--- title: "What Is a Good Domain Authority? Scores Explained" description: "What is a good domain authority score? How Moz DA is calculated, what a good number looks like in your niche and why it is not a Google ranking factor." url: https://hunter.domains/blog/what-is-a-good-domain-authority language: en --- # What Is a Good Domain Authority? Scores Explained What is a good domain authority score? How Moz DA is calculated, what a good number looks like in your niche and why it is not a Google ranking factor. 3 October 2026 8 min read What is a good domain authority score depends on your niche, your competitors, and what you're trying to achieve. Domain Authority (DA) is a metric created by Moz that predicts how well a domain will rank on search engines, on a scale of 1 to 100. It is not used by Google, but it is a useful reference when you're evaluating domains, backlinks, and competition. Understanding what the number means, where it comes from, and how to use it will help you make better decisions about which domains to target or buy. ## What Domain Authority is and who computes it Moz is a software company that built a set of SEO tools, and Domain Authority is one of their core metrics. Moz crawls the web, analyzes linking patterns, and builds a model that predicts a domain's ranking potential. The resulting score, DA, ranges from 1 to 100. It's a domain-level metric, not a page-level one, so your entire site gets one DA number (though Moz also publishes Page Authority, or PA, for individual pages). Moz computes DA from its own link data, mainly the backlinks and referring domains it has found for a site. The score is Moz's estimate, and it is not used by Google. Google evaluates sites with its own systems, which do not publish a comparable number. Because DA depends on Moz's crawl and model, the score can change when Moz finds new data or updates its method. Check Moz's own documentation for how often it refreshes. Don't treat DA as a fixed attribute: a domain at DA 35 today might show a slightly different number later. ## The 1-100 scale and what is good Domain Authority runs from 1 to 100. Very large, well-linked sites sit at the top of the scale, and a brand-new site starts near the bottom. The number is relative: it only means something when you compare it with other sites. What counts as "good" depends on your niche. The practical test is to search the keywords you want, look up the DA of the sites that rank on the first page, and compare your domain with them. In a crowded niche the ranking sites will usually score higher than in a narrow one, but the exact gap varies by niche and keyword, so measure it yourself instead of relying on a fixed number. [Domain Rating (DR), Ahrefs' equivalent,](https://hunter.domains/blog/domain-rating-vs-domain-authority) uses different algorithms. A domain might be DA 30 and DR 42. Both suggest moderate backlink strength but aren't directly comparable. Check other metrics alongside DA when evaluating. ## Is it a Google ranking factor? No. Google has never stated that it uses or considers a metric called "Domain Authority." Moz built this metric as a predictive tool for SEO professionals, not as a Google metric. Google evaluates sites through its own systems, and links are one part of that. Moz's DA is correlated with ranking potential because backlinks matter and DA reflects backlink strength, but correlation is not causation. The confusion arises because DA is a decent proxy. Sites with high DA tend to rank well because they have earned real backlinks from quality sources, and those backlinks are what Google values. If you improve your DA, you've probably earned more backlinks, which is what helped your rankings. But the DA number itself is not what Google reads. When you're [hunting expired domains](https://hunter.domains/domains), don't buy a domain solely for its DA. Buy it because it has genuine backlinks from quality sources, a clean history, and relevance to your site's topic. If it has a high DA, that's a side effect of those qualities, not the cause of ranking potential. ## How to increase it Earn backlinks from authoritative domains. Links from established, well-linked sites generally count for more than links from new, unknown ones, and topically related links are worth more than unrelated ones. Create content unique enough that others link to it. Guest post on established sites in your niche and request a backlink in your bio. Build relationships with journalists and bloggers. Find broken links on high-DA sites and suggest your content as a replacement. Avoid buying links, using Private Blog Networks (PBNs), or automating backlinks. Google's spam policy describes link spam as "the practice of creating links to or from a site primarily for the purpose of manipulating search rankings," and private blog networks fall under it. Genuine editorial backlinks build a score you can sustain; artificial ones put the site at risk. How fast DA grows depends on how quickly you earn real links, and no one can promise a rate. ## Checking it for free Moz offers some free tools, including the [MozBar](https://moz.com/tools/moz-bar) browser extension, for looking up DA. Ahrefs has free tools that show its own metric, [Domain Rating](https://hunter.domains/blog/what-is-a-good-domain-rating), and Semrush shows its own Authority Score. What each free tool includes, and how many lookups it allows, changes over time, so check the provider's site. For many domains or for tracking DA over time, you may need a paid plan. For occasional single lookups, free tools are often enough. To see the links behind the number, you can [check a domain's backlinks](https://hunter.domains/blog/how-to-check-backlinks-for-a-domain). When checking an expired domain, remember that third-party metrics can lag behind the domain's current state. If the domain has been offline, the score may reflect older data. Verify the domain's status and Wayback Machine history before buying. ## Buying an expired domain for authority: shortcut or risk? Some domain investors and SEO agencies sell or recommend expired domains with high DA as shortcuts to ranking. The logic seems sound: buy a domain with DA 40, redirect it to your new site, and inherit the authority. In reality, the situation is more complex. When you purchase an expired domain and redirect it with a 301 to your new site, nothing guarantees that any authority carries over. Suppose you bought a gardening site with DA 40 and redirected it to a fitness blog: the topics do not match, so you should not expect the old links to help. Google's spam policy on expired domain abuse covers domains that are bought and repurposed primarily to manipulate search rankings by hosting content that provides little to no value to users, so using a domain purely as a ranking shortcut carries real risk. The safer use of an expired domain is reviving it with new, useful content in the same niche, rather than using it as a redirect. This takes more work, but it fits Google's policy on [expired domain abuse.](https://hunter.domains/blog/expired-domain-seo) Using an old domain for a new, genuinely useful site is not covered by that policy. If you want a shortcut to authority, there is no clean one. You have to earn links the hard way. For evaluating whether an expired domain is a good purchase, [check its metrics in full:](https://hunter.domains/how-it-works) DA alone is not enough. Look at Trust Flow, referring domains, archive history, and risk flags. A high DA with low Trust Flow or a topic change in the archive is suspicious. A modest DA with clean backlinks, years of history, and relevance to your plan is more valuable than a high DA with red flags. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is a good Domain Authority score? A good Domain Authority score is contextual. The most useful benchmark is the DA of the sites already ranking for your target keywords: a score close to theirs is competitive, a much lower one means you will need to compensate with content and links. A brand-new site starts near the bottom of the scale and grows as it earns links. If you're comparing two domains and one is DA 28 and the other is DA 32, the difference is small; success depends on content quality, topic relevance, and your SEO strategy, not on a 4-point gap. ### Is 20 Domain Authority good? Whether DA 20 is good depends on the niche: it may be modest next to the sites ranking for competitive keywords, but it is not worthless. A site with DA 20 has some foundation of links to build from. If you're buying an expired domain with DA 20, evaluate it [alongside other metrics](https://hunter.domains/blog/expired-domain-metrics). A DA 20 domain with TF 20 and 40 referring domains, with years of clean archive history, is much better than a DA 20 domain with TF 8 and a spam history. Don't dismiss a domain based on DA alone. ### Does Google use Domain Authority? No. Google does not use or publish a metric called Domain Authority. Moz created DA as a predictive tool for SEO professionals. It is correlated with ranking potential because it reflects backlink strength, and backlinks do matter to Google. But Google evaluates domains through its own systems, and a high DA does not guarantee rankings. Similarly, a low DA does not by itself prevent you from ranking, especially in a small, uncompetitive niche. ## We find domains that meet these criteria every day Expired domains with a clean history and real authority, listed with a score; the ones matching your rule land in your inbox the moment they appear. [See today's catch](https://hunter.domains/domains) ## Related articles Metrics ### [What Is a Good Domain Rating? DR Explained for Buyers](https://hunter.domains/blog/what-is-a-good-domain-rating) What is a good domain rating? How Ahrefs DR is calculated, what it shows and hides when you evaluate an expired domain, and which values to aim for. 3 October 2026 7 min read Metrics ### [Domain Rating vs Domain Authority: Which One to Trust](https://hunter.domains/blog/domain-rating-vs-domain-authority) Domain rating vs domain authority: how Ahrefs DR and Moz DA differ, why they disagree on the same site and which one to trust for expired domains. 3 October 2026 7 min read Metrics ### [How to Check Backlinks for a Domain (Free Methods)](https://hunter.domains/blog/how-to-check-backlinks-for-a-domain) How to check backlinks for a domain with free tools, and what to look for in the list: live status, link type, placement and the pages they point to. 3 October 2026 8 min read ## Don't miss the next good domain. Set your rule and leave the rest to us. You hear the moment a matching domain is found. [Get started free](https://hunter.domains/register)