Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA) are SEO metrics that estimate a website’s or webpage’s ability to rank in search results. DA measures the overall strength of an entire domain, while PA measures the ranking potential of a specific page. Understanding the difference helps improve SEO, link-building, and content strategies. This guide explains both metrics, their differences, and their importance in SEO.

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What Is Domain Authority (DA)?

Domain Authority (DA) is a score developed by Moz that predicts how likely an entire website domain is to rank in search engine results.

The score ranges from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating stronger ranking potential.

Domain Authority is calculated using several factors, including:

• Number of backlinks.
• Quality of backlinks.
• Referring domains.
• Website trustworthiness.
• Overall domain strength.

A website with a high Domain Authority generally has a better chance of ranking for competitive keywords compared to a website with a lower score.

However, it is important to remember that Domain Authority is not a direct Google ranking factor. It is a third-party metric used for SEO analysis.

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What Is Page Authority (PA)?

Page Authority (PA) is also a metric developed by Moz that predicts the ranking potential of a specific webpage rather than an entire website.

Like Domain Authority, Page Authority uses a scale from 1 to 100.

Page Authority is influenced by factors such as:

• Page-specific backlinks.
• Content quality.
• Internal linking.
• External references.
• Link relevance.

A webpage with a higher PA score generally has a better chance of ranking well in search results compared to pages with lower scores.

While DA evaluates the whole website, PA focuses on the strength of individual pages.

Feature	Domain Authority (DA)	Page Authority (PA)
Definition	Domain Authority (DA) is a score that predicts how well an entire website is likely to rank in search engine results.	Page Authority (PA) is a score that predicts how well a specific webpage is likely to rank in search engine results.
Main Purpose	Measures the overall strength and credibility of a domain.	Measures the ranking potential of an individual page.
Developed By	Moz	Moz
Score Range	1 to 100. Higher scores indicate stronger authority.	1 to 100. Higher scores indicate stronger page strength.
Focus Area	Entire website or domain.	Single webpage or URL.
SEO Importance	Helps estimate the overall competitiveness of a website.	Helps estimate the ranking ability of a specific page.
Google Ranking Factor?	No, DA is a third-party SEO metric and is not used directly by Google.	No, PA is also a third-party SEO metric and is not used directly by Google.
What It Measures	The overall backlink profile and authority of the domain.	The backlink profile and authority of a particular webpage.
Backlink Impact	Quality backlinks to different pages across the website can improve DA.	Quality backlinks pointing directly to a page can improve PA.
Internal Linking Effect	Strong internal linking can indirectly support DA growth.	Internal links can directly improve the authority of a specific page.
Content Influence	High-quality content across the website supports DA over time.	High-quality content on a single page helps improve PA.
New Website Score	New websites usually start with a low DA.	New webpages usually start with a low PA.
Can It Change?	Yes, it changes as backlinks and website authority grow or decline.	Yes, it changes based on page-level SEO and backlinks.
Best Use Case	Comparing the overall SEO strength of different websites.	Comparing the ranking potential of individual pages.
Affected By	Domain age, backlink quality, website structure, and overall SEO efforts.	Page content, page backlinks, internal links, and on-page SEO.
Example	An e-commerce website may have a DA of 70 because of a strong overall backlink profile.	A popular blog post on that website may have a PA of 60 due to many direct backlinks.
Keyword Ranking	Does not guarantee that every page will rank well.	Better reflects the ranking ability of a particular page.
Website Migration Impact	Major domain changes can affect DA over time.	URL changes can affect PA if redirects are not implemented correctly.
SEO Strategy	Build high-quality backlinks across the entire website.	Optimize and build backlinks for important landing pages.
Common Mistake	Focusing only on increasing DA instead of improving overall SEO.	Ignoring PA for important pages that target valuable keywords.
EEAT Best Practice	Build a trustworthy website with helpful content and authoritative backlinks.	Create expert-level content and earn relevant backlinks for key pages.
Can They Work Together?	Yes, a strong DA can support better visibility for the website.	Yes, strong PA helps individual pages perform better in search results.
Which One Is More Important?	DA is useful for measuring overall website authority.	PA is more useful when evaluating the SEO strength of a specific page.
Simple Rule to Remember	Domain Authority = Strength of the Entire Website	Page Authority = Strength of a Single Webpage

How Domain Authority Works

Domain Authority (DA) is a predictive SEO metric developed by Moz that estimates how likely an entire website is to rank in search engine results compared to other websites. It is calculated on a logarithmic scale from 1 to 100, meaning it is much easier to increase a score from 20 to 30 than from 70 to 80.

DA is determined by analyzing multiple factors related to a website’s overall authority and trustworthiness. Some of the most important factors include:

• The total number of backlinks pointing to the website.
• The quality and authority of linking websites.
• The number of unique referring domains.
• The relevance of backlinks.
• The overall strength of the website’s link profile.

When authoritative and trustworthy websites link to your domain, they pass authority signals that can positively influence your DA score. For example, a backlink from a well-established news website or an industry-leading blog generally carries more value than dozens of links from low-quality websites.

Domain Authority is not calculated based on a single page. Instead, it evaluates the strength of the entire domain. This means that backlinks earned by various pages across the website contribute to the overall DA score.

For example, imagine two websites:

• Website A has backlinks from 500 high-quality domains.
• Website B has backlinks from only 50 low-quality domains.

Website A will typically have a higher Domain Authority because its backlink profile is stronger and more trustworthy.

Although Google does not use Domain Authority as a direct ranking factor, websites with higher DA often perform better in search results because they usually have stronger backlink profiles, better content, and greater online credibility.

SEO professionals commonly use Domain Authority to:

• Compare their website against competitors.
• Evaluate potential backlink opportunities.
• Measure long-term SEO growth.
• Assess the overall authority of a domain.

It is important to remember that DA should be used as a comparative metric rather than an absolute measure of SEO success.

How Page Authority Works

Page Authority (PA) is a metric developed by Moz that predicts the ranking potential of an individual webpage rather than an entire website. Like Domain Authority, PA is measured on a scale from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating a greater likelihood of ranking well in search engine results.

Unlike DA, which evaluates the authority of the whole domain, Page Authority focuses only on a specific URL. This means each page on a website can have a different PA score depending on its own SEO signals.

Several factors influence Page Authority, including:

• The number of backlinks pointing directly to the page.
• The quality of those backlinks.
• Internal links from other pages on the website.
• Content relevance and usefulness.
• Overall page optimization.

A page can achieve a high PA score even if the website’s Domain Authority is relatively low. This often happens when a particular page attracts significant attention and earns valuable backlinks from authoritative sources.

For example, suppose a blog publishes an in-depth guide about SEO that becomes widely shared across the internet. If many reputable websites link directly to that guide, the page may develop a high Page Authority score even if the rest of the website has fewer backlinks.

Consider this example:

• Website DA = 35.
• Blog Post PA = 60.

In this case, the individual blog post has stronger ranking potential than many other pages on the same website because it has earned more authority signals.

Page Authority helps SEO professionals identify:

• Which pages are strongest on a website.
• Which pages need additional optimization.
• Opportunities for internal linking.
• Pages that can pass authority to other important pages.

By analyzing PA, marketers can focus their efforts on improving specific pages through better content, strategic internal linking, and high-quality backlink acquisition.

In simple terms, Domain Authority measures the strength of an entire website, while Page Authority measures the strength of a single webpage. Both metrics work together to provide valuable insights into a site’s overall SEO performance and ranking potential.