Do you consider your company’s website to be a reference for the public? And for search engines? One of the most widely used metrics in the market to measure this issue is domain authority — also known by its English name: domain authority (DA).
This metric is not directly considered by Google as a ranking factor. However, even though it is calculated indirectly, it provides important information regarding your website’s reputation.
Besides, if 70% of SEO experts check the DA of the sites they manage every month, this metric has something to say! Do you agree?
Here you will understand why it is so important, as well as see the factors that make it up and the best practices for optimizing your website’s reputation.
Come with me and I’ll explain everything!
What is Domain Authority?
Domain authority is a metric that Moz established as a way to predict the potential of a given domain to achieve good rankings on Google and other search engines.
This is a score that ranges from 0 to 100 and can be easily checked with the Link Explorer tool , for example.
By comparing your website’s DA to that of your competitors, you can see if you have a good chance of ranking higher than them in search results.
What factors make up this metric?
The calculation of the domain authority number follows a complex algorithm, the specifications of which are not disclosed by the tools.
However, there are some influencing factors that we know of, such as:
Links pointing to the website
If other sites link to yours, this is a strong indication that your site has interesting, relevant and valuable content for visitors!
The more external links, also called backlinks, the better your domain authority.
But not every link is good, you know? It’s essential that they come from sites with a good reputation .
If they come from a lot of pages with poor content or that practice web spam, your DA will certainly suffer…
A well-known way to obtain links naturally and strategically, coming from reputable sites, is through Marketing partnerships.
This can be done through the joint production of rich materials, for example, or by exchanging guest posts (writing guest texts on the partner’s blog, including links to your blog).
It is also worth investing in PR strategies! Do you know why?
When renowned and influential outlets mention or link to content from your domain, this works as a very important reinforcement of credibility.
And these backlinks are also useful because they can be clicked and result in more traffic to your website!
Website Reputation
Getting links on many pages that are not related to your area, repeating keywords excessively and publishing only shallow content are examples of elements that make up a website with a low reputation.
So avoid these practices to avoid having a low domain authority!
On the other hand, in addition to consistent content production — seeking to ensure that published materials contain reliable information and are useful — I cannot fail to remember that Technical SEO practices also contribute to an optimized user experience.
Optimizing the website structure, tags and meta descriptions, for example, are essential elements!
Social Media Engagement
For a long time, it was believed that social networks did not influence domain authority — big mistake!
Although this influence is not so direct, it is possible to use the strategies of these channels to boost your website’s DA.
Just look:
- Increased sharing: Users of these channels have a habit of sharing what they like. And, of course, engaging content shared on social media has a high potential to be widely distributed;
- Traffic generation: a recurring presence on social media can generate organic traffic through links in the bio, stories and also in posts. When you receive recurring traffic, the tools begin to understand your website as relevant;
- Engagement and dwell time: if the content published on social media attracts users to interact and spend more time on the site, this is a sign of quality, which also ends up positively influencing SEO indicators;
- Brand Authority: In addition, there is the strong element of Branding . A strong presence on social media contributes to building brand authority, which transcends these channels. And of course, well-recognized and respected companies are more likely to generate organic backlinks, for example!
Website Performance
A website’s performance, especially its load time, plays a critical role in user experience and, by extension, domain authority.
Technically, I need to tell you that loading time affects SEO in several ways. For starters, search engines like Google consider page speed as a ranking factor.
Additionally, these days, users have little (if any) patience to wait for slow pages, which can result in high bounce rates.
What we have, in terms of data, is that the average rejection rate is around 41% to 55%, while the ideal rate would be between 26% and 40%.
And you can imagine that such a high bounce rate can’t be good for your domain authority, right?
What are the best practices for increasing domain authority?
Now that you know more about domain authority, let’s look at the best practices for increasing it.
Do you think I’ve given you all the tips? The best ones are yet to come. Keep reading!
Invest in Content Marketing
Content production plays a fundamental role in the perception of a website’s authority and in strengthening domain authority.
The more a brand produces complete and informative materials as part of a Content Marketing strategy, the greater the chances of it attracting the attention of influential people in its field — and even large portals.
This way, you create a favorable environment to get quality external links and improve your DA!
And, as I’ve said before, search engines value content that is relevant and valuable to users. After all, they want to provide them with the best possible search experience.
So when you create useful, in-depth content that aligns with your persona’s interests, your website demonstrates your expertise in the industry.
Furthermore, consistently publishing well-crafted content optimized for relevant keywords contributes to better rankings in search results.
All of this, in turn, has a positive impact on the perception of the site as a reliable source and, therefore, influences the DA!
Strengthen your SEO
Creating quality content is an essential step, but this task needs to be accompanied by good SEO practices.
Therefore, pay attention to optimizing your website, especially with regard to On Page SEO, to create even more favorable conditions for having a good place in the search rankings.
The proper use of keywords, mechanisms that help with text scannability, friendly URLs and appropriate content formatting are some of these measures!
Make the internal link
Inserting links to your own content within your website is a way to keep your audience engaged for longer.
This is great because it contributes to increasing the relevance of pages and, consequently, influences domain authority.
By creating a strategic internal link structure, it is possible to direct the flow of authority to specific pages (page authority), strengthening their relevance in the discerning eyes of search engines.
And the consistent insertion of internal links also directs traffic to the most relevant pages and guides users along the customer journey. Have you thought about it?
Make your reputation good online
To strengthen authority, it is essential to build trust and credibility, both on and off the website. After all, it is just one brand!
There are many ways to do this. I have brought you some ideas:
In addition to the practices I’ve already mentioned, such as consistently producing high-quality content, I recommend highlighting customer testimonials and reviews on strategic pages.
It is also worth investing efforts to respond quickly and proactively to negative comments and reviews, as this demonstrates a commitment to customer satisfaction.
Another important initiative is ensuring transparency in communication. In other words: provide visibility to information about your company, team, products or services, and processes.
Visible security certificates and a complete and up-to-date privacy policy also inspire trust and add value to reputation!
Finally, it is interesting to include in the content, whenever possible, links to reliable references, research from renowned websites and expert opinions, as a way of strengthening the reliability of the information disclosed on your pages.
Show that you are an authority in the market!
I can safely say that domain authority is an essential factor for success in the digital environment!
And it is, without a doubt, a metric that your Marketing team should monitor closely.
In getting here, we’ve explored together the fundamental strategies for strengthening that authority — from building trust through relevant content to technical optimization.
Remember: good authority not only improves your website’s visibility in search engines, it also establishes your brand as a reference in your industry.
It’s performance and Branding working together to achieve your company’s results!
For a personalized analysis and specific guidance for your website, I invite you to take our free Digital Marketing diagnosis.
In it, you will discover opportunities for improvement and personalized strategies to increase your domain authority with the help of experts from our SEO agency!
