The MOZ Domain Authority (MDA) and Page Authority (MPA) Scores

Fifun Delight Johnson

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The Moz Domain Authority (MDA) and Moz Page Authority (MPA) scores measure the ranking potential of a whole domain or website, and specific website pages respectively. These search engine ranking scores were developed by Moz, hence their names.

When you are considering buying a domain, especially an expired one, checking the overall domain authority and then the page authority of individual pages currently hosted under the domain name is very important.

Find the right domain name using these metrics and you can have a domain and sub-pages with excellent backlink profiles that start ranking right away and give your business a headstart ahead of your competition.

In the rest of this piece, we’ll discuss exactly how the domain authority and page authority scores work, why you should always consider them, and how the MDA and MPA scores simplify finding the best domains with the highest ranking potential.

Domain Authority as an alternative to Google PageRank

A few years ago, Google used to offer PageRank - an algorithm that measured the popularity and importance of web pages based on the backlink profile and content quality. However, the metric is no longer public.

Moz’s answer was Domain Authority - a system that qualifies a website’s ‘popularity’ on a logarithmic scale of 1-100. Domain Authority places emphasis on the importance of having a healthy backlink profile and creating quality content that attracts inbound links from trusted websites.

What is Domain Authority?

The domain authority (DA) or (MDA) on our catalog is a score that gives a measure of how likely a particular domain or whole website will rank in search engine result pages (SERPs). The score ranges on a logarithmic scale from 1-100, with 100 being the highest potential to rank.

Since the scale is logarithmic, it means that increasing a domain’s domain authority from 45-50 is easier than going from 60-70 and harder than going from 20-30. The higher the domain authority, the more likely the domain or website is to rank and outshine domains with lower scores.

How is the domain authority calculated?

The domain authority is calculated using a machine learning model that uses real-time data from currently ranking pages as a measuring point and compares the domain being evaluated based on its backlink profile, domain age  (link to WBY, ABY article), linking root domains, total number of links, Moz Rank, Moz Trust, etc. and several other factors that traditional search engines consider when ranking search results into a single comprehensive rating.

Hence, the domain authority is a relative score and isn’t an absolute score on domain performance. It measures how a domain will perform compared to other domains. The domain authority also makes for an excellent data point to track a website’s ranking strength over time as you make your marketing efforts.

A domain’s domain authority is not fixed even if the domain is dormant. If other high-performing domains improve some of the factors like their backlink profiles, then the domain authority of a smaller domain will drop relative to that high-performing domain.

What is Page Authority?

The page authority (PA) or (MPA) score on our catalog gives you a measure of how likely a particular or specific website page  will rank in search engine result pages (SERPs). Like the domain authority (DA), the page authority score also ranges on a logarithmic scale from 1-100, with 100 being the highest potential to rank.

The page authority score allows precise monitoring for pages you are particularly interested in or that have a strong impact on your whole website’s performance.

The page authority scale is also logarithmic, and achieving higher scores gets harder as the figures climb, thanks or no thanks to the pages from the big dogs with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of backlinks up there.

How is the page authority calculated?

Like the domain authority, the page authority (PA) is calculated using Moz’s proprietary machine learning model to give a score that blends backlink profile, linking root domains, total number of links, content quality, Moz Rank, Moz Trust, etc. into a single data point.

Only now, the page authority gives a relative score as an indicator of how a particular page on your website or under a domain you are considering will perform compared to other high-performing pages. The page authority is also a good data point to track a particular web page’s ranking potential over time as you market it.

Domain authority and page authority are not search engine ranking factors

It is very important to state clearly that the domain authority and page authority scores are not part of the metric that search engines consider when ranking a domain. In simple terms, improving your domain authority or page authority does not guarantee better performance in search. They are relative scores.

Also, search engines like Google use hundreds of far more complex ranking factors to rank domains and pages, so the DA and PA scores that only incorporate several of these factors are only concerned with relative performance.

Why are the domain authority and page authority scores important?

We’ve discussed what the domain authority and page authority scores are. But why are they important and why should you consider these metrics when choosing a domain? Let’s see why.

It is a good measure of a domain’s strength

The domain authority is a good way to measure a domain’s strength and how it is perceived by search engines. Since it is calculated against other high-performing domains, a higher domain authority tells you that in the eyes of search engines, the domain you are considering is just as healthy.

This can save you from purchasing domains that look great but may have issues that can cost you later.

What’s more? Page authority is one of the factors used to calculate domain authority since a page is a ‘sub-domain’. So the more pages with high page authority, the higher the overall domain authority.

Can help you rank quickly

One of the most important functions of the domain and page authority scores is to help you find domains that can get you to the first page of Google in no time. This is especially important if you are buying an expired domain. For an overarching domain, a high domain authority indicates a domain that’s done well in search before and will put steps ahead of other websites starting with fresh domains.

A high page authority (of web pages currently under the overarching domain) indicates web pages that have had high rankings and have the potential to still do well. Using both domain authority and page authority to screen your domains can allow you to find one with an excellent backlink profile and may just need little tweaks to get back on top of SERPs.

Can help you rank specific pages faster

Ranking a particular website page is much easier and quicker than increasing the ranking potential of a whole domain. So if you’re looking to get some pages on your website shining in search quickly, the page authority is a metric you’ll want to be monitoring.

Finding less competitive keywords to target, chasing long-tail queries, trying out different content formats, etc. are strategies that can affect the page authority and the potential of your website page to outshine other trending pages in your industry.

Allows you to develop better marketing strategies

By monitoring your domain authority and page authority over time, you can have extra data points to measure the performance of your website as you carry out different marketing strategies.

Finding higher quality backlinks to target, the kind of content you’re posting, the kind of content that attracts more backlinks and shares, less competitive high-potential keywords to target, etc. are some of the strategies that domain authority and page authority scores can help you improve.

Vulnerabilities with Moz DA and PA scores

When evaluating a domain that you intend to purchase, you need to be on the lookout, particularly for websites that have engaged in spam to artificially inflate their DA and PA scores. Many websites engage in black-hat SEO practices like link exchange schemes, paid links, link farms etc.

Buying these domains can negatively affect your website and attract Google penalties if they haven’t already been penalized. So it is very important that you perform a comprehensive backlink audit and gauge the quality of websites pointing to the domain for the best performance.

Domain authority and page authority for expired domains

Looking to buy an expired domain? How should the domain authority and page authority scores influence your decision?

You want to be on the lookout for domains with high domain authority and that also host individual pages with high page authority and have performed well in search results.

You also want to check the domain’s backlink profile, the total number of backlinks, and the quality of backlinks. The more high-authority sites pointing to high-potential pages under the domain, the better.

You also want to check that an expired domain has not had any penalties or issues with Google or other search engines. However, the DA and PA scores will likely be affected too, and will save you from choosing domains like these. However, it’s still a good idea to check the penalty report in case it hasn’t been reflected in the DA and PA scores yet.

Introducing the MDA and MPA scores

It can be time-consuming to check the domain authority and page authority scores as you’ll have to always head to Moz’s domain analysis page. The MDA (Moz domain authority) and MPA (Moz page authority) scores were designed to help you do just that.

On our catalog, you get both scores side by side to help you find the best domains quickly:

How the MDA and MPA scores simplify domain ranking potential

It’s one thing to find out the domain authority and page authority scores of a single website, but what do you do when you are looking to buy a domain from a catalog of several thousand or even millions? Check them one by one? No way.

The MDA and MPA make it simple for you. Our interactive catalog allows you to sort the domains by domain authority in just a click. Simply hover to the header row and click on the ‘MDA’ header.

And voila! You will have the domains with the highest domain authorities brought right to the top and shown to you in a set of 25, one page at a time.

To sort out the domains by page authority, head to the MPA header and click it.

And you’ll have domains with the best page authority brought to the top.

And it doesn’t end there.

How do you get even more specific results based on MDA and MPA scores? Here’s how:

Using the MOZ DA filter

Click on ‘Show filters’ and head to the left portions of the screen highlighting the filters. Scroll down to the MOZ DA filter:

The MOZ DA filter allows to filter the listed domains by domain authority – high DA domains and mid-DA domains. You can also set a domain authority (DA) range with minimum(Min) and maximum(Max) values to give you the most flexibility if you have a range in mind.

Now you don’t have to scroll through thousands of domains just to find a particular score you are interested in.

Reselling domains

If you are a domainer or domain reseller, our catalog has all the high-potential domains you can ever ask for. With the MDA and MPA scores and filters, you can find not just one but as many domains as you need that meet your criteria.

Domains with high MDA and MPA scores are highly sought after as everyone knows how hard and long it takes to build a solid backlink profile that generates real results. Start with domains that have already been there and just need little touches to start ranking again!

Rounding up

While Moz’s domain authority and page authority scores are not ranking factors on Google, they give you a strong indication of how a domain(s) you are considering will perform against other already high-performing domains and pages. This is a more accurate measurement of domain health since they use pages that search engines already like as a reference point.

Using the MPA and MDA scores that directly reference the actual PA and DA scores on Moz allows you to quickly find a domain that has the potential to rank on Google and one with a healthy backlink profile. And you don’t just get fixed scores, you can specify a range especially if you are looking to buy multiple domains at once.

So, whether you are looking for that one rare find or you are a domainer looking to resell, head to our catalog and choose the best domain with the best ranking potential for you!

High authority domains dropping soon