changed. Any changes that occurred were due to the upgrade of that link index, not how the algorithm calculated scores.

The change coming in March 2019 will be an actual algorithm update to how Domain Authority is calculated.

How will Page Authority (PA) be affected by this update?

Page Authority will not be impacted by the March 2019 update. This particular algorithm update is specific to Domain Authority only.

Will API users be affected at the same time?

Yes. The Domain Authority metric in all of our products, including our API, will be affected by this update on March 5th.

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Check out this page for more resources about the Domain Authority algorithm update. You can also read more here in Russ Jones’s announcement post on the blog.

We’d love to hear from you here in this Q&A thread, or you can send an email over to help@moz.com with any questions.

[salumep]

I think its really important to  keep up with Google and  try  close to  changes.   DA was needing an update

[mark7422]

Really insightful and well-written article. Again thanks for your reviews and will definitely be back for some tips and tricks.

[Nozzle]

When did the interim period end where we could see a historical representation of the old DA line for reference? Or did it never happen? Or are we just not finding it when looking in Link Explorer?

[Jessynaija]

You are correct, that was the same thing that happened to my blog

[Hansahihai6]

Thanks for putting in much effort for this information.....Thanks again for this info

[Zohaibkhannn]

I think Domain Authority is great metric, but it’s just 1 of many metrics. The changes, which are set to roll out on March 5th, will have an impact on many websites and potentially a big impact. To the common small business owner, this will have little impact on you realistically. It doesn’t change any of your google rankings – it’s really just 1 of many metrics SEOs use – but it’s still exciting due to the fact that potentially big changes in values of websites will happen when this update happens.

[Christy-Correll]

Hi The Thus,

Welcome to Moz Q&A!

Wow, you have several questions. Frankly, none of them are directly related to this discussion thread about the new Domain Authority. In light of that, you may want to consider starting a new thread that is focused on your most pressing SEO question. The more specific the question, the more likely you are to receive helpful responses.

You can post a new SEO question here:

https://moz.com/community/q/ask

You can also get tips for getting the most value from our SEO forum by following that same link.

I hope that helps!

Christy

[Roman-Delcarmen]

Good to know it! I think that DA was needing an update

[octopurba99]

Domain must be have authority and minimal spam score. It's the key of high authority backlink.

[SEOEXPARTETEAMBANGLADESH]

i think it depend of New Backlinks

[daiancamera]

That's great

[Hkdosks]

Can I use proper keyword in the meta title or just my word like that Cargo in Dubai its proper keyword its volume 2400/mo? Can I use this keyword in different sequence like that Cargo from Dubai to Iraq? but its complete sentence has 0 volume. please give the answer if possible.

and also check my website URL and Meta Title. Our services from Dubai to Iraq, Dubai to Suadi Arab, Dubai to Turkey, and more than 200 Destination.

I use in URL address just  shipping to Iraq, Shipping to Suadi Arab,  but most competitors website used "cargo from Dubai to  Iraq"  but its volume not "0" so What I need for that,

https://www.bbccargo.ae/services/air-cargo/

https://www.bbccargo.ae/destination/shipping-to-iraq/

https://www.bbccargo.ae/destination/shipping-to-kuwait/

please check my URL and give the best Solution for that..

[Bakar2010]

How much the Domain and Page Authority affect our website ranking. I am working on the SEO of my website for learning Quran Online in USA, UK, Canada, and Australia. if you can visit my website it would be an honor for me. thanks. my website is https://www.quranhost.com

[Gilmore]

At first when my da on my download hip hop songs website, I was frustrated. I thought I lost it all.  http://47hypes.us

But when I saw that my post were ranking even as at that, then I knew the new alogarithm is bae.

[Christy-Correll]

Hi Alex! Hm... I'm not sure exactly what you are asking. Would you mind rephrasing your question so we can try to provide you with an answer? If it is not directly related to this discussion about the release of Domain Authority 2.0, it would be best to start a new thread. Thanks for your understanding.

Christy

[alexmarsh]

how do i increase URL rating on my website.

[kartzhub]

HI There,

How can i increase my website DA by using this 2.O update [link removed by moderator]?

[NickSamuel]

I know Moz is transparent so this would have been documented somewhere but I totally didn't know this/forgot!

[NickSamuel]

I think I also asked this within the comments section of the Moz Blog, but could you expand on some of the technical challenges of permitting "historical" DA?

Now that it has been updated/reset, surely now is the perfect time to start "when records began".

I'm assuming there's lots of us out that that have no record of old DA anywhere as we never really exported it but nevertheless would like to know or reminisce about the growth of our sites

[callmepinky]

Awesome! thank you!

[rjonesx. 0]

yes

[Shalusingh]

Actually that wont help. Increasing DA is not an overnight work, it takes time and effort. And efforts mean to quality work. Despite of getting multiple links from low DA sites, try to get link-back and traffic from quality sites.

[gjordan90]

Sweet. excited to see the ripple effect of this

[zackmevans]

Would definitely be nice but also appreciate that good, high quality updates can take time and would rather have it done the right way more occasionally than done frequently but poorly.

[track5media]

Will DA 2.0 automatically be incorporated into the current MozBar plugin?

[mfrgolfgti]

Couldn't you have implemented a change to the DA that meant my client's sites went UP instead of down! British manufacturer of hospital furniture dropped from 35 to 21 overnight. The only saving grace is that their competitors have dropped in the same ratio.

[rjonesx. 0]

Building links from high DA sites actually creates an unnatural pattern that is easy for our algorithm to detect (and for Google). Now more than ever, you should be focusing on getting links from sites that are likely to send you traffic because they are relevant and high quality.

[rjonesx. 0]

This is true. The average site will lose 6.1% as the new model "re-centers" Domain Authority. Thus, if you drop just 2 or 3 points, you really have nothing to worry about.

However, there are some industries which will be hit very hard - like link networks and link sellers. These sites can expect to see enormous drops in DA.

[rjonesx. 0]

This is definitely something we are considering, although we also want to be able to make updates in response to Google updates.

There are, of course, multiple meanings of updates...

1. Updates based on new link data (this happens every other day)
2. Updates based on retraining the model with the same variables (TBD)
3. Updates based on adding new variables (TBD)
4. Updates based on the model itself (TBD)

We are working on determining what cadence would be appropriate for each.

[rjonesx. 0]

Unfortunately, we will not be including any kind of disavow. First, to be clear, spam score is not based on links but based on on-site factors. The way spam score influences your DA is getting links from lots of bad spam score sites, not your own spam score.

That being said, we can't offer a disavow because we can't confirm that Google has the same disavow. Otherwise, it would make it very easy for individuals to manipulate their Domain Authority.

However, as for negative SEO, our model DOES NOT use penalization. It learns what patterns of links correlate with rankings, nothing more, nothing less. Thus, negative SEO will only impact your DA insofar as it impacts your rankings.

[rjonesx. 0]

Moz's Spam Score is actually unrelated to links. It is wholly calculated based on on-site factors.

[BrianChilds]

Hey Everyone!

The new Domain Authority is now LIVE!

Please share your experiences with us on twitter @moz or #DA

If you have any issues, you can always reach out to the awesome folks on the Moz Help Team at: help@moz.com

[WebMarkets]

March 5th cant come soon enough!

[TaylorRHawkins]

Thanks for the update!

[callmepinky]

Hi, I have a website and it's domain authority is 25 now. But now DA is not improving, I'm building high DA links such as 35 and above DA sites. Are there any helpful tips?

[ulhosting]

this sounds to me like many sites are going to lose their current DA classification within the results, as you clearly say, there may be variations

[BlueprintMarketing]

I’m happy that you’re keeping up with Google  it’s really important that you try & stay close as you can with Googles changs  your accuracy that has become an industry standard I applaud “Moz Rank“  staying the industry standard.

[WebMarkets]

I am so unbelievably excited about this new DA algorithm! DA is used constantly in our never ending SEO practice. Would be appreciated if it updated on a consistent, anticipated basis, rather than every so often.

[TimHolmes]

I am certainly interested to see how the new DA correlates with rankings and competitors. exciting time

[CbdVapeGenius]

so will you have a way for us to submit domains we don't want to count in your DA & spam score evaluation?

[BrianChilds]

Thanks for the comment and great opportunity to clarify.

The proactive communication about changes to the DA algorithm is because we know that unexpected fluctuations in any core metric used in reporting can make for uncomfortable conversations with both internal and external stakeholders.

Fluctuations in DA are not necessarily going to happen to all domains in the index. However, should they occur, we want practitioners to be ready to respond.

Scores might go up, scores might go down. I look at it like when I used to work in a deli and had to reconcile the cash register at the end of the day. Being off by a dollar in either direction was equally bad. It meant I didn't count the money right. Accuracy was the goal.

The same holds for DA. This update improves the correlation of DA with ranks. Correlation might mean up. It might mean down. The important thing is, just like cashing out my register, is being able to explain the difference.

Hope that helps.

[BrianChilds]

Great question and thank you for the comment.

The new model will use spam score to inform link value. This is one of the material changes we expect users may notice when the update is released. Because of the prevalence of spammy link building practices, we view this as a significant improvement for evaluating domains against one another.

Updates to the spam score and monitoring of spammy links are ongoing and accounted for in the management of the link index.

[NJHweb]

Sounds like they are expecting a drop in DA numbers and are trying hard to proactively get out in front of it.

[mentalitch]

I have the same question - one of my sites has a 15% spam score on MOZ but the bad links don't show up in the google search console.

[CbdVapeGenius]

Hey guys, I have a question about the new domain authority. One of the challenges for us has been a competitor buying bad spamy backlinks to negatively effect us. With your discover tool we are able to find and submit to google disavow. However the domain authority in moz doesn’t know not to count those links and actually increase our current domain authority higher. With this update sounds like you might start considering spam score within domain authority. Will you guys have your own disavow option? or how else can we still get accurate data?