If you are finding the exact answer to this question, we are sorry, but there is no precise answer to this question. No one knows how much time it takes to increase a site’s domain authority. It can take weeks, months, or even years to see distinctive results.
However, there are some ways to increase domain authority that you can employ in your digital marketing strategy. Read below to find out all these ways and much more!
30-Second Summary
There’s no definitive answer to how long it takes to increase domain authority, but knowing the factors affecting the domain authority and the right strategies to increase it can help you a lot. After this, you can use the right tools and metrics to keep monitoring the progress of domain authority over time.
What is Domain Authority (DA)?
Domain authority is a metric developed by Moz that assesses the quality and relevance of a website compared to others in the same industry or niche. It is measured on a scale of 100, where 1 is the lowest DA score, and 100 is the highest.
However, there is one thing you need to keep in mind.
“Domain authority is not a Google-approved factor for search engine rankings”
And what makes increasing the domain authority so challenging for SEOs is that DA is designed on a logarithmic scale. In simple words, it means that it is easier to increase your domain authority when your DA score is low. But it gets difficult to take a major leap with a high DA score.
Here is how Moz defines a logarithmic scale:
Factors Determining Domain Authority
There are several factors that contribute to the overall domain authority of your website. Read below to have an idea of what these factors are and how they determine your website’s domain authority:
Link Quality and Quantity
One of the most important factors that determines the domain authority of your website is the amount and quality of backlinks it is getting from sources across the web. However, keep in mind that it is not just about quantity; quality matters too. Or should we say quality is more important than quantity?
Having numerous links from reputable and authoritative websites carries more weight than a large number of links from low-quality or spammy sites. High-quality backlinks from credible sources indicate to search engines that your site is a reliable source of information.
This way, these types of links positively impact your website’s domain authority. On the other hand, poor-quality links or those coming from suspicious sources can negatively impact it.
Content Relevance and Quality
Content is really the king in the online world, especially after Google’s updates regarding helpful content. According to Google, creating content that matches user intent and aligns with search queries will perform well in search engines. This will eventually improve the website’s domain authority.
Content relevance means you create the type of content that matches the needs of your readers and satisfies their quest for knowledge. A content piece that is well-written, informative, and engaging will attract more visitors and natural backlinks without asking for them.
This type of content will also increase your credibility among the audience, thereby leading to increase domain authority quickly.
Domain Age and History
The domain is a mature factor in determining the domain authority of a website. The reason is that older domains may have built more backlinks and established a stronger online presence over time. This leads to a positive impact on the domain authority of a website.
However, it should be kept in mind that the age of a site alone does not guarantee high authority. You will have to make consistent updates to your website, keep the content relevant, and grow your link profile in order to increase the domain authority of your website.
Also, make sure that your website doesn’t have any past behavior of employing spammy practices or inconsistent quality. These factors will negatively impact the domain authority of your website.
Social Signals
While most people still do not consider it a relevant factor, social presence is an important factor that contributes to the overall domain authority of your website.
Yes, it is true that social signals themselves don’t directly affect the rankings, but a strong presence increases your brand visibility and authority, which then increases your website’s overall traffic and backlinks opportunities. These things, in turn, positively affect domain authority.
Domain Authority Increasing Strategies
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Quality Content Creation
Quality content stands as the number one and the most important strategy contributing to your website’s domain authority. If you want to see a significant difference in your website’s domain authority, make it a habit to regularly publish high-quality content that follows user intent.
When publishing this content, also make sure that you optimize it for the right keywords and include users’ search queries that are currently in demand. This will lead to a significant domain authority increase in a relatively short amount of time.
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Link Building
Link building, or should we say white hat link building, is the second best way to increase your website’s domain authority. While building links for your website, make sure to only follow white hat strategies and prioritize quality over quantity.
Search engines and Moz crawler take backlinks as a vote of confidence for your website. If these backlinks are coming from a reputable source on the web, these crawlers take it as a valuable asset and add it to your backlink profile as a positive thing.
Moreover, try to diversify your backlinks as much as possible. Don’t ask for a backlink from the same website that has already given you a backlink. Some strategies that are best for white hat link building include guest posting, blogger outreach, and relationship building.
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Technical SEO
Technical SEO is the most neglected boy in the SEO world. It is so useful and capable of increasing your authority, yet it is so underrated. You shouldn’t be the one doing that. Technical SEO, irrespective of what it sounds like, is not rocket science at all.
Consider it more like doing things to increase users’ experience and improve search engines’ interaction with your site. In fact, the technical aspects of a website are one of those factors that Moz has revealed as part of its algorithm.
So if your website has a poor structure, slow speed, difficult navigation, and is not responsive to all digital devices, get ready to bag a low DA score.
Work on the following factors if you want to give the best experience to your users:
- Responsive Website: Make your website responsive to give a better and user-friendly experience on all digital gadgets.
- Increase Page’s Speed: Minimize website loading time and focus on enhancing the loading time of web pages.
- Site Architecture: Create simple and easy-to-crawl site architecture so that Google crawlers don’t get lost in the dense maze of architecture.
- Easy Navigation: Give a better user experience by creating an easy-to-navigate website with a clear call to action.
Doing this will not only give the best experience to users but also improve your website’s DA.
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Social Media Engagement
The more engagement your social media handles have, the more likely you are to have more website visits and organic traffic. As mentioned above, although social media engagement is not a direct factor in contributing towards domain authority, it can have a positive effect on it.
Make sure to utilize social platforms for brand visibility and create content that is shareable and encourages users to share this content on their profiles. This will increase engagement on your website and contribute towards increased domain authority.
Tools and Metrics to Monitor Domain Authority Progress
There are many tools and metrics you can use to regularly monitor the domain authority progress of your website. These tools will tell you how your website is performing and if there is any domain authority increase difficulty you should know about.
Read below to find out about these tools:
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Moz’s DA checker
Domain authority is a metric developed by Moz. So, the best way to monitor it is by using Moz’s DA checker. However, it’s not advised to do that on a daily basis. Developing domain authority of your website may take time and it is recommended to do monthly checkups to find if there are any positive changes to your efforts.
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Ahrefs, SEMrush, and other SEO tools
Along with Moz, there are also other tools you can use to monitor the domain authority of your website. These tools include Ahrefs to find how your backlinks are performing and the right keywords to target, SEMrush to keep checks on your competitors and see which keywords and backlinks sources they are targeting.
Other tools, like BuzzSumo and Answer The Public, can also help you find what users are looking for and which type of content to target.
Final Words
There is no definitive answer to how long does it take to increase domain authority of your website. However, we saw some factors that affect domain authority positively or negatively. By using the right strategies and tools at the right time, you can increase and monitor the domain authority of your website in a relatively short period. Just be sure to only adopt white-hat strategies to avoid any penalties from search engines and you are good to go.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question 1. How long will I have to wait to see my website’s domain authority website increase?
There’s no exact timeframe for increasing Domain Authority. However, with consistent and effective efforts, you can start seeing results after some months. It is advised to keep monitoring your website’s DA through Moz to have a good idea of how your strategies are working.
Question 2. What factors determine Domain Authority?
Several factors contribute to a website’s Domain Authority, including link quality and quantity, content relevance and quality, domain age and history, and social signals.
Question 3. How do backlinks affect Domain Authority?
Backlinks play an important role in determining Domain Authority. Quality backlinks from reputable and authoritative websites positively impact DA, while poor-quality or spammy backlinks can have a negative effect.
Question 4. What role does content quality play in improving Domain Authority?
Content gets the top priority in improving the domain authority of a website. Creating high-quality and relevant content attracts visitors and natural backlinks, leading to increased Domain Authority.
Question 5. What strategies can help increase Domain Authority?
Strategies include quality content creation, white hat link building from reputable sources, technical SEO optimization, and social media engagement for increased visibility.
Question 6. How can I monitor Domain Authority’s progress?
Tools like Moz’s DA checker, Ahrefs, SEMrush, BuzzSumo, and Answer The Public can help monitor Domain Authority’s progress, backlink performance, keyword targeting, and content strategy.
Question 7. Any final tips for increasing Domain Authority?
Just focus on employing white-hat link-building strategies, regularly monitor progress using appropriate tools, and understand that Domain Authority growth takes time. Consistency and quality are key to building a strong online presence and authority.
