undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • SEO Q&A
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • Case Studies
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • Case Studies

      Explore how Moz drives ROI with a proven track record of success.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. Moz Tools
  3. Moz Pro
  4. Link Explorer
  5. How is DA and PA calculated?

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

How is DA and PA calculated?

Link Explorer
4
4
6.7k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • seoman10
    seoman10 last edited by Dec 21, 2017, 6:14 PM

    I'm interested to know how DA and PA is calculated.

    Is it calculated exponentially?  i.e. increases out of proportion compare to the power and quantity.

    So assuming all things are equal...   One link of DA40 would be much more powerful than two DA20's?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • glester361
      glester361 last edited by Aug 27, 2020, 8:15 AM Aug 27, 2020, 8:15 AM

      I am also curious about DA and PA. My website Carpet Cleaner Picks DA is 2 while PA has reached upto 25. PA is increasing constantly since the launching of the website while DA stands still. Why is that?

      Secondly, I am also curious if DA or PA has any effect on the rankings.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • meghanpahinui
        meghanpahinui Staff last edited by Jan 13, 2018, 12:27 PM Dec 22, 2017, 8:45 PM

        Hi there!

        Thanks so much for the question!

        Roman is correct that we use a variety of different Moz metrics and data to calculate Domain Authority and Page Authority including overall link profile (based on the Mozscape Index), MozRank, MozTrust, and more. Both these scores are on 100-point, logarithmic scales so it's important to note that it can harder to grow your from 60 to 70 than from 10 to 20. I also want to make sure to mention that if sites with higher Authority are linking to your site, that Authority will ripple down to all the other links that are connected to it. Basically, DA is our best prediction of how content from your site will rank in SERPs (PA is a similar metric but is page specific) so the higher the score, the better! 😄

        I hope this helps!

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • Roman-Delcarmen
          Roman-Delcarmen last edited by Jan 13, 2018, 12:27 PM Dec 21, 2017, 6:37 PM

          Domain Authority is calculated by evaluating linking root domains, number of total links, MozRank, MozTrust, etc. — into a single DA score. This score can then be used when comparing websites or tracking the "ranking strength" of a website over time.

          Page Authority is based on data from the Mozscape web index and includes link counts, MozRank, MozTrust, and dozens of other factors. Like Domain Authority, it uses a machine learning model to identify the algorithm that best correlates with rankings across the thousands of SERPs that we predict against, then produces Page Authority scores using that specific calculation.

          Is it calculated exponentially? Just the developers of the algorithm can answer that question. But I'm pretty sure the algorithm is based on a Statistic Framework and Not on Arithmetic, Exponential Framework

          Depends let's take an example

          website.com/cartegory-1/ with a DA=40 is better than 2

          website.com/cartegory-1/sub-category-2/sub-category-3/sub-category-4
          website.com/cartegory-1/sub-category-2/sub-category-3/sub-category-4

          IF THIS ANSWER WERE USEFUL MARK IT AS A GOOD ANSWER 🙂

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
          • 1 / 1
          1 out of 4
          • First post
            1/4
            Last post

          Got a burning SEO question?

          Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


          Start my free trial


          Browse Questions

          Explore more categories

          • Moz Tools

            Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

          • SEO Tactics

            Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

          • Community

            Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

          • Digital Marketing

            Chat about tactics outside of SEO

          • Research & Trends

            Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

          • Support

            Connect on product support and feature requests.

          • See all categories

          Related Questions

          • Be7sjsj38sj

            Unsolved I have question related to Website DA.

            da

            Website DA is 4 but Ahref is showing DR 5. Why its different. Top Follow APK
            Top Follow
            Top follow for PC
            Top Follow Mod APK

            Link Explorer | Sep 8, 2024, 3:19 PM | Be7sjsj38sj
            0
          • iescobill

            How long will it take to reach DA 2?

            Hello, I have a local website (https://iescobill.pk) where I am getting good organic traffic, and also social traffic, and so far my page authority (PA) has reached #13, but DA still 1? Is it normal?

            Link Explorer | Nov 28, 2023, 7:46 AM | iescobill
            0
          • jessicapremier

            How is Moz DA affected by spam links? Disavow file?

            So it does not appear that moz let's you upload your disavow file.  So when moz calculates your DA how do spammy links factor in? After digging through our GA it appears our site was hit with the 2016 penguin update and never recovered.  Our weekly visitors were 2k, then dropped to 500 and have stayed close to that level for a while. We've used the disavow tool, without success over the past 3 years.  During that time we have done link out reach and built around 10 legit good quality DA links since.  But we have not recovered.  At this point i'm thinking I should just remove the disavow file. Moz says our spam score for our domain is 5%.

            Link Explorer | Aug 25, 2019, 12:50 AM | jessicapremier
            0
          • yousafsaeed1990sf

            Why my DA dropped Suddenly?

            I want to know why my site's DA got changed suddenly? Whereas the DA of other sites of my competitors remained the same. It happened just a few days ago and i noticed it today!

            Link Explorer | Mar 18, 2019, 3:42 AM | yousafsaeed1990sf
            0
          • IanWatson

            Moz's new Link Explorer, including our revamped index and DA/PA scores is now open to everyone!

            Hey Moz Community, Link Explorer is now open to the public! Everyone can access it via a subscription or a free Moz ‘Community’ account. As you may know by now, the brand-new Link Explorer tool is primed to replace Open Site Explorer as Moz’s link building and analysis tool. The Link Explorer project is the result of an incredible amount of perseverance and hard work by the team, and we’re proud to be able to finally share it with you — we know it’s going to revolutionize how you approach link building and make your job easier. You can read more about the tool here in Sarah Bird’s announcement post. Because Link Explorer improves on almost every aspect of Open Site Explorer, the metrics have improved, too. That means you’re likely going to see some Domain Authority and Page Authority discrepancies between OSE’s index and Link Explorer’s index. We definitely suggest you use the new DA/PA from Link Explorer, as they’re more accurate and refresh daily rather than monthly, as was the case with OSE’s index. However, we also realize that many of you use these metrics to report to your clients and colleagues, and a sudden change or fluctuation could potentially make your job harder. Which DA is the real DA? The new DA is based on a much larger index that has many improvements, several of which are designed to make the index more like Google’s than ever before. You should consider moving towards the new DA (and the old DA won’t be updated after April 26th 2018, so the sooner the better). While there will be fluctuations as we improve the model and add features to the index, we expect it to remain largely stable and to be a far more accurate picture of a site’s authority according to how it’s seen by Google. Why is Link Explorer’s DA/PA considered better than OSE’s, and which should I trust? The larger link index with improved crawl selection allows us to produce a stronger model that includes a much larger proportion of the web. That being said, DA and PA should always be considered in the context of your competitors. A drop in PA or DA relative to the old OSE is of little concern if your competitors saw similar movement. Is Domain Authority/Page Authority an absolute score or a relative one? Both DA and PA are relative to the Internet as a whole. If Facebook acquired a billion new links, everyone’s PA and DA would drop relative to Facebook. Because of this, it’s always best to look at PA and DA in comparison to your competitors. What does a drop/raise in DA mean in Link Explorer vs OSE? How can I explain this to my clients when I’m reporting it? DA and PA should always be considered in the context of your competitors. A drop or raise in PA or DA relative to the old OSE is of little concern if your competitors saw similar movement. Reporting that your site has moved from a DA of 45 to a DA of 42 doesn’t tell the whole story, but reporting that your site has a DA of 42 while your main competitor moved from a 43 to a 37 shows that, relative to the sites you’re competing against in the SERPs, your site has significantly more authority and ranking power. What’s happening to MozTrust and MozRank and why, and what should I replace those with? The improvements to our DA/PA and Spam Score metrics now now account for more important nuances in helping you determine one site’s ability to rank higher than another. Because they no longer correlate with Google’s ranking model as well as they used to, MozRank and MozTrust are being deprecated for better metrics. Users should rely on Page Authority, Domain Authority, and Spam Score to determine the importance and quality of pages, domains, and links. I have historical data I use to help my clients benchmark their progress. What do I do now that DA is calculated differently? You should annotate any KPI changes referencing the change in DA and PA. However, most importantly, you should compare those changes to your competitors, as this will best show how strong your site’s authority is relative to the sites you’re competing against in the SERPs. We take updating our metrics very seriously, and our last major update to the model was 7 years ago. Users of Domain Authority and Page Authority can expect us to continue to produce steady, reliable metrics for the long haul, and only make changes to these metrics when we believe the benefits dramatically outweigh the stability of the metric. Do you have any questions about the new metrics? Anticipating a tough time reporting changes to clients or bosses? Metrics, features or functionality missing that you would want to see? Let us know in the thread, and we’ll work to find a good answer for you. Hope you enjoy the new Link Explorer product and the amazing new link index powering it. We are very excited to provide this valuable data to our community and customers.

            Link Explorer | Nov 16, 2018, 6:40 AM | IanWatson
            9
          • ThomasHarvey

            Site has DA of 26 but no backlinks

            I'm asking this for a guy over at SEOchat: http://forums.seochat.com/new-user-seo-questions-answers-123/unusual-change-domain-authority-486962.html Here's what his post says: Exclamation Unusual Change in Domain authority
            Guys and Girls, I'm having a weird issue in one of my sites , thing is the site had DA 11 in July and however when check on September Site is having 26 without me doing any type of link building and there are no new posts for this month as well. When checked using open site explorer there are no backlinks indexed in their Mozcape index as well. Site: http://www.beijingtravelchannel.com/ Can you give me any plausible reasons for this to happen, so that i can check them out. Thanks in Advance.

            Link Explorer | Sep 12, 2016, 10:18 AM | ThomasHarvey
            0
          • NachoRetta

            Could be the PA greater than the DA?

            Hello users MOZ:
            I have a question about page and domain authority. It is OK that sometimes PA is greater than the DA? I think that's not right, but it happens in some domains, for example in the attached image. uB7HZhr.png

            Link Explorer | Nov 19, 2015, 9:06 PM | NachoRetta
            1
          • GPainter

            Find DA from previous months

            Hi Guys, I've been asked to pull up the DA for a site from the last couple of months and for the life of me I can't seem to work out how to pull a history of DA for a site.  it's only the previous three months but how can I do it? Thanks in advanced.

            Link Explorer | Apr 24, 2014, 7:13 AM | GPainter
            9

          Get started with Moz Pro!

          Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

          Start my free trial
          Products
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Local
          • Moz API
          • Moz Data
          • STAT
          • Product Updates
          Moz Solutions
          • SMB Solutions
          • Agency Solutions
          • Enterprise Solutions
          Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Authority Checker
          • Link Explorer
          • Keyword Explorer
          • Competitive Research
          • Brand Authority Checker
          • Local Citation Checker
          • MozBar Extension
          • MozCast
          Resources
          • Blog
          • SEO Learning Center
          • Help Hub
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
          • How-to Guides
          • Moz Academy
          • API Docs
          About Moz
          • About
          • Team
          • Careers
          • Contact
          Why Moz
          • Case Studies
          • Testimonials
          Get Involved
          • Become an Affiliate
          • MozCon
          • Webinars
          • Practical Marketer Series
          • MozPod
          Connect with us

          Contact the Help team

          Join our newsletter
          Moz logo
          © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
          • Accessibility
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy

          Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.