Domain authority and rankings?

[jl255]

I have a site that sits in #1 position for its keywords right now. But it only got there about 1mth ago. The site is only about 6mths old with lots of link building. I check the domain authority and its only 37/100 with the #2, #3 sites having domain authority of 57 and 82 respectively.

This site has like 800+ backlinks. While the #2 and #3 sites have 20,000+ backlinks.

Does it mean that my site will LIKELY drop in rankings very soon? I know there is no certainty but wld you say that it is highly probable my site will drop?

[DougRoberts]

Hi James. I think it might be worth taking a slightly broader view when assessing the competition. Remember that it's not just your link profile/authority that's causing your to rank at your current position, but also other factors such as the relevance and freshness of your content.

You've got PRO access, so I'd recommend starting with a FULL SERP report in the Keyword Analysis tool. It'll cost you one of your 50 monthly credits, but will give you a fuller view.

Given the backlinks / authority numbers you've stated I wouldn't be surprised if you slip down the rankings, but without knowing the full picture it's hard to say.

What I would say is that I wouldn't recommend that you stop link building because you're at the top of the rankings. A drop in your link acquisition rate could be seen as a signal that your content is less popular/relevant.

Can you give us details of the keywords and your site?

Hope this helps.

[jl255]

What will the full SERP report tell me?

But to be honest, the situation is actually i'm considering purchasing this site that sites on #1. I'm just very concerned about its sustainability as #1 and whether it is worth the investment.

I know that there are tons of other factors affecting ranking.

But i guess i just wanted some feedbacks from experienced SEO guys in the field what their sensing is concerning this site's ranking and whether their best guess is it will drop or cld likely hold on to its position for awhiie.

This is a bet i gotta take, but i'm really quite unsure abt the odds....

[DougRoberts]

Full SERPS report give you the following for each of the top 10 entries in the SERPS:

Page Authority, mozRank, moxTrust, mT/mR, Total Links, External Links, Followed Links, No-Followed Links, Linking Root Domains, On-Page Analysis Grade, Broad Keyword Usage in Title, Broad Keyword Usage in Document, Keyword Used in URL, KW in Domain, KW Exact Match, Exact Anchor Text Links, % Links w/ Exact Anchor Text, %Linking Root Domains w/ Exact Anchor Text, Partial Anchor Text Links, % Links w/ Particl anchor Text, Partial Anchor Text Root Doms. % linking Root Domains w/ Partial Anchor Text, Domain Authority, Domain mozRank, Domain mozTrust, DmT/DmR, External Links to this domain, Linking Root Domains to this domain, Linking C-Blocks Domains to this doman, Tweets, FB Shares and Google Plus One Shares!

This will give you a much broader picture of the current state of play.

If you're looking to purchase this domain, then I'd ask questions about what you're planning to do with it? Changing the content / structure etc will potentially cause changes in the SERPS. I'd certainly want to have a better understanding of why the site is ranking in the position it is.

Why are you purchasing the domain?

I wouldn't purchase a domain just based on the ranking position. I'd want to know how much traffic (in total) the domain gets and how much traffic the core keywords get. I don't know if you're in a position to request this information.