You may have heard of Domain Authority (DA) but are unsure what it is or how it affects your website in a SERP (search engine results page). Firstly, your Domain Authority is not a Google ranking factor. However, it does predict how you will rank in a search and is a useful tool to compare yourself with your direct competitors.
Domain Authority scores range from 0 to 100. The higher the domain score, the more likely the site will be seen in a SERP and therefore have higher web traffic. A good score for a small to medium-sized website is 50 to 60. If your site is lower, do not worry, it can be worked on and improved. If your site is new, it will start on a lower score as the age of a domain counts towards a DA score. Either way, there is some work to be done.
Below is our list of 11 tips to boost your domain authority with SEO.
1) Carry out a link audit
A technical SEO audit will evaluate all aspects of your Domain's SEO. Then analyse the data to make educated decisions to optimise and improve your score.
Start with your company's current domain score. This will give you a benchmark to work from and to compare yourself to your competition. It can be hard to analyse the data from a technical SEO audit. You might benefit from getting help from a digital marketing agency.
2) Optimise page content
SEO matters to both Goggle search ranking as well as your DA score. Optimising page content comes in two forms:
- UX (user experience), new to Google's ranking algorithm, is core web vitals (May 2021). The three main website elements: Large Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID) and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), will be the new factors combined with the existing UX signals.
- On page codes: HTTPS, title tags, images alt tags and content. This also includes keywords, internal and external links.
3) Decreasing loading speed
Slow loading speeds can lead to a high bounce rate as users have little patients when it comes to loading times. A high bounce rate can have a dramatic effect on a DA score. Reviewing loading speed on a technical SEO audit tool [GL1] to analyse and identify ways to fasten loading times.
One factor that can contribute to a slow loading speed is content rendering time. There are two ways to measure this First Contentful Paint [GL2] (FCP). This measures how long it takes the initial DOM (Document Object Model) content to render. However, it does not capture the length of time it takes for the largest content on the page to render. Typically, larger content is slower to load but contains more important information. The best way to measure the total time to load a page is Largest Contentful Paint optimisation.
4) Create likeable content
A DA score is partly based upon how many quality links are directed to the site. Which also improves the indexability of the page. A brilliant first step to building better links is by creating content that is relevant to your industry.
To earn high-quality links from multiple domains pages, content should be unique. The content should be relevant to your industry and published regularly, such as:
- News reports/studies
- Interesting opinions/thought pieces
- Helpful guides
- Quality, in-depth content
- Roundup of statistics
Once you have your high-quality content, it is time to reach out to other well-established, reputable platforms to link to your content. To save on time and resources, many companies use a digital agency or a platform like SEMrush. Digital agencies will contact them on their behalf and can compile a list of relevant sites.
5) Improving internal links
Although often overlooked, internal links are influential to your SEO and DA. Internal links are a great way to improve core web vitals, as they direct customers to what they are trying to find-ultimately improving UX.
Additionally, internal links make it easier for Google to index the site.
6) Deep linking
To improve your internal links, create more original content to link to, simple. However, there are a couple of things to think about to optimise when considering DA score.
There are two links you should avoid using too much; 'homepage' and 'contact us'. Links like these are called surface level and should be covered in your site's navigation menu.
To get the most out of your internal links, use links from further within your site. e.g., a previous blog that is relevant to your current post. Lastly, internal links are beneficial but do not forget the importance of adding external links into your content.
7) Remove bad links
Over time your site will collect broken and low-quality links. These corrupt links will reduce your SEO and DA score. The easiest way to read through all the information on your site is a technical SEO audit. A technical SEO audit will flag potential links for you to check and dispose of. To save time, ask a digital marketing agency to do this for you.
8) Unlinked mentions
As your online presence increases, you may find that sites have used your brand in their content but have not linked back to your site. When you spot this, contact the site owner to ask them to link back to your site. Most of the time, they will happily oblige.
To help you spot this kind of content, use Google alerts. Set Google alters to send you a notification every time your brand name is mentioned. Just click on the notification and check if they have linked back to your site.
9) Check the site is mobile friendly
A large portion of internet users access the web through a mobile device. Not only will mobile-friendliness affect your search engine rank and DA score, but it can also affect your bounce rate. This is due to visitors leaving when they realise that your site does not display correctly on their device - directly impacting your business's prospective profits.
10) Promote your content via social media
A substantial ranking factor for a DA score is social media signals (likes, shares and comments) to convey content popularity. By promoting your content on social media, you are obtaining these signs. To boost your DA score, encourage users to like, share and comment on your posts.
11) Be an 'DA' leader within your niche
By following all the steps above to improve your DA score you can become an industry leader in SERPs.
The simplest way to increase your Domain Authority score is to build links. It can be difficult to define the right link building strategy or create the time to carry it out. You may benefit from a professional digital marketing agency doing this for you.
If you are looking for a digital marketing agency in the UK to improve your DA score, we would love to chat. Contact us today.
