Two Metrics, Two Companies
If you've spent any time in SEO, you've heard of both Domain Rating (DR) and Domain Authority (DA). They sound similar and measure similar things — but they come from different companies and are calculated differently.
Domain Rating (DR) — by Ahrefs
DR measures the strength of a website's backlink profile on a scale of 0-100. It's calculated based on the number and quality of unique domains linking to a website, weighted by their own DR scores.
Domain Authority (DA) — by Moz
DA also measures website authority on a scale of 0-100, but uses a different algorithm that factors in linking root domains, total links, and MozRank and MozTrust scores.
Which One Should You Use?
Both metrics are useful but neither is a Google metric — Google doesn't use DR or DA internally. They're third-party approximations of authority.
My recommendation: Use DR (Ahrefs) as your primary metric. It's updated more frequently and generally considered more accurate in the SEO community.
What Numbers to Target
- DR 0-20: Very low authority — minimal SEO value
- DR 20-40: Decent authority — worth pursuing in relevant niches
- DR 40-60: Good authority — solid SEO impact
- DR 60-80: High authority — significant ranking boost
- DR 80+: Very high authority — major impact
The Real Metric That Matters
Beyond DR and DA, the most important factor is relevance. A DR 40 link from a highly relevant website in your exact niche will outperform a DR 70 link from an unrelated website every time.
Focus on: Relevance first, then DR/DA, then traffic. That's the formula for links that actually move rankings.
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