If you want to know how to increase website authority for a client, start with one fact: the number in your SEO tool is an estimate made by that tool, not a score Google keeps. Raising it is a side effect of the right work, which is what our white label link building service is built around.
Key takeaways
- Domain authority, Authority Score and Domain Rating are third-party estimates. Google does not use them.
- Each tool calculates its own number, so scores from different tools are not comparable.
- Scores rise when relevant, separate sites start linking to the client and organic traffic grows.
- Buying links from websites with high domain authority is link spam, and it can cost the client rankings.
What is the meaning of domain authority?
Domain authority is a name for a family of scores, usually from 1 or 0 to 100, that SEO tools use to estimate how strong a website's backlink profile is compared with other sites in their own database. Moz calls its version Domain Authority, Semrush uses Authority Score and Ahrefs uses Domain Rating. None of them is a Google metric.
The phrase is often used loosely. Clients say "domain score", "authority domain" or "rank domain" and mean the same thing: a single number that seems to summarize how trusted a site is. It is a useful shorthand for comparing sites, as long as everyone remembers that a tool company produced it.
Domain authority score meaning, tool by tool
Each tool publishes how its number works. Here is what the two we use most say in their own documentation:
| Metric | Scale | What goes into it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authority Score (Semrush) | 1 to 100 | Link power (quality and quantity of backlinks), estimated organic traffic and spam checks on the link profile | Semrush KB |
| Domain Rating (Ahrefs) | 0 to 100 | The strength of a site's backlink profile compared with others in the Ahrefs database; each linking site's rating is split among the sites it links to | Ahrefs Help |
| Domain Authority (Moz) | See Moz's documentation | Moz's own link-based estimate | Moz |
Two details matter when you explain the domain authority score to a client. First, Semrush says its Authority Score is best used to compare domains, not as an absolute verdict of good or bad, and that more links from a domain already linking to you will not raise it. Second, Ahrefs explains that because a site's rating is split among everything it links to, a small site linking to three sites can pass more than a large one linking to a million, as described in its Domain Rating article. That is why a link from a high-scoring site is not automatically valuable.
Does Google use website domain authority?
No. Google does not use Moz's Domain Authority, Semrush's Authority Score or Ahrefs' Domain Rating. Those companies build their scores from their own crawls of the web. Google has its own systems for understanding links and quality. A rise in a tool score may coincide with better rankings, but it is not the cause of them.
So "website authority ranking" is not a list Google keeps. When a client asks why a competitor with a lower score outranks them, the honest answer is usually relevance: the competitor's pages answer the search better, or its links come from sites in the same industry and city.
Domain authority: how to increase it safely
The work that raises these scores is the same work that improves a site in Google: getting more separate, relevant sites to link to it and attracting more organic traffic. Here is the order we follow with client sites.
- Fix what wastes existing links. Pages with external links that return 404 or redirect in chains lose value. Redirect them to the closest live page.
- Strengthen internal links. Google says every page you care about should have a link from at least one other page on the site, with descriptive anchor text, in its link best practices. Internal links spread the value the site already has to the pages that need it.
- Publish something worth citing. Original data, calculators, local guides and expert answers give other sites a reason to link. Google's guidance on helpful, people-first content is the standard to write to.
- Collect the links the business already deserves. Suppliers, manufacturers, associations, partners, sponsors and local press often mention a business without linking. Ask them to.
- Do outreach for relevance, not score. A link from a site in the client's industry or city, which real customers read, beats a link from an unrelated site with a higher number.
- Grow organic traffic. Authority Score includes estimated traffic, so content and technical work that brings more visitors also moves the number.
Which link sources fit which client is covered in our guide to the types of backlinks, and how to read the starting point is in what a backlink profile is.
Why buying links from high-score websites backfires
Lists of "websites with high domain authority" that sell placements are the fastest way to raise a tool score and the fastest way into trouble. Google's spam policies name buying links for ranking purposes, excessive link exchanges and paid articles or guest posts with optimized anchor text as link spam, and say sites that violate them may rank lower or not appear at all. Semrush's score also runs spam checks, such as many linking domains on the same network, so manufactured links may not even move it.
Paid placements are allowed when they are marked. Google asks sites to qualify paid links with rel="sponsored" and user content with rel="ugc", in its page on how to qualify outbound links. Those links can bring visitors and awareness, but they are not an authority shortcut.
Why did a client's authority score drop?
Usually because of the tool, not Google. Scores are recalculated as the tool's database changes: lost links, links the tool stopped counting, spam signals or other sites growing faster. Semrush, for example, updates Authority Score about every two weeks. Check rankings, organic traffic and leads first. If those are stable, the drop is not urgent.
How to set authority goals with clients
Do not promise a score. Promise work and report outcomes. A goal like "earn links from eight relevant local sites this quarter and grow organic leads to the service pages" is something you can deliver and defend. Show the tool score as context, next to the metrics that pay: rankings for target searches, organic traffic and conversions. Our guide to explaining SEO to clients has the wording, and white label SEO reporting covers the monthly format.
How we raise authority for agency clients
We audit the profile, fix internal links and lost link value, build one or two assets worth citing and run relevant outreach every month, all reported under your brand. That work is our white label link building, part of our white label SEO services for agencies.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good domain authority score?
There is no universal good score. Compare the client with the sites ranking for the same searches in the same tool, and aim to close the gap with relevant links.
How long does it take to increase website authority?
Usually months. New links have to be found and counted by the tools, and earned links come gradually.
Is Authority Score the same as Domain Rating?
No. Semrush and Ahrefs use different data and formulas, so the same site gets different numbers. Compare sites inside one tool only.
Do nofollow links raise domain authority?
Each tool treats them its own way, and Google says qualified links will generally not be followed. They still bring visitors and mentions.
Can a new website get high authority quickly?
Not safely. Fast jumps usually mean bought or networked links, which carry a risk under Google's spam policies.
About the author
Juan José Giraldo is a senior SEO specialist with 5+ years of experience. He works on technical and local SEO for 600+ US car dealerships and supervises the SEO of 18 US e-commerce stores. He runs White Label SEO LATAM from Medellín, Colombia, and delivers white label SEO for agencies in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Read more · LinkedIn.
Sources
- Semrush Knowledge Base, Authority Score
- Ahrefs Help Center, What is Domain Rating (DR)?
- Google Search Central, Spam policies for Google web search
- Google Search Central, Qualify your outbound links to Google
- Google Search Central, Link best practices for Google
- Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content