How much does Domain Authority effect the keywords I can rank for?
-
I've been doing some keyword research and i've found a few gems. My site is currently sat at a 18 domain authority up from 12, so it's great to see the improvement. Although I was wondering, if my domain authority is sat a 18, can I compete with keywords that have a difficulty of 50-60?
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Sam
-
DA is a metric by Moz and not by Google. If you want to rank on Google, there are over 200 ranking signals (not disclosed by them even today) to rank for just one keyword on SERP and DA is not one of them. What you should be focusing on is the keyword's relevance and answering genuine user queries around your keyword.
The quality and comprehensiveness of your content along with other signals will determine the keyword ranking and in most cases, if you aim for long-tail keywords with good potential along with in-depth coverage of the topic, you will be able to surpass even higher DA sites without many backlinks on your target page.
Improving DA should be a focus but it should not be correlated to rankings on SERPs in any way.
-
I often hear the question - what is considered a good domain rating (authority)? Generally speaking, the higher the "authority" of your domain, the better. But it is important not to judge it in absolute terms. Because domain ranking is, by definition, a relative metric. You can't say that a good domain rating is 30, or 50, or 60, or 70. Everything is relative. It's important to remember that this score is an evaluation of a third-party service, not a search engine. When you use some DA validation tool, it is always developed by some company and data from different services may differ. I hope I didn't confuse you.
-
Hello sammecooper ,
The Domain Authority (DA) is important, but you should also consider other KPIs when analyzing the bigger picture. In the case of net linking, for example, you need to determine if the site is on the same domain if it receives natural traffic, and if it is ranking for relevant keywords. My recommendation is to never track only one metric
-
@sammecooper Bonjour,
Thanks for your question.
to rank well with keywords even if difficult you have to make back links on DA sites more than 50, you can position well on search engines (from my little experience). -
Of course Domain Authority (DA) is important but you also need to look at the bigger picture based on other KPIs. For example, if you do Netlinking, you need to look at whether the site is in the same field, whether it is getting natural visits and whether it is ranking on interesting keywords. Never watch only 1 metric, that's my point of view
-
Hi @sammecooper! As I'm sure you know, the higher the Keyword Difficulty Score, the harder the keyword will be to rank for. A higher DA does correlate with a higher likelihood to rank BUT when using DA, it's important that you are comparing your site to your true search competitors— sites w/in the same category and of the same caliber. We actually have a video that explains this in more detail if that helps. https://moz.com/learn/seo/domain-authority
Personally, I'm a fan of going for low-hanging fruit first: keywords that have lower difficulty and still have decent value. Then, once you've tackled these, you can aim for those harder ones. We have a great resource all about keyword research, The SEO Keyword Research Master Guide that may help you in your quest for keyword gems.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
What is the best way to search across my entire sub domain for a keyword?
What is the best way to search across my entire sub domain for a keyword? Any good tools out there?
Keyword Research | | absoauto0 -
How do I find traffic for local keywords?
We're having trouble finding reliable traffic numbers for long-tail local keywords (ex. - "computer repair green bay"). Â We tried using Google Insights but it doesn't display long-tail keyword information, only broad keyword keywords searched for in a certain locale. We also tried using Wordtracker, but that hasn't been too reliable either. Is there a single tool that provides real traffic for local long-tail keywords?
Keyword Research | | optimalwebinc0 -
Spammy Industry Keyword Research
Hi everyone, First question posted on here. I have spent a lot time this week going through videos and discussions since I signed up here earlier this week. We're just starting in a particular niche that is powerful (home-based businesses), but EXTREMELY spammy with all the at-home opportunities from stuffing envelopes, to MLM, etc. Then there's the other side which is not as spammy, but just not an overall good business model with the in-home Tupperware, candle, and makeup party sales companies. The people that we help and serve are just people who want to start up a part-time or full-time home-based business doing what they love. Maybe it's a dad who loves golf and would like to start a golf store on Ebay or a lady who is great at making stuff and wants to open an Etsy shop or start selling her goods at craft fairs. Our program is more about teaching them how to start a real home-based business that can either earn them a profit either part-time or fulltime while also doing what they love and spending time with their family. My biggest question right now as we begin the Keyword Research and SEO process part of this, is how do we go about doing the keyword research for this while also dealing with a spammy niche? All the research I've been doing for home-based businesses comes back to all the ugly examples I gave above and that isn't the type of people that we're a good fit for. I appreciate all your help and guidance in advance. Been doing web development for 10+ years but finally taking the tiger by the throat and actually learning the SEO/SEM piece myself.
Keyword Research | | buzzmediallc0 -
To Meta Keyword or Not To Meta Keyword, That Is The Question
I can't seem to get a reliable answer on this one. It seems to be split down the middle as far as who agrees and who doesn't, of course some of that content is outdated. So, for today, should I be using the meta keywords tag or not? Thanks, Steven
Keyword Research | | sfmatthews0 -
Picking the next best keyword rick domain
When keyword rich domain are occupying high serp's (exact match domain choices are already gone, ie. www.widgit1widgit2.com), what would be the next best choice for SEO www.widgit1-widgit2.com or www.mywidgit1widgit2.com Peter
Keyword Research | | peterds0 -
Is "in" a keyword differentiator?
Does google view phrases with "in" in then as different keywords than the same phrase without an "in"? For example: is "great restaurants in chicago" the same keyword as "great restaurants chicago"? Whenever I do research on two phrases like this, they always come up with the same search volume.
Keyword Research | | TheSquareFoot0