How Does Moz Assign Domain Authority?

[jessential]

When I use Site Explorer to test the following URL, http://jennathuening.results.net/site/index.php, it renders a domain authority of 47. (Clients site on real estate host)

• There are no page social metrics:

no Facebook share

no Facebook likes

no Twitter tweets

no Google+ plus 1's

no "just discovered" in 60 days

no one has made a post in 3 weeks

much or most of the content is duplicate content across all affiliate sites

inbound links -  only one link - a 301 redirect     http://jennathuening.results.net/

Images - 18 (Alt tags missing: 18)

Created - 1998-10-15

Registered Org - REMAX RESULTS is associated with ~416 other domains

Whois SEO Score 68%

AND YET IT HAS A ROOT DOMAIN OF "47" and page authority of 33

More confusing, its page authority of 33 is at that top on blue background and then page 30 just listed below.

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When I use Site Explorer to test the following URL, http://www.homedestination.com, it renders a domain authority of 26. (Site personally owned and continually update with highly optimized fresh, relevant, quality content with grade "A" moz ranked pages and blog posts)

92 Facebook share

68 Facebook likes

13 Twitter tweets

420 Google+ plus 1's

2 "just discovered" in 60 days

Images  25 (Alt tags missing: 0)

inbound links -  on 48 Root Domains

Created - 2002-08-15

9 new indexed blog post so far in August / 19 new indexed blog post in July

Whois SEO Score 100%

AND YET IT HAS A ROOT DOMAIN OF "26" and page authority of 36

While I am sure there are many other factors as well; it still is hard to see where a "smaller guy" could ever be given an even opportunity to play in the same SEO arena. Could you help me understand better? I like to build a stronger marketing and optimization strategy as we are just beginning AdWord campaigns.

| SEO Score | 100% |

[SilverDoor]

Hi,

Unfortunately, nobody will be able to tell you exactly how Moz calculate their PA and DA. These are algorithmic and intentionally kept secret.

However, there are several sources on their site that can at least provide some insight into the things they may be using

• What is Domain Authority? 
• What is Page Authority?
• Search Engine Ranking Factors (This will probably give you the most insight into elements they take into consideration within their algorithm.

Sorry there's not a more specific answer to your question.

Hope you find this useful.

SilverDoor

[jessential]

Thanks for the response SilverDoor. I agree - those are three go-to-places to try learn more. I have combed them for some time, and yet, honestly, I am hoping to gain a more insights.

Especially as to establishing Domain Authority and Page Authority. What weight is given in my example above (to the simple fact that the site that has so much less going for it) to the simple aspect of being related to a nationally recognized brand.

This is fascinating: "Page Authority is a machine learning model inside our Mozscape index that predicts ranking ability from links and, at 0.39, it is the highest correlated factor in our study."

But how is Page Authority really measured? Again, if the example above were to be interpreted literally, then certainly fresh content, original content, and social metrics can't have much value. We put a tremendous amount of time into creating new blog posts, new optimized web content, pushing our content out, media news, social engagement, etc. and wonder what credence is really given it. We are picked up by Google News, Yahoo News, and various news aggregators weekly, our number of indexed pages in Google continues upward, and yet our Moz trust score is going down.

Baffled.

[EGOL]

AND YET IT HAS A ROOT DOMAIN OF "26" and page authority of 36

Why are you so worried about domain authority and page authority?

They don't influence the ranking of your site in google or produce income.

What, beyond these numbers are you trying to achieve?

[Bryan_Loconto]

I agree. Just like page rank, the DA & PA don't have any influence on ranking or banking

[EGOL]

lol   "ranking or banking"... nice.

[jessential]

Hi Egol,

Yes, I have heard this comment often too. The point being, how can a "smaller guy" could ever be given an even opportunity to play in the same SEO arena?

[jessential]

Why do you thing MOZ puts an emphasis on it if DA & PA have no merit or influence?

[EGOL]

In my opinion, DA and PA, because they correlate with the observed ranking ability of a page or a domain, can be used as a general measure of a site's ability to rank.

You can use that to monitor the progress of your site over time or to compare your site with other sites in a very general way.

I don't use them.

If I want to know how I stack up with another domain I check Google's rankings.  And, if I want to compete for a keyword or a set of keywords that cover a product or an industry, I just jump in.  I am not going to allow a third party metric to encourage me or scare me off.

Being honest, I am confused about why moz publishes these numbers and provides very little guidance on how they can be used for practical purposes.   DA and PA are in my opinion, the most frequent topic of angst in Q&A.

People spend so much time trying to understand why they have a higher DA then the guy who ranks above them when the answer is... DA and PA have nothing to do with your google rankings... get to work improving your website... that will impact your "rankings and bankings".

[EGOL]

Here is all I can say.

I run small publishing and niche ecommerce biz with three full time people (counting me); help from a couple smart consultants for technical work and SEO;  two people working very part time on admin stuff; and occasional help from freelancers for artwork or programming.

The small guy can survive if he has expertise in a business niche, can present ideas well on the web and has the ability to get all of the technical details right or hire someone to get them done right.  But you gotta work hard, pick the right niche, and have a nose for what people want, need or don't realize what they want or need.  All of those stars must come together to make the constellation.

[jessential]

EGOL,

You highlight a chief concern of mine: this real estate client is dynamite. Yet, did I "pick the right niche" in trying to help her? Here her unattended, disregarded for typical SEO features, etc, site on the super star parent company is given more credence, that tremendous effort on her personal web site has.

What organic SEO practices can ever nudge Google's ranking needle when in the same niche as brand giants that spend mega amounts on paid search?

[EGOL]

For real estate you must get really good at Local SEO.  And when you do local SEO then, in my opinion, DA and PA have even less importance.

If I was going into local SEO, I would hire a local SEO consultant to get me started in the right direction.  Local real estate rankings can be highly competitive in large cities and in smaller communities where major players or really smart people have a presence.

Knowing how to win is the first step.

[jessential]

Again, thanks for the insightful comment, EGOL.

Can anyone from MOZ help me better understand my question and  the example  provided?

Thanks advance if you can take the time and offer help.

[KeriMorgret]

DA and PA are numbers that help you see how you're doing relative to competitors, and they can change with each update, depending on our index. They are something interesting to look at and can give you a rough idea of how you're doing, but they are numbers that Moz developed, based on our crawls. The search engines don't use our metrics, as they have a much bigger dataset, more statisticians than we have employees, and many more factors they take into account. EGOL does have a good approach here.

[jessential]

I am ramping up the Local Search, using Moz's paid Local Search and will see what happens. Thank you both for your responses.