Link Authority: DA, DR and What They Really Mean

“Authority” is one of the most-used words in link building — and one of the most misunderstood. This guide explains what link authority means, how the popular metrics work, and why you should never judge a link on authority alone. For the wider picture, see our complete guide to backlinks.

What is link authority?

Link authority refers to how trusted and influential a linking site or page is — and therefore how much weight its link can carry. It traces back to the PageRank idea that important pages pass more value. A link from an authoritative site generally helps more than a link from an unknown one.

The metrics: DA, DR and others

Google doesn’t publish a public authority score, so the industry uses third-party proxies:

• Domain Rating (DR) — Ahrefs’ 0–100 score of a domain’s backlink authority.
• Domain Authority (DA) — Moz’s 0–100 equivalent.
• Trust Flow / Citation Flow — Majestic’s quality and quantity metrics (see link trust).

These are useful for quick comparison, but they’re estimates made by SEO tools — not Google scores. Treating them as gospel is a mistake.

Why authority alone is misleading

A high DA or DR does not guarantee a valuable link. Two big traps:

• Inflated metrics. Scores can be manipulated, so a site can show a high DR with little real traffic or genuine authority.
• Authority without relevance. A powerful but unrelated site passes a weaker signal than a relevant one (see link relevance).

This is why a DR 70 site with no traffic and a spammy profile is worth far less than a DR 45 site with genuine readership in your niche.

How to judge a link’s real strength

• Cross-check metrics — compare DR/DA with Trust Flow; a big gap is a warning sign.
• Check real organic traffic — does the site actually rank and get visitors?
• Confirm relevance — is it related to your topic?
• Look at the profile — clean and editorial, or spammy and link-selling?

Authority is one input among several — combine it with traffic and relevance for a true read. Our guide to high-quality backlinks brings these together.

FAQ

What is link authority?

How trusted and influential a linking site or page is, which affects how much weight its link carries.

What’s the difference between DA and DR?

DA is Moz’s authority score; DR is Ahrefs’. Both estimate backlink authority on a 0–100 scale but are calculated differently.

Is a high DR always good?

No. DR can be inflated and ignores relevance and traffic. Always check real traffic and relevance too.

What is Domain Rating (DR)?

Domain Rating is Ahrefs’ 0–100 score for the strength of a website’s backlink profile, based on how many unique domains link to it and how strong those domains are. It is a third-party estimate that Google does not use, and the scale is logarithmic: moving from DR 70 to 80 is much harder than from 20 to 30. Use it to compare sites, together with topical relevance and real organic traffic.

In summary

Link authority measures how influential a linking site is, estimated by metrics like DA and DR — but those are proxies, not Google scores. Judge links on authority plus real traffic and relevance, never on a single number. Read our complete guide to backlinks or get a free plan.