Domain authority isn’t just another vanity metric—it’s a predictor of how well your website will rank in search results. When you understand how to improve domain authority, you’re investing in long-term SEO success that compounds over time.
Your domain authority score reflects your website’s credibility in the eyes of search engines. The higher your score, the more likely you are to outrank competitors and capture valuable organic traffic. But getting there requires strategy, consistency, and a commitment to building genuine authority online.
What Domain Authority Really Means for Your Business
Domain authority measures the strength of your entire website on a scale from 1 to 100. Developed by Moz, this metric predicts your site’s ability to rank in search engine results pages based on multiple factors including your backlink profile, content quality, and overall site health. Think of it as your website’s credit score—the higher it climbs, the more trust search engines place in your content.
The difference between a domain authority of 20 and 40 can mean the difference between appearing on page five and page one of Google. That gap translates directly to visibility, traffic, and revenue. Websites with higher domain authority typically see better rankings across all their pages, not just individual posts.
When measuring your website’s authority, you’re getting a snapshot of your current standing. But the real value comes from tracking improvements over time and understanding which strategies move the needle.
Build a Backlink Profile That Actually Matters
Quality beats quantity every single time when it comes to backlinks. A single link from a respected industry publication carries more weight than dozens of links from low-quality directories or spammy websites. Search engines have become incredibly sophisticated at evaluating link quality, and they’ll penalize sites that try to game the system.
Focus your efforts on earning links from websites that share your audience and values. Guest posting on established blogs, creating linkable assets like original research or comprehensive guides, and building relationships with journalists and content creators all contribute to a stronger backlink profile. These links signal to search engines that authoritative sources trust your content enough to reference it.
The process takes time. You won’t wake up tomorrow with 50 new high-quality backlinks, and that’s exactly how it should be. Natural link growth patterns look gradual and organic, which is what search engines expect from legitimate websites building real authority.
See Related: Best Backlinks Checker Tools That SEO Professionals Actually Use
Create Content That Demands to Be Shared
Outstanding content attracts links naturally because it provides value that people want to reference. When you publish research, comprehensive tutorials, or unique insights that don’t exist elsewhere, you create reasons for other websites to link back to you.
Content depth matters more than content volume. A single 3,000-word guide that thoroughly addresses a complex topic will generate more backlinks and authority than ten shallow 300-word posts. Search engines recognize comprehensive content that serves user intent, and they reward it with better rankings.
Your content strategy should include cornerstone pieces—authoritative articles on your most important topics that demonstrate expertise and provide genuine value. These become the foundation of your domain authority, attracting links and establishing your website as a go-to resource in your industry.
Fix Technical Issues That Drag Down Your Score
Technical SEO problems create friction that prevents search engines from properly crawling and indexing your site. Broken links, slow page speeds, mobile usability issues, and duplicate content all signal that your website lacks the polish and professionalism of a truly authoritative source.
Start with a comprehensive technical audit that identifies problems across your site. Tools like Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, and various SEO platforms can reveal issues you didn’t know existed. Then prioritize fixes based on severity and impact—addressing crawl errors and security issues before moving on to optimization opportunities.
Page speed deserves special attention because it affects both user experience and search rankings. Compress images, leverage browser caching, minimize JavaScript, and consider a content delivery network if your audience is geographically dispersed. Even small improvements in load time can impact how search engines evaluate your site’s quality.
Mobile optimization isn’t optional anymore. With mobile-first indexing, Google primarily uses the mobile version of your site for ranking and indexing. If your site doesn’t provide an excellent mobile experience, you’re handicapping your domain authority from the start.
Check out these guides to fix those issues:
- Turbocharge Your Website: The Ultimate Guide to Page Speed Optimization
- Mobile-First Indexing: What It Means for Your Website
- How to Fix Duplicate Content Issues That Hurt Your Rankings
- 9 Tips for Image SEO
Develop a Sustainable Link Building Strategy
Link building requires creativity and persistence. The strategies that worked five years ago—directory submissions, reciprocal linking, and article spinning—don’t just fail to work anymore; they actively harm your domain authority. Modern link building focuses on earning links through value, relationships, and strategic outreach.
Consider these approaches that consistently generate quality backlinks:
- Creating original research or data studies that provide new insights in your industry
- Developing interactive tools or calculators that solve specific problems for your audience
- Building relationships with podcasters and appearing as a guest expert
- Contributing expert quotes and insights to journalists through platforms like HARO
- Partnering with complementary businesses on co-marketing initiatives
Each earned link should come from a website that’s relevant to your niche and has its own solid domain authority. A link from a respected industry blog with a domain authority of 50 provides more value than 20 links from random websites with authority scores below 20.
The key is consistency over time. Aim for a steady stream of new quality links each month rather than occasional bursts followed by long periods of inactivity.
Optimize Your Internal Linking Structure
Internal links don’t directly boost your domain authority, but they help distribute link equity throughout your site and make it easier for search engines to understand your content hierarchy. A well-structured internal linking strategy ensures that authority flows from your strongest pages to supporting content.
Every new piece of content should link to relevant existing pages, and you should regularly update older content to link to newer resources. This creates a web of connections that helps search engines discover and rank all your pages more effectively.
Anchor text matters for internal links too. Use descriptive phrases that accurately represent the linked page’s content rather than generic “click here” text. This helps both users and search engines understand what they’ll find when they follow the link.
Check out our Complete Guide to Internal Linking.
Remove or Disavow Toxic Backlinks
Not all backlinks help your domain authority. Links from spammy websites, link farms, or sites that have been penalized by Google can actually hurt your rankings. Regular backlink audits help you identify and address these problematic links before they drag down your authority score.
Google’s Disavow Tool lets you tell search engines to ignore specific backlinks when evaluating your site. Use it judiciously for links you can’t remove manually, focusing on patterns of spammy links rather than individual questionable links. A few odd links won’t hurt you, but if you’ve been targeted by negative SEO or have a history of poor link-building practices, disavowing becomes essential.
Most websites don’t need aggressive disavowing, but checking your backlink profile quarterly helps you spot problems early. Look for sudden spikes in low-quality links, links from foreign-language sites unrelated to your business, or links with suspicious anchor text patterns.
Strengthen Your Social Signals
While social media engagement doesn’t directly impact domain authority calculations, it influences the factors that do. Content that gains traction on social platforms attracts more eyes, which leads to more opportunities for backlinks, brand mentions, and direct traffic—all signals that contribute to perceived authority.
Building an active social media presence creates multiple paths for people to discover your content. When you share valuable resources consistently and engage authentically with your audience, you expand your reach beyond search engines and create networking opportunities that can lead to collaborations and backlinks.
Social proof matters too. Content that demonstrates popularity and engagement appears more trustworthy to new visitors, increasing the likelihood they’ll link to it or share it with their own audiences.
Maintain Consistent Publishing and Updates
Fresh content signals to search engines that your website remains active and relevant. Regular publishing demonstrates ongoing commitment to your audience and provides more opportunities to target valuable keywords, attract backlinks, and establish topical authority.
But freshness extends beyond new content. Updating existing pages with current information, new examples, and improved insights keeps your best-performing content competitive. Search engines notice when pages receive meaningful updates, and they often reward refreshed content with improved rankings.
Strike a balance between creating new content and maintaining existing pages. A website with 50 well-maintained, comprehensive articles will typically perform better than one with 200 neglected posts that haven’t been updated in years.
Monitor Progress and Adjust Your Strategy
Understanding how to improve domain authority means tracking your efforts and learning what works for your specific situation. Regular monitoring of your authority score helps you identify which strategies deliver results and which need refinement.
Look beyond just the domain authority number itself. Track metrics like organic traffic growth, keyword rankings, backlink acquisition rate, and conversion patterns. These indicators provide context for changes in your authority score and help you understand the business impact of your SEO efforts.
Domain authority typically improves slowly and steadily rather than in dramatic jumps. Expect to see meaningful progress over quarters and years rather than weeks and months. Quick spikes often indicate manipulation rather than genuine authority building, and they rarely last.
Partner with SEO Experts Who Get Results
Improving domain authority requires expertise, time, and consistent effort across multiple channels. While the strategies are straightforward, executing them effectively while running your business demands resources that many companies simply don’t have in-house.
At Nozak Consulting, we’ve helped more than 500 businesses build stronger domain authority and turn SEO success into measurable business growth. Our team stays ahead of algorithm changes and industry trends, ensuring your strategy evolves with the search landscape.
We create custom SEO strategies that address your specific challenges and opportunities, whether you’re starting from scratch or building on an existing foundation. From technical audits to content strategy to link building, we handle the details so you can focus on running your business.
Ready to build real authority that drives sustainable growth? Schedule a call with our team to discuss how we can help you improve your domain authority and dominate your search rankings.
