UPDATE: We’ve made the tough decision to delay the launch of Page Authority 2.0 as our team investigates an unforeseen issue. **To learn more about the rigorous testing process and updates to the timeline, **check out this blog post.
Hey there Moz family,
We’re stoked to let you know about an upcoming change to a beloved metric — similar to our refresh of the Domain Authority algorithm last year, we’ve been working on developing an improvement to its sibling metric, Page Authority (also known as “PA”).
Page Authority (PA) identifies the strength of a particular page (on a 1-100 scale) and its ability to rank in search results in comparison to other pages. PA is a Moz metric, and while it can be used as a good gauge of page strength and ranking potential, it is not used by search engines to determine ranking outcome.
On September 30, 2020, we will release the new and improved Page Authority algorithm that will be updated in a similar fashion to last year’s update to DA. The updated algorithm will take into account more modern ranking factors to make the score even more accurate and predictive.
We recognize that the update to the DA algorithm took time to communicate to clients and stakeholders, and we wanted to be sure to give you advance notice again this time around.
We’ve created a number of resources to help you understand the what, the why, and the how of this update to PA. Let’s start with a few FAQs that you might be curious about!
Why didn’t PA update when DA updated?
Although many folks associate DA and PA with one another, the two metrics are calculated independently. We chose to update the two metrics separately in order to take the care that each metric deserved, and to provide the highest quality algorithm updates for the SEO community.
Why is Moz changing the PA algorithm?
As with our update to the DA algorithm, we want to ensure that you have confidence in our metrics and the predictions that they provide. Data integrity is an integral part of our tools and something that we hold in the highest regard. To be sure that PA can best reflect the potential for a page to rank on the SERP, we’re making the necessary improvements.
What can I expect to see from the PA algorithm update?
Many pages will see changes to their PA scores as a result of this algorithm update. While the changes to scores may be somewhat minimal, there is a possibility that some pages will see material change to their scores.
The new PA algorithm takes into consideration Spam Score and link patterns, in addition to dozens of other factors, so your PA scores may see noticeable change if your pages have spammy or unnatural link patterns.
How can I prepare for the update?
As with any change to a metric that you know and love, we recommend getting in touch with your stakeholders to let them know of the upcoming update. For those who are used to seeing this metric in your SEO reports, giving them a heads-up will help them to prepare for any fluctuations they might see to PA scores once the new PA algorithm rolls out.
We also recommend using this update as an opportunity to educate them on the use of Page Authority and how you might use this refreshed metric for future link building projects.
Our resource center has a few helpful pieces of collateral that can support these conversations with stakeholders and clients.
Is Page Authority an absolute score or a relative one?
Page Authority should always be used as a relative metric, to compare the score of your pages to the scores of other sites’ pages. Link Explorer looks at over 7 trillion pages and 40 trillion links to inform the Page Authority metric that you see. As such, it is always a wise idea to use PA as a comparative score to understand where your page stacks up in comparison to the other pages that are present on the SERPs you care about.
Will Domain Authority (DA) be impacted by this update?
No, DA will not be affected by this update. This particular algorithm update is specific to Page Authority only.
Will API users be affected at the same time?
Yes, API users will see the update to Page Authority at the same time as users of Moz Pro.
We’d love for you to check out our resource page for links to a slide deck, a whitepaper, and other helpful information. The full announcement blog post from Russ Jones can be found here.
Happy to chat with you here in the Q&A thread, or feel free to send an email to help@moz.com with any questions.
Best, Igor
