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Zach Argyle
Table of Contents
Founder @ Jodana
The SEO industry is filled with tools and metrics designed to help websites improve their rankings, and two of the most popular metrics professionals use to estimate a website’s value are Domain Authority (DA) and Domain Rating (DR).
But what if the very metric that many SEO professionals rely on is not as useful (or reliable) as you think?
The SEO community has largely designed its link-building strategies around these two metrics.
While these numbers can give you an idea of how well a website might perform, the ease with which they can be manipulated makes them incredibly problematic.
Freelance platforms like Fiverr offer services that can take your website’s DA/DR from 0 to 80 in just a few days.
Sounds like a dream, right?
Maybe not.
Remember when your parents said ‘If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is’?
Well, this is no different.
Google executives, including John Mueller, have repeatedly emphasised that DA/DR are not a ranking factor in their search algorithm.
They use their own (mostly secret) authority metrics, which are internally implemented. Practically nobody other than Google team members and the algorithm knows what calculates that metric.
So, if Google doesn’t use DA or DR, why are we so obsessed with them?
Well, because we’ve been conditioned by other SEOs that they’re important. -> Specifically link-sellers.
Did you know that Moz openly tells users not to use DA as a link-building metric?
That was never the purpose of the metric to begin with!
So go ahead and buy links with massive DA/DR scores and pay those premium prices! They don’t guarantee better rankings or more traffic.
Actually, they don’t guarantee anything (other than spammy link profiles and bad SEO practices).
Let’s think for a moment as rational, sane people.
Do we believe a metric you can buy on Fiverr for £30 can trick Google’s multi-trillion-pound search algorithm?
Remember that it’s the biggest, most sophisticated search platform on the planet…
No.
The answer is no.
Instead of being swayed by manipulated DA scores, you should focus on metrics that provide value in link building.
Since the whole industry uses DA/DR, you can take them into account. But they shouldn’t be more than 20% of your decision.
These metrics offer a more reliable gauge of a website’s value than DA or DR ever could.
While DA and DR have their place, especially in giving a rough idea of a site’s potential, they should not be the foundation of your link-building efforts.
Instead, focus on metrics that matter and can drive meaningful traffic and results.
