I would terminate with them. (even I would use those 6 weeks to have them clean up the stuff they have done).

Shaq, the reason it is not higher is, because it wasn't updated at all since 2013.

Regarding DA, check again the http://moz.com/learn/seo/domain-authority link that I have provided in my previous answer.

Moz clearly states, that you can not directly(or it can be a hard task to) influence this metric (check the SEO best practices part in the bottom of the article).

Quote:
"Unlike other SEO metrics, Domain Authority is difficult to influence directly. It is made up of an aggregate of metrics (MozRank, MozTrust, link profile, and more) that each have an impact on this score. This was done intentionally; this metric is meant to approximate how competitive a given site is in Google.com. Since Google takes a lot of factors into account, a metric that tries to calculate it must incorporate a lot of factors, as well.

The best way to influence this metric is to improve your overall SEO. In particular, you should focus on your link profile—which influences MozRank and MozTrust—by getting more links from other well-linked-to pages."

As Alick300 has mentioned, Pagerank is a metric that we do not use anymore.

I would advise you to check the metrics that Moz is using: PA, DA, mR, DmR, and in case you are a Pro member, you could also check mT and DmT:

1. PA: Page authority: http://moz.com/learn/seo/page-authority
2. DA: Domain authority: http://moz.com/learn/seo/domain-authority
3. mR&DmR: mozRank and domain mozRank: http://moz.com/learn/seo/mozrank
4. mT&DmT: mozTrust and domain level mozTrust: http://moz.com/learn/seo/moztrust
5. spam score: http://moz.com/blog/spam-score-mozs-new-metric-to-measure-penalization-risk

Be aware that these are only metrics and in some cases increasing these metrics doesn't necessarily mean that you will rank better: Correlation <> Causation (check the article I have linked into the spam score, by Rand).

Also you could check the whiteboard Friday: http://moz.com/blog/understanding-and-applying-mozs-spam-score-metric-whiteboard-friday

I hope this will be helpful to you.

Keszi

Try getting back to the basics. Create an audit for the website, for the webpages that you'd like to rank for. Check for accessibility.

For example on one of our projects a simple development error caused our new content to be hidden from search engines (a simple content tab that had an issue with Javascript).

Sometimes getting back to the basics and creating an auditing for our website could highlight issues that stop us from ranking on top 10 spots.

Domain Authority (DA) - indicates how likely a domain is to rank based on how authoritative search engines consider it to be based on its backlink profile.

Page Authority (PA) - indicates how likely a page is to rank based on how authoritative search engines consider it to be because of which sites link to it

I have quoted these from the Moz Glossary.

It is important to highlight the usage of the word Likely! Having higher DA or PA doesn't necessary mean, that you are going to outrank a specific website. DA and PA are mostly based upon the links that a specific website/webpage get. (at least this is how I look at it).

There are so many other things that could influence a webpage's rankings.

I hope it helped,

Keszi

Hi,

I'd quote from Moz: http://moz.com/learn/seo/domain-authority

"How do I influence this metric?

Unlike other SEO metrics, Domain Authority is difficult to influence directly. It is made up of an aggregate of metrics (MozRank, MozTrust, link profile, and more) that each have an impact on this score. This was done intentionally; this metric is meant to approximate how competitive a given site is in Google.com. Since Google takes a lot of factors into account, a metric that tries to calculate it must incorporate a lot of factors, as well.

The best way to influence this metric is to improve your overall SEO. In particular, you should focus on your link profile—which influences MozRank and MozTrust—by getting more links from other well-linked-to pages."

So answering your question, Yes, you can improve the DA, while working on your SEO.

In general, in my belief, the 301 redirect could have influenced the score, but I would rather check the rankings and organic evolution of the website after the redirect instead of checking only the DA. If the organic results improved, I wouldn't worry to much about the DA itself. (maybe it is just only a temporary glitch until Moz recalculates it's value based on the new information they get).

Keszi

Carlos, I will take a look and send you a PM.

In general there is no quick way for SEO (if you want to play it safe), especially if we are talking about a competitive market.

Hi Carlos,

SEO in general isn't a black&white, "I implement and it is working" science. The results will appear with time.

If I had to compare SEO I'd do it like this: It is an ongoing&endless chess game, with unlimited number of players who can move at the same time. And there is Google from the other hand, who can change the rules of the game at any point.

Seeing results in this industry (or as you have mentioned it: SEO time) will be quite different with every project. Because it doesn't only depend on you and/or Google. There are the other websites who are constantly evolving and developing.

I hope you will see your results soon.

Keszi

Glad to hear it got resolved so quickly! Keep up the good job!