Page Authority and Domain Authority – What Is the Difference?

First, let’s discuss the difference between Page Authority and Domain Authority.

If you’re wondering what the difference is between Page Authority and Domain Authority, and you want to try to make your website the highest-ranking page in your field, being able to work in both of these areas is integral to success.

This article will explain the differences between Page and Domain Authorities and how best to utilize them to create a successful online presence!

While both Page and Domain Authorities are metrics developed by Moz (a popular all-in-one SEO tool), they are absolutely relevant and ubiquitous to webmasters as a whole.

Page Authority is the metric that measures and forecasts how well a specific page will rank on search engines. It means that any article, product web page, about page, etc., will need to consider its Page Authority to be seen more favorably by search engines.

While both Page and Domain Authorities are a more holistic representation of the overall success of the pages and sites they’re measuring, there are still ways to ensure you increase your page’s authority.

The best way to improve the PA of any given section of your website is to strengthen the page’s link profile by incorporating more backlinks and having more external sources link to the specific page in question.

Like Page Authority, Domain Authority is the prediction of how a given domain’s overall search engine ranking success is measured. Domain Authority forecasts the website’s overall effectiveness and must be considered when doing website-wide changes. Most web admins think only about the effectiveness of the overall domain as a whole. While it is vital to manage, Domain Authority is still only a part of the overall picture.

How do you improve your Domain Authority?

There are several ways to boost Domain Authority, but they all focus on getting the best backlinks from sites that already rank higher than yours. By building strong networks across the internet, your DA will improve dramatically. For starting strategies, try:

The fundamental difference between Domain Authority and Page Authority is what precisely is being measured – in other words, PA predicts the overall performance of the specific web page in particular (i.e., a particular article on your website), whereas DA predicts the overall performance of your entire website as a whole.

Obviously, both metrics are important, and learning the best SEO practices in optimizing is essential for overall success. However, teasing out which needs work is a necessary process in overall optimization. Some solutions require domain optimization, and some require page optimization – it simply depends on the issue! By taking these into account, no matter if your page requires Domain Authority or page authority, you will be able to find areas of optimization.

Being able to check these concepts to optimize your website is one of many essential components to consider when doing an optimization overhaul for your domain. Many tools are available to you regarding this, but we will focus on Moz, Ahrefs, and Semrush.

Since the two concepts are created by Moz, this tool just so happens to be the best place to start to analyze these metrics!

For starters, you can check out their Link Explorer for free. This handy tool can instantly examine the Domain Authority generated by Moz, which will give you information concerning the optimization of your site.

The first step is to check out the Domain SEO Analysis Tool. Once you navigate here, simply type on the website you’re interested in researching and hit the Analyze Domain button.

Once done, simply look at the data the process provides!

For Page Authority, you can see the Link Explorer linked above. It follows much the same process as the Domain Explorer.

While somewhat similar to Moz’s Domain Authority, Ahrefs uses a “Website Authority” metric that does differ. Both can offer a comprehensive understanding of the current strength of a website’s search results, but they do have differences. 

Like the Moz tool, Ahrefs requires you to put the domain or specific URL into the checker.

Start here.

Afterwards, you will receive an immediate breakdown of your site’s authority that you can use to maximize optimization!

If you know what your website’s Domain Rating is, you can work on improving it. In the video below, Ahrefs explains how to improve the Website’s Authority: 

Using a similar metric to Moz, Semrush uses the Semrush Authority Score that functions in a holistic way that is similar to other authority metrics. For best results, checking your domain and Page Authority with multiple tools can give you a more accurate representation of where your site is relative to other domains! 

Checking Page Authority with Semrush: Step 1

Semrush is a service that requires you to create an account. Once done, you can check domains and pages and their Semrush Authority Score.

So, the first step is to make an account!

Checking Page Authority with Semrush: Step 2

After creating an account, navigate to the desktop. Once on the desktop, you can simply search for domains and specific webpages with the search bar at the top!

At the end of the day, both Domain Authority and Page Authority are essential to websites for different but related reasons. To ensure your newest blog entry is doing well, you will need to do an optimization overhaul on the page itself, comparing it to similar pages across the internet, including excellent backlinks and more.

Suppose you’re trying to get your overall domain more attention. In that case, you will need to run optimizations just the same but also compare against competitors and ensure the quality of your content.

Optimization and SEO best practices take time! By understanding the differences and using both to maximize the impact of your site overall, you will be able to rise through the SEO ranks and find the success you are interested in!

Let’s consider an example to illustrate how Page Authority (PA) and Domain Authority (DA) can be used.

Suppose we have two websites:

Website A: This website has a high PA and DA, according to Moz’s metrics. It has a substantial number of high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites, regularly publishes high-quality content, and has been established for several years.

Website B: This website has a lower PA and DA than Website A. It has fewer backlinks, its content may not be as frequently updated or of as high quality, and it’s relatively new compared to Website A.

Now, let’s see how these metrics might translate into search engine performance:

Now that you understand the difference between Domain Authority and Page Authority, we can discuss their reliability. So, Are PA and DA reliable metrics?

Well… Yes and no. (Sorry!)

Yes, because they’re created based on plenty of information, and Moz put a lot of effort into making them as reliable as possible.

No, because, after all, they’re just metrics. And just like any other number, they can vary, depending on the tool. You can see that by comparing your scores in Moz, Ahrefs, and Semrush – even though they’re supposed to measure the same thing, they take into account different elements.

Tools are just tools. Yes, you need them in your work as an SEO specialist or a webmaster, but remember that the only fully reliable metric is your position in Google for specific keywords. 

Page Authority (PA) and Domain Authority (DA) are metrics developed by Moz, a company specializing in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tools and services. These metrics aim to predict how well a specific page or domain is likely to rank in search engine results.

While Page Authority and Domain Authority can be valuable indicators of a website’s or webpage’s potential performance in search engine rankings, they have limitations.

PA and DA are metrics developed by Moz, meaning they are not direct measurements provided by search engines (like Google, for instance). They are Moz’s attempt to replicate how search engines might evaluate the authority of a webpage or domain. But they’re not perfect. And never will be.

Google, the most widely used search engine, does not endorse or use PA and DA in its algorithms. Google uses its complex algorithms to determine search rankings, considering numerous factors beyond what PA and DA measure.

PA and DA consider factors like backlinks, content quality, and other SEO-related metrics, yes. Still, they only encompass some factors that search engines like Google use to rank pages. As a result, they provide an incomplete picture of a website’s or webpage’s overall SEO performance.

Moz periodically updates its algorithms for calculating PA and DA, which can lead to score fluctuations over time. Additionally, changes in search engine algorithms can affect how accurately PA and DA reflect a website’s authority.

PA and DA are most helpful in comparing different pages or domains against each other rather than as absolute authority measures. They are also beneficial while preparing for link-building activities, as they give you a general overview of the website’s condition and can affect whether you choose certain websites or not. A high PA or DA score relative to competitors may indicate a stronger likelihood of ranking well, but it does not guarantee top positions in search results. Still, don’t get us wrong: it is something you want to aim for.

They provide insights into certain aspects of a website’s authority but should not be considered definitive or exclusive indicators of search engine rankings.