Domain authority can be hard to understand and if you’ve only just started out as a blogger it can be super overwhelming. I know I had NO clue what it stood for when I first started out. It was actually about 6 months after my first blog post until I even knew what it was and then I started to see other bloggers tweeting about their DA and I thought I’d try to understand myself.
Fast forward and now I’m always checking my score to see whether it’s gone up or down, I’m obsessed. No really. Now, I find it really important to understand what it’s about and how I can improve it so that I can work with more brands etc. A couple of people have requested I do this post and I’m not saying I know everything about DA but over time I have learnt a few things so I’ll just share with you what I’ve learnt and hopefully it’ll be useful!
First of all.. What is DA?
DA stands for Domain Authority (DA) and is one of the key factors which determines how your site performs in search engines (e.g – Google). It’s scored between 1 and 100, and every site starts at 1 when it is created. As your DA increases, so does the ranking in the search engines which means there is a better chance of your site being seen, it’s more likely to be on the front page on google and if your anything like me I hardly ever click onto the 2nd page of google so it’s got a better chance of being clicked on which means more views for your blog!
How can I find out my DA score?
Well, I’m glad you asked. To check your domain authority all you have to do is go onto Moz and input your URL and click search BUT keep in mind that you can only check your score if you have your own domain, so if your domain ends with wordpress.com or blogger.com unfortunately you won’t be able to. I’m not too sure when Moz updates the system, I’m pretty sure it’s every month or so, I may be wrong but that’s what I’ve always thought and when I’ve been to check mine it’s always been updated. If anyone actually knows, could you please let me know?!
Tips to improve your DA
Read & comment on other blogs – Not only can this be great for your DA but it allows you to get inspired by other bloggers and their content! Leaving a simple comment on someone post can really make their day, trust me. Oh but please don’t just leave a 3 word comment and your link as your comment will go through as spam.
I bet your thinking but how can leaving a comment help my DA? Well simply leave a link to your blog at the end of your comment and you’re showing Google that you’re active, so by leaving your website below your comment you are linking back to your site through their website, therefore showing you are a trustworthy site.
Get rid of broken links – Broken links are the bain of a bloggers life. They are the worst but regularly removing broken links from your site is important and something you should definitely be doing.
When Moz do their monthly scan, they will check links on your site and if a lot of these links are dead or no longer working then this is can be marked as spam and doesn’t look good. It can be a very time-consuming and boring job getting rid of broken links but if you’re on WordPress there’s a plug-in for them so just search broken link checker. If your on blogger or a different site then you can find out how may broken links you have HERE.
Internal linking – Linking to your own content is just as important as linking to external sites and whenever you create a post always try to include links back to old posts. I always try to include at least one link to my own content in each blog post but make sure that the link you are including is relevant to the content of your post.
You can always go back through older posts as well linking them to your newer content! Google likes to show people sites that they think will be full of information and internal linking is one way of proving it.
Search Engine Optimisation – SEO for short is a major factor in improving your DA. There’s a lot of information I could tell you about SEO and I could really do another post on it but basically SEO is how your blog post is read by the likes of Google.
This is something I had NO clue on either when I started but on WordPress you can download a plugin called Yoast which is amazing and it literally tells you everything you need to do to improve your SEO rating for each post and page on your site. Honestly if you haven’t downloaded it, do it now you won’t regret it.
Make your site mobile friendly – Anyone else ever click on a link on your mobile and it takes you to a blog that isn’t mobile friendly so you just click straight back off because you just can’t be bothered to zoom in? Well, if your site isn’t mobile friendly a lot of people aren’t going to stay on for very long unfortunately.
Google like to see sites that are mobile friendly and they will rank them over non-mobile friendly sites. Oh and as people are addicted to their phones these days (guilty 🙋🏼♀️) that’s another reason to make sure your site is mobile friendly.
Make your posts longer – Apparently, Google takes longer posts more serious as it believes it’s crammed with lots of useful information, so therefore it’s likely that this could improve your DA score. I have been trying to make sure that I’m writing 500 words or longer for my posts which I hope is making a positive difference. Obviously sometimes short posts are inevitable but try to make even your short post as long as possible.
Be patient – Building up a good DA score takes time, the age of your blog will play a factor in how high your DA will be. Improving your blog DA isn’t something you can do overnight and as long as you follow all the points above then your domain authority will gradually grow over time, don’t worry.
Do you have any tips on improving your DA? Share them below!
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This is literally the only post I’ve read on this topic that explains it so well! I totally never understood it before and thought I just had to suffer haha. Thank you so much for this awesome post! I’ll definitely be coming back to this for reference! Also, do you have to pay or sign up first on Moz? I can’t seem to find where to search my url LOL.
Rach,
http://itsrachelcatherine.com/
Aw, I’m so so glad it’s helpful and easy to understand as it can get complicated! You are so welcome, beauty! Oh I didn’t have to pay but you do have to sign up now I think, you didn’t have to a few months back. Did I forget to put that in my post?! 🙈 I’ll have to update it haha. xo
As a relatively new blogger this post on DA was really beneficial to me. It’s a term i’ve not really come across much before so it was interesting to read your post on how to improve your score!
Thanks for sharing your tips.
Ah I’m so glad it’s helped you to understand DA more. Hopefully you’ll be able to make your score go up 🙌🏼 Thank you so much for reading! x
This was super, super helpful! I have been loving checking my DA recently because its really fun to watch it go up. I use the same website as you do to check it but I was confused about what everything meant at first, so I’m glad I read this post!
Awh I’m glad! It’s always great to see the number go up, it’s so confusing isn’t it?! Especially if you’ve just started out x
Is it bad we had no clue after blogging for like 8 months? This was so super helpful. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the rest of us Samantha.
Anna xx (one half of the Cinnamon Buns and Roses Blog)
http://www.cinnamonbunsandroses.wordpress.com
Definitely not! Everything is all so confusing especially with DA & SEO. Ah, you’re so welcome and I’m so glad it’s helpful! x
Hey I have my blog on Blogger – my url ends with .blogspot – and I was able to check my DA and PA on Moz. I think they updated their system but it takes forever for my DA to increase and I think it’s because I don’t have my own domain. Thanks for the post!
Hiii! Ooo, it’s great if they have updated their system so you’ll be able to check your DA. Aw, you’re welcome x
I’ve been baffled about DA and SEO since my blog began and this post cleared up so much for me!
Caitlin xx
Ah. I’m so glad it’s helpful and easy to understand! x
Thank you so much for sharing. This makes so much sense. I’ve only recently started blogging and have seen DA everywhere. Some great tips to start increasing my number 😀 thank you.
Ah you’re so welcome. It can be a little overwhelming especially when you’ve just started but I hope my post has helped even just a little bit x
Since the whole DA change up my score went so low but it is now starting to climb again. I find interacting and linking the best way to grow it.
Omg, my went down so low and it’s now taking the longest time to get back to where it was. I’m glad yours is starting to climb again now though! I definitely need to do more internal linking, I’m so bad at that haha.