Domain Authority (DA) and Domain Rating (DR) are two of the most widely used SEO metrics for measuring the authority and ranking potential of a website. Both serve as key indicators for SEO performance, competitor benchmarking, and link-building strategy.
While DA and DR are not official Google ranking factors, they align closely with the types of signals Google uses — particularly backlink quality and quantity — making them valuable proxies for SEO strength.
🔍 What Is Domain Authority (DA)?
🔍 What Is Domain Authority (DA)?
Domain Authority is a proprietary metric created by Moz to predict how well a website will rank in search engine results.
Scale: 0–100 (logarithmic)
Primary Factors: Quality and number of inbound links, linking root domains, and Moz’s Link Explorer index
Purpose: Comparative — to evaluate your domain’s potential performance against competitors, not to achieve a perfect score
A higher DA means your site has a stronger backlink profile and greater potential to rank well for competitive keywords.
📈 What Is Domain Rating (DR)?
📈 What Is Domain Rating (DR)?
Domain Rating is Ahrefs’ metric that measures the strength of a website’s backlink profile based on both quality and quantity of referring domains.
Scale: 0–100 (logarithmic)
Data Source: Ahrefs’ link index
Focus: Backlink profile strength, not directly ranking potential
While DR primarily evaluates link-based authority, it’s often used alongside DA to gauge a domain’s overall SEO health.
⚙️ DA/DR and Google: What You Should Know
⚙️ DA/DR and Google: What You Should Know
Neither Domain Authority nor Domain Rating are official Google ranking factors.
However, both correlate strongly with ranking signals such as backlinks, relevance, and trustworthiness.
In most cases:
High DA/DR → High Organic Visibility
Low DA/DR → Weaker ranking performance
Thus, SEO professionals use these metrics as indicators for:
Link-building opportunities
Competitor analysis
Evaluating potential partnerships or guest post placements
📊 The Dataset & Key Findings
📊 The Dataset & Key Findings
A study analyzing 9,739 active websites compared:
Moz DA
Ahrefs DR
Estimated Monthly Organic Traffic (from top 100 search results)
Observations
Positive Relationship: As DA increases, DR typically increases too.
Traffic Correlation: Higher DA and DR scores correlate with higher estimated organic traffic.
Divergence: Some domains had higher DA but lower DR, possibly due to differences in how each tool values link quality and referring domains.
📉 Regression Analysis
📉 Regression Analysis
Metric | Intercept | Slope | Relationship |
Organic Traffic vs. DR | -141,730 | 6,709.6 | Positive correlation |
Organic Traffic vs. DA | -295,370 | 7,908.4 | Slightly stronger positive correlation |
Conclusion: Both DA and DR are solid indicators of SEO performance, with DA showing a slightly stronger correlation to organic traffic.
💡 Final Thoughts on DR vs. DA
When comparing Domain Rating vs. Domain Authority, both metrics provide valuable insights into a website’s SEO potential.
DA → Best for evaluating ranking potential across competitors
DR → Best for assessing backlink strength and quality
Using both together gives you a comprehensive understanding of your domain’s authority, helping you prioritize:
Link-building strategies
Content promotion
Competitive positioning
Ultimately, higher DA and DR scores tend to align with stronger keyword rankings and more organic traffic — making them essential benchmarks in any SEO campaign.