Knowing where you stand among your competitors is crucial for any industry professional. And in the SEO world, metric tools like Domain Rating allow you to both identify the competition and overtake them.
Research has shown that websites with a higher Domain Rating tend to rank higher on the first page of Google. But 65% of digital marketers still agree that link-building is the hardest part of SEO overall.
Luckily, we've created the ultimate guide to leveraging your site's Domain Rating to your advantage. So, if you want to learn how to take control of these metrics and boost your website's overall authority, then you'll want to keep reading!
See Related: What Is SEO And How Does It Work For Your Business?
Website authority refers to the overall strength of a particular domain and its ability to rank higher in the search engine result pages (SERPs). This type of authority is calculated using a variety of ranking factors.
But perhaps the most critical ranking factor involved is the website's backlink profile.
85% of SEOs and marketers believe that link-building has a big impact on brand authority and brand building.
Of course, there are more SEO factors at play when it comes to a website's overall authority. So, let's dive deeper and get into what domain rating is and how it gets calculated.
Domain Rating (DR) is an SEO metric developed by AHREFs that assesses a website's overall authority and strength. A website's AHREFs Domain Rating (DR) gets determined by the number of that website's backlinks as well as its various social shares and signals.
That being said, AHREFs itself has stated that while Domain Rating (DR) strongly correlates with a website's search traffic, SEOs should not focus their efforts solely on growing this metric specifically.
In this way, it's important to think of Domain Rating (DR) as an effective metric, but not an end-all-be-all measurement of your site's ability to rank across search engines.
That being said, there are some interesting statistics that Domain Rating (DR) highlights, namely having to do with websites' link profiles.
Only 2.2% of content gets linked from more than one site.
That's a pretty small percentage considering everything on the Internet. But this actually poses a great opportunity for those looking to increase their website's backlink profile while simultaneously bolstering their overall Domain Rating.
But before we get into these ranking tactics, let's clear up a common misconception between Domain Rating and Domain Authority (DA).
If you're familiar with the term "Domain Rating," then you've likely come across a number of different SEO terms, all of which have to do with this so-called "Domain Authority." But let's clear things up: Domain Rating (DR) is different from Domain Authority (DA).
For the most part, digital marketers tend to consider Domain Rating as more important than Domain Authority. And this is because Domain Authority, unlike Domain Rating, considers various factors beyond backlinks, including everything from spam score to domain age, website traffic to social presence, and linking root domains to the total number of links.
Some believe that these factors in determining Domain Authority (DA) can be easily manipulated. On the other hand, Domain Rating focuses solely on a website's backlink profile which is typically more difficult to manipulate.
While neither Domain Authority nor Domain Rating is a direct ranking factor, these SEO tools can be incredibly helpful for marketers looking to analyze their website's SEO performance.
There are many different iterations of this SEO tool from AHREFs' Domain Rating to MOZ Domain Authority (DA) to SEMRush Authority Score. All in all, these metrics can be useful when measuring the performance of a website's ability to rank in the search engine results pages.
In fact, 42.6% of link builders rely on metrics like Domain Rating (DR) and Domain Authority (DA) to measure link-building effectiveness.
But Domain Authority Scores or even a website's Domain Rating should not be considered the primary focus of any SEO campaign. Instead, a holistic approach to SEO which includes keyword research, a strong backlink profile, and more will raise a website's DA score and DR score respectively by virtue of utilizing SEO best practices.
We've already determined that Domain Rating (DR) isn't the sole Google ranking factor. But that's not to say that a strong domain ranking can't also impact your website's ability to rank higher across the SERPs.
More than anything, Domain Rating and even Domain Authority have to do with your website's link popularity as well as its link quality. This means that spammy backlinks can actually pose a threat to your overall DR and DA score.
According to SEO experts, backlinks are the third most important factor for ranking a site.
And this is because metrics like Domain Authority and Domain Rating ultimately assess your website's authority overall. Being an authority within your niche market sends trust signals to both Google and web users.
There's no question that folks tend to trust high DR websites simply by virtue of their domain score. But when it comes to Google search, this level of trust that you're able to build with both users and search engines alike is what really matters.
Everyone wants to see their web pages at the top of any search engine ranking. After all, search engine visibility can provide a wealth of opportunities from brand awareness to increased conversion rates.
But more importantly, search engine algorithms tend to reward high-quality websites that prove their credibility and authority through their backlink profile.
The number of backlinks a web page has is directly correlated with the amount of organic traffic it receives.
That's because referring domains are referencing your website as an authority on the subject. The more unique domains linking back to your target website, the greater your site's DA score will rise.
Bonus: 20 Pros And Cons Of Social Media Marketing In 2023
Domain Rating scores range from 1 to 100, with 0 being the worst and 100 being the best. But this isn't to say that the top websites will have a Domain Rating of 100. In fact, most top websites' high Domain Rating simply means they have a DR score of over 80.
For small businesses and individuals, it can be difficult to achieve such a high Domain Rating. But you don't actually need a high DA score or DR score in order to rank well across search engines. But more on that below!
A bad authority score is entirely relative to your competitors. So, when calculating your site's domain authority or even page authority, look for other websites in your niche market across Google rankings.
This will give you a better idea of how to maximize your SEO strategies when it comes to appearing in Google search results. So, let's take a look at how you can improve your SEO efforts to reflect a high authority while boosting your rank across search engines.
As we said before, Domain Rating is determined by a number of factors including linking root domains to domain age. But if you want to increase your SERP ranking organically while naturally boosting your DR and DA scores as a byproduct, then consider these ranking strategies below.
Everyone is publishing new content every day. But to stand out from the crowd, you need to make sure your content is well-researched enough so that unique domains naturally link back to you.
Around 94% of online content does not receive any external links.
And that means there's a lot of content out there that's not link-worthy. But investing in a content marketing strategy that maximizes your link-building opportunities while delivering quality content to users is one of the best ways to improve your optimization practices.
Plus, search engines like when you go back and update old content with new, updated information. So, don't think that one piece of content is going to do the trick for your rankings across the board.
Instead, make sure all content you publish is high-quality and worthy of being linked to by other referring domains.
External and internal links both contribute to a strong backlink profile. So, as you inner link to different pages within your website, don't forget to invest in high-quality links from other referring sites as well.
93.8% of link builders say link quality is more important than link quantity.
So, rather than invest in spammy links that will give you an overwhelming amount of links to pull from, focus on what sites you want to be attached to. Obtaining links from reputable and credible websites can significantly enhance your website's overall authority.
Plus, this gives you the perfect opportunity to build relationships with other branded websites that are popular amongst those within your customer base.
We get that all of this talk about DR and DA scores can be incredibly overwhelming. So, if you don't know where to start when it comes to boosting your website's authority, work with an SEO company that's proven its expertise in the field.
At Up Inc., we specialize in generating growth for eCommerce brands by focusing on visibility, customer loyalty, and digital revenue. And, through our unique four-step process, we've managed to effectively scale growth for our clients without having them rely on ad spend.
From 2020-2021, we managed to 35x one luxury beauty company's organic visitor growth, resulting in 605 unique organic sales in 10 months and ranking them for 6,500 keywords in Google's Top 100 results.
From our Search & Discover Roadmap to our On-Page Optimization processes, we help you develop a blog content strategy that positions you as an authority in your market. Plus, we acquire links and product placements on reputable, niche-relevant websites to further your brand's visibility and organic customer traffic.
Guest posting is another unique way to gain exposure for your website and business. This process involves writing an article for another website within your industry.
Not only does it help you build relationships with competitors. But it also helps you piggyback off of their own authority in the field.
Guest posting is the most popular link-building strategy with 64.9% of link builders using it.
But don't use guest posts as an opportunity for self-promotion. Instead, focus again on crafting quality content that is informative and up-to-date. This way, you're able to prove your authority and credibility on the subject while naturally promoting yourself and your brand.
As we said before, looking at your competitors' DR and DA scores will help you determine an appropriate score for your website. But keeping your eye on them, in general, is a great way to help inform your SEO strategies overall.
With the right tools, you can actually audit your competitor's backlinks and keyword rankings to help you identify target websites to reach out to. And you can level the playing field between you and the rest of the competition.
89% of marketers produce content with the goal of building links.
So, don't think that others aren't utilizing these same tips too. So long as you continue to generate quality content that's informative and useful for readers, you can increase your chances of building links that will contribute to your site's overall authority.
Ultimately, understanding how to navigate metric tools like Domain Rating can significantly enhance your digital strategies overall. So, keep these tips in mind and see how much you can maximize your SEO impact!
Keep reading: 8 Customer Profile Analysis Methods That Will Boost Sales
--
Up Inc. eCommerce Agency is a digital marketing agency based in Los Angeles, CA. Founded in 2021, Up Inc. specializes in eCommerce, generating growth for brands by focusing on visibility, customer loyalty, and digital revenue. For more SEO tips and industry insights, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
