When it comes to SEO, metrics help you understand how strong your website is—especially in the eyes of search engines. Two of the most commonly referenced domain-level metrics are Domain Rating (DR) and Domain Authority (DA). But what do they really mean, and which one should you focus on?
In this article, we’ll break down the key differences between Domain Rating and Domain Authority, explain how each is calculated, and guide you on how to use them effectively in your SEO strategy.
Domain Rating vs Domain Authority: Key Differences
Based on everything we’ve covered, the main differences between Domain Rating (DR) and Domain Authority (DA) can be outlined as follows:
- Domain Rating focuses specifically on the strength and scale of a site’s backlink profile, while Domain Authority aims to estimate how likely a site is to rank higher in search engine results.
- DR is calculated by evaluating the quantity and quality of backlinks, whereas DA factors in a wider range of SEO signals, such as referring domains, organic traffic trends, and even social engagement.
- DR is particularly useful when you’re planning link-building strategies, while DA is better suited for competitive analysis and understanding how your domain stacks up against others.
- DA is a relative metric, showing how your site compares to others, while DR operates more like an absolute indicator of backlink strength.
Ultimately, there’s no clear winner between the two—they complement each other. Using both DR and DA together provides a more comprehensive understanding of your website’s SEO authority.
However, it’s important to remember that both DA and DR are just indicators within the broader SEO framework. To achieve strong rankings, you’ll still need to focus on a holistic strategy—including high-quality content, keyword targeting, technical SEO, link-building, social signals, and more.
The top-performing pages in SERPs often rank for hundreds or even thousands of keywords, and that success comes from combining multiple SEO efforts—not just focusing on a single metric.
Let’s now dive into the technical details to compare Domain Rating vs Domain Authority:
What Is Domain Rating (DR)?
Domain Rating is a metric developed by Ahrefs that scores a website’s backlink profile on a scale from 0 to 100. The higher your DR, the stronger your backlink profile is believed to be.
How is DR calculated?
Ahrefs, the company behind Domain Rating (DR), runs one of the most powerful backlink crawlers online—second only to Google itself. Its database is massive, with over 30 trillion known links and more than 200 million unique domains. Ahrefs crawls around 5.76 billion pages each day and updates its index every 15 minutes, ensuring fresh, reliable data for SEO analysis.
When you check a website’s DR, Ahrefs calculates it using several key factors:
- The number of unique websites linking to your domain
- The total number of backlinks
- The DR (quality) of those linking websites
- How many other domains those linking websites also refer to
It’s important to note that quality outweighs quantity. A few strong backlinks from authoritative sites will increase your DR more than hundreds of low-quality ones. Scores range from 1 to 100 on a logarithmic scale, so moving from 30 to 60 is much harder than from 10 to 20. In general, websites with a DR above 60 are considered strong in terms of backlink authority.
With this advanced system, Ahrefs gives a realistic snapshot of how powerful your website’s backlink profile is.
What Is Domain Authority (DA)?
Domain Authority is a metric created by Moz, designed to predict a domain’s ability to rank in search engine results. It uses machine learning and various SEO factors, especially backlinks, to calculate a score between 1 and 100.
How is DA calculated?
Moz determines Domain Authority (DA) using its proprietary machine learning algorithm, which evaluates a wide range of SEO signals collected from across the web. The latest version, Domain Authority 2.0, draws from a live index of over 43.8 trillion links, spanning 8 trillion pages and 743 million domains (source).
To calculate your DA score, Moz considers around 40 SEO factors—many of which are strong indicators of how well your domain might rank in Google’s SERPs. These include metrics like the number and quality of backlinks, linking root domains, website traffic, spam score, domain age, and more.
For instance, dofollow backlinks from trusted websites pass significant link equity, helping your domain gain authority faster. On the flip side, having too many low-quality or irrelevant links can negatively affect your score.
Moz’s system also reflects the evolving landscape of SEO. For example, strategies like semantic keyword clustering—grouping related keyword topics for more intelligent content targeting—can indirectly contribute to a higher DA by improving relevance and topical authority. Similarly, SEO automation tools can help maintain consistency in technical optimization, link monitoring, and content updates, all of which contribute to a more competitive domain profile.
It’s important to remember that Domain Authority is a relative score. Even if your metrics remain stable, your DA could decline if your competitors outperform you. For example, if your site scores 75 but others in your niche improve their backlink profile or expand their content using newer techniques, your score might fall despite no actual drop in quality.
In summary, DA is best used as a benchmarking tool—a way to assess where you stand against others in your industry. But boosting your actual search visibility requires a well-rounded strategy that combines quality content, link building, keyword optimization, and regular technical audits.
Which Metric Impacts Your SEO More?
When it comes to domain rating vs domain authority, it’s essential to note that neither metric is used by Google as a direct ranking factor. Instead, these are third-party benchmarks created by tools like Ahrefs (for DR) and Moz (for DA), offering insights into your site’s SEO strength and backlink profile.
So, while they don’t influence rankings directly, they help guide smarter SEO decisions and prioritize efforts effectively.
When to Focus on Domain Rating (DR)
If you’re running a backlink-building campaign, Domain Rating offers a sharper lens. Since DR is calculated primarily from the quantity and quality of linking domains, it’s great for:
- Auditing your backlink profile to evaluate growth or gaps.
- Assessing link equity: Use DR to estimate the SEO value of inbound links.
- Filtering outreach targets: Focus on domains with high DR to gain better link juice.
When Domain Authority (DA) is More Useful
DA, on the other hand, offers a broader measure of domain strength. It considers over 40 factors, including root linking domains, spam score, traffic estimates, and more.
Use DA when you want to:
- Evaluate your domain’s overall SEO competitiveness.
- Report progress to stakeholders using an easy-to-understand score.
- Benchmark competitors based on relative SEO strength.
So, Which Metric Should You Rely On?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer in the domain rating vs domain authority debate—it really depends on your goals.
- Need to boost your backlink profile? Focus on DR.
- Want to gauge your domain’s holistic SEO health? Use DA.
- Want the most insight? Use both— domain rating vs domain authority complement each other and offer a fuller picture.
In practical SEO, the best strategy is to leverage both as part of a balanced approach.
Final Thoughts
In the end, domain rating vs domain authority is not a question of choosing one over the other—but understanding when and how to use each.
But beyond any metric, it’s quality content, technical SEO, and user experience that drive real, lasting rankings.
So use domain rating vs domain authority as your guides, but keep your eyes on the real goals—visibility, relevance, and engagement.
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