DR or DA? Which metric should you use for backlink analysis and deciding if a website is worth getting a backlink from?
If you’re confused about the difference, you’re in the right place.
We’ll define these metrics and do a domain rating vs domain authority comparison, so you’ll know exactly which one to trust and use.
What is Domain Rating (DR)?
Domain rating (DR) is a metric created by Ahrefs that shows the strength of any website’s backlink profile. It is calculated on a scale of 0 to 100, where the highest score is top-ranking.
This metric basically shows how “popular” your website is and how authoritative it is compared to other websites. Or when you want to understand whether to get a backlink from X website, its DR should be one of the main factors (but not the only one) you should consider.
Important things you need to know about domain rating, as DR is closely linked to Google rankings. Here is what Ahrefs has to say about it.
“Our study found a correlation between the DR of the website and the number of keywords it ranks for. This means that Domain Rating can be used to estimate a website’s ability to get organic traffic from Google”.
So, DR tells you a lot about how strong a website’s backlink profile is and its chances of getting organic traffic.
However, you should keep in mind that even Ahrefs considers this a relative metric, and it isn’t the only factor to consider when doing link exchanges or planning SEO strategies.
How Domain Rating Is Calculated?
Link building metrics aren’t just numbers – there’s math behind them. So, before jumping into the domain rating vs domain authority comparison, it’s important to learn how each is calculated.
There isn’t exact official information on this, but Ahrefs shared a few details on how this metric is calculated. To understand it better, here are some questions to ask yourself.
- How many referring domains does your website have? To increase a website’s DR, you don’t need to get many backlinks from the same website; instead, your goal should be to have backlinks from different websites.
- What DR of those referring domains have? Referring domains with higher DR are typically more valuable and share more link juice or power. So, your obvious decision should be getting backlinks from websites that have high DR․
- How many other websites are referring domain links to? If a referring domain links only to you, you get more link value, but if it links to 100 other sites, that value is split among them․
- Whether your link is Do follow or No follow? No follow links have a tag that tells “search engines” not to pass ranking value, while do follow links give the linking page’s domain strength to the target page.
So, it makes sense that when you get backlinks for your website, you have to ensure it has the do follow tag․
How to Check Your Website DR With Ahrefs
Ok, you accepted how important DR is, so you need to know how to find it, especially if you are a newbie in SEO.
You can find DR in Ahrefs easily with a few easy steps:
- Sign in to your Ahrefs account and type in your domain into “Site Explorer.”
- Review the Domain Rating (DR) metric at the top.
What is Domain Authority (DA)?
Domain Authority is a score by Moz that estimates a website’s search engine ranking. The score ranges from 1 to 100, with 100 meaning the highest search engine performance.
This isn’t an absolute metric that you should blindly believe in.
Here is what Moz wants people to know about DA:
Unlike Google’s ranking algorithms, Domain Authority is not a direct ranking factor. Instead, it’s a comparative metric to evaluate your website’s search performance. Websites with a high DA typically have strong inbound links, robust off-page SEO strategies, and valuable web pages.
So, you need to consider a DA for comparing a website’s link profiles to other websites.
The system is simple at first glance. If you have a strong backlink profile with valuable backlinks, the DA of your website will be higher. But there is more than that, so let’s discuss in more detail.
How Domain Authority Is Calculated?
Where does this metric come from? That is what we should learn to know.
Moz mainly uses backlink data from its Link Explorer tool.
Here are the key factors for calculating this score:
- Backlink values – the number and authority of backlinks pointing to your website.
- Number of referring domains – how many unique websites link to your website.
- Other factors – Moz also considers metrics like MozRank, MozTrust, and the overall credibility of linking sites.
How to Check a Website’s DA in Moz
To check your DA score, follow these steps:
- Go to Moz’s Domain Authority Checker and type in your website URL.
- Now you will then see your Domain Authority (DA) along with other important information, such as the number of linking root domains and ranking keywords, and spam score.
Now, as you can see, a website’s DR and DA are quite different, which leads us to the next point. Now, we will do a domain rating vs domain authority comparison.
Domain Rating vs Domain Authority: Key Differences
Here’s a quick and simple comparison between the two metrics.
- Focus: DR’s goal is to show the power of a site’s backlink profile, while DA is about overall domain strength, including backlinks, on-page SEO, and other factors.
- Calculation: DR is based on the number and credibility of referring domains. On the other hand, to develop a DA score, Moz uses a machine learning model to predict ranking potential and considers multiple SEO factors, although these are not fully disclosed.
- Spam handling: When calculating DR, Ahrefs doesn’t calculate backlink spam while also being extra careful to spot toxic backlinks. DA, on the other hand, measures the overall authority and health of your website.
- Primary use: When you need to check how good your website’s backlink profile is, your preferred metrics should be DR. But when you need to understand what chances your website has to rank on search engines, and compare its ranking potential with competitors, you may need a DA.
Why Is DR the Preferred Metric At SayNine?
Why DR? The reason is simple: Ahrefs has a massive backlink database and one of the most active crawlers among all SEO tools. DR reflects your “backlink situation” and is excellent for backlink analysis.
We couldn’t do link building effectively without Ahrefs’ powerful features.
But we are not alone; many link building companies share this opinion with us. Not long ago, we did a link building survey, where 83% of link builders said that their preferred SEO tool is Ahrefs.
What Counts as a Good DR
At SayNine, we know that link building isn’t just about metrics; it’s about using common sense when deciding which websites are worth exchanging links with.
High DR doesn’t always equal a strong website; content, on-page SEO, and technical SEO matter a lot.
But still, we need to somehow classify websites. So, for link building collaboration, we prefer 50+ DR domains.
But why 50 and not 90 too, let’s say. What is a good DR, anyway?
First and foremost, a DR of 50+ isn’t excellent, but it’s a solid metric. Also, there aren’t many websites with a DR of 90 or higher, so eventually, you’ll run out of sites to get backlinks from.
On the other hand, regularly getting SaaS backlinks from SaaS websites will ensure real results and high DR for your website.
P.S.
There are many websites out there with high DR, but actually, they are spammy and low quality. So, always be careful when looking for link building opportunities.
If you want non-shitty backlinks for your website, you may contact us, and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
To Sum Up
Yes, we stand by our word – link building metrics aren’t absolute.
But understanding them still matters a lot.
We’ve compared Domain Rating vs Domain Authority for you, so you can decide which metric to focus on and which one matches your SEO goals.
FAQ about domain rating vs domain authority
Should I focus on DR or DA?
The best choice depends on your goals. DA provides a broader look at your overall ranking potential, whereas DR shows how strong your backlink is.
Are DR and DA the same in SEO?
No. DR is an Ahrefs metric that measures the strength of a website’s backlink profile, while DA is a Moz metric that predicts a website’s potential to rank.
What is a good domain authority score?
There’s no universally good DA score, as it’s a relative metric. Anything above 50 is generally considered good.
