What is the DA and PA?

What Are DA and PA in SEO?

When it comes to measuring a website’s strength in search engine rankings, two metrics often come up: Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA). Developed by Moz, these are predictive scores that estimate how well a website—or a specific page—might rank on search engine results pages (SERPs).

Domain Authority evaluates the overall strength of an entire domain or subdomain. It’s scored on a scale from 1 to 100, with higher numbers indicating a greater likelihood of ranking. DA takes into account factors like the number of linking root domains, total backlinks, and other trust signals. For example, a well-established news site might have a DA in the 90s, while a brand-new blog might start at DA 1 or 2.

On the other hand, Page Authority focuses on individual pages. Just like DA, PA is scored from 1 to 100 and predicts how well that specific URL might perform in search results. Two pages on the same site can have very different PA scores depending on their backlink profiles, content quality, and on-page SEO.

It’s important to note that DA and PA are not direct Google ranking factors. Instead, they’re tools created to help SEO professionals benchmark performance and compare sites in a competitive analysis. While Google doesn’t use these metrics in its algorithm, they do correlate with ranking success because they reflect the quality and quantity of backlinks—something Google does value.

Over time, improving your DA and PA involves earning high-quality backlinks, creating valuable content, and building a solid site structure. While they shouldn’t be your sole focus, understanding DA and PA can give you a clearer picture of your site’s SEO health and competitive standing.