Domain Rating and Domain Authority are different third-party SEO metrics. Domain Rating, or DR, is Ahrefs' measure of the relative strength of a website's backlink profile. Domain Authority, or DA, is Moz's prediction of how likely a domain is to rank relative to other domains.

Both use 100-point scales and depend heavily on link data. They are not interchangeable, and neither is a Google ranking factor.

Here is the short comparison:

Question Domain Rating Domain Authority
Provider Ahrefs Moz
Abbreviation DR DA
Main purpose Compare backlink-profile strength Compare predicted ranking ability
Core inputs Followed referring domains and how those domains link out Moz Link Explorer data and multiple factors processed by a machine-learning model
Scale 0 to 100, logarithmic 1 to 100
Google ranking factor? No No
Best practical use Comparing link profiles inside Ahrefs Comparing relative domain strength inside Moz

Do not convert one score into the other or average them together. Pick the metric that fits the question, keep the data source consistent, and inspect the underlying links and pages before making a decision.

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What is Domain Rating?

Domain Rating is an Ahrefs metric that estimates the relative strength of a website's backlink profile.

Ahrefs' official Domain Rating explanation describes DR as a logarithmic score from 0 to 100. A move from DR 20 to 21 is not equivalent to a move from DR 70 to 71. Progress becomes harder at the higher end of the scale.

Ahrefs says its simplified calculation works like this:

  1. Find domains with at least one followed link to the target website.
  2. Review how many other unique domains each referring domain links to.
  3. Distribute value based partly on the referring domain's DR and its number of linked domains.
  4. Place the target on the relative 0 to 100 scale.

The first followed backlink from a new domain matters to DR in a way that additional links from the same domain do not. Repeat links can still help individual pages, bring referral traffic, and create visibility. They simply do not count as another new referring domain in the documented DR calculation.

DR is purely link-based. Ahrefs states that it does not directly include search traffic, domain age, or parent-brand popularity.

That makes DR useful for a narrow question:

How strong is this domain's backlink profile relative to other domains in Ahrefs' index?

It does not answer whether a specific page will rank, whether a website converts visitors, or whether its links are relevant to your audience.

What is Domain Authority?

Domain Authority is a Moz metric designed to predict how likely a website is to rank in search results compared with other domains.

Moz's official Domain Authority documentation describes DA as a score from 1 to 100. Moz calculates it with a machine-learning model using multiple factors, with backlink data from its Link Explorer index playing a major role.

Moz identifies linking root domains, link quality, and other signals correlated with rankings among the model's inputs. The result is comparative, not an absolute promise that a domain will rank.

That makes DA useful for a different question:

How strong does this domain appear relative to competitors according to Moz's ranking-prediction model?

DA is not a score assigned by Google. Moz explicitly says it has no effect on search results.

The main difference between DR and DA

The main difference is the stated objective of each metric.

DR focuses on backlink-profile strength. Its documented calculation is centered on followed referring domains, the strength of those domains, and how widely they link out.

DA focuses on predicted ranking ability. Its machine-learning model uses Moz's link index and multiple factors to estimate a domain's relative likelihood of appearing in search results.

The overlap is important. Both metrics are strongly influenced by backlinks. A website with a broad set of legitimate links may score well in both systems.

The distinction is also important. The providers use different crawlers, indexes, formulas, update cycles, and stated goals. Two scores that happen to be numerically close do not mean the tools agree on an exact underlying value.

Why DR and DA scores differ

A domain might have DR 45 and DA 31, or the reverse. That is not automatically an error.

Several differences can produce the gap.

1. Ahrefs and Moz maintain separate link indexes

Each provider discovers and processes the web independently. One crawler may find a backlink before the other. One may retain a page that the other has not recrawled yet. Their records can also differ when a linking page is blocked, redirected, removed, or changed with JavaScript.

A metric can only use the data available in its own index.

2. The formulas have different objectives

DR models relative backlink-profile strength according to Ahrefs' documented link-based method.

DA uses a Moz machine-learning model intended to predict ranking ability relative to other domains.

Both rely on links, but they are not solving exactly the same measurement problem.

3. The scales are relative

A score does not exist in isolation. Changes elsewhere in a provider's index or model can affect where a domain sits on the scale.

This is why a score may move even when your team did not publish or remove a link that week. Referring domains can change their own link profiles. Providers can discover more of the web. Models and indexes can update.

4. Recrawl timing differs

A new link can appear in one tool first. A removed link can remain in another tool until its crawler revisits the page.

Before investigating a score gap, compare the exact referring-domain reports. Check whether both tools have seen the same important links and whether those links are still live.

5. A 40 in one tool is not a 40 in the other

The shared 100-point presentation creates false precision.

DR 40 does not equal DA 40. There is no official conversion table that makes the metrics interchangeable. Treat each as a position inside its provider's own system.

Is Domain Rating or Domain Authority more important?

Neither metric is universally more important.

Use Domain Rating when your task is centered on Ahrefs backlink data, such as:

  • comparing the broad backlink profiles of close competitors
  • segmenting prospects before manual review
  • monitoring whether followed referring-domain acquisition is changing
  • reviewing the link strength behind several websites in the same niche

Use Domain Authority when your workflow is centered on Moz, such as:

  • benchmarking domains in Moz Link Explorer
  • comparing relative domain strength with one consistent Moz metric
  • tracking DA alongside other Moz campaign data
  • screening a set of comparable websites before deeper analysis

Use neither as the final decision when evaluating:

  • whether a page satisfies search intent
  • whether a backlink placement is editorially relevant
  • whether a page receives qualified traffic
  • whether a website is safe, legitimate, or useful
  • whether a campaign generated leads or revenue
  • whether one specific page can outrank another

The best metric is the one that supports a defined question without replacing the evidence underneath it.

Are DR and DA Google ranking factors?

No.

DR belongs to Ahrefs. DA belongs to Moz. Google does not use either provider's proprietary score as a ranking input.

This does not make the metrics useless. They summarize patterns that can matter, especially link data. The error is treating the summary as the cause.

A high score does not force Google to rank a weak page. A low score does not prevent a useful page from ranking for a query it answers better than the alternatives.

Evaluate search performance at page level:

  • Does the page answer the actual query?
  • Is it accessible and indexable?
  • Does it offer original evidence or a genuinely useful resource?
  • Do relevant pages cite it?
  • Does the internal linking show its place in the site?
  • Do impressions, clicks, rankings, and conversions improve?

Use DR or DA as context, not proof.

Can a website have high DR or DA and still be a bad link prospect?

Yes.

A domain-level score can hide a poor page-level opportunity.

Reject or deprioritize a prospect when:

  • the linking page is unrelated to your destination
  • the site sells followed links without editorial standards
  • the proposed page is not indexed or reachable
  • the content is scraped, abandoned, or created only for links
  • the link would be hidden from normal readers
  • the destination does not support the surrounding claim
  • the audience has no reason to visit your page

A legitimate niche publication with a modest score can be more valuable than a high-scoring site with no topical connection.

For each prospect, inspect:

  1. Topical relevance: Do the page, site, and destination serve connected needs?
  2. Editorial reason: Does the link help a reader verify a claim, use a tool, or continue the task?
  3. Page quality: Is the content original, maintained, and publicly accessible?
  4. Link treatment: Is the relationship represented accurately with the appropriate attributes?
  5. Audience value: Could the placement send qualified readers or create useful discovery?
  6. Risk: Is there evidence of paid-link networks, mass exchanges, or fabricated pages?

DR and DA can help order similar prospects. They should not rescue a bad fit.

Should you track both DR and DA?

You can, but most teams do not need both in the primary dashboard.

Tracking two domain scores often creates noise without changing the next action. A team may spend time explaining why DR rose while DA fell instead of reviewing new links, lost links, rankings, or leads.

Choose one provider as the consistent benchmark. Then track the underlying and business metrics beside it.

A practical monthly dashboard can include:

Metric What it tells you
New followed referring domains Whether new websites are endorsing or citing the site with ordinary links
Lost referring domains Whether acquisition is being offset by link loss
Links to priority pages Whether authority reaches pages tied to search or business goals
Referral visits Whether placements bring actual readers
Search impressions and clicks Whether organic visibility is changing
Leads or signups from organic and referral traffic Whether the campaign contributes to the business
DR or DA A consistent third-party benchmark, not the outcome

If clients or partners use different tools, you can report both scores with the provider named clearly. Never present them as equivalent values.

How to compare competitors correctly

A useful comparison controls the inputs instead of collecting random scores.

Step 1: Choose true search competitors

Compare websites that compete for the same audience, topics, or results. Do not benchmark a specialist SaaS company against a global social platform simply because both domains have backlinks.

Step 2: Use one provider for the comparison

Put every domain through the same tool during the same review period. Mixing Ahrefs DR for one competitor with Moz DA for another produces an invalid table.

Step 3: Inspect the underlying link profile

For each domain, review:

  • total and followed referring domains
  • link growth and loss over time
  • top linked pages
  • topical relevance of linking sites
  • repeated sitewide links
  • suspicious or unrelated sources
  • links pointing to pages that no longer work

The score tells you where to investigate. The report tells you why.

Step 4: connect links to pages that perform

Identify which competitor assets attract legitimate links and rank for relevant queries. That reveals a reproducible content or promotion pattern.

Do not copy the score. Learn why people cite the pages.

Step 5: define the next action

A metric comparison should lead to a task, such as:

  • create an original data page that the market lacks
  • reclaim links lost during a migration
  • improve a resource that already earns citations
  • pitch a missing source to relevant publishers
  • strengthen internal links from cited pages to priority pages

If the report produces no action, the score comparison is decoration.

How to improve DR and DA without chasing the numbers

The durable approach is similar for both metrics because legitimate backlinks influence both systems.

  1. Publish pages with a clear reason to cite them.
  2. Promote those pages to publishers whose readers need the source.
  3. Earn links from new, relevant websites instead of repeating placements only to increase a count.
  4. Fix broken destinations and reclaim links lost through URL changes.
  5. Avoid paid ranking links, automated link creation, and excessive exchanges.
  6. Measure the linked page's search and business results alongside the domain score.

If DR is your chosen benchmark, use the detailed guide to increasing Ahrefs Domain Rating without turning the score into the campaign goal. When auditing link attributes, keep dofollow and nofollow backlinks separate so the report reflects what was actually earned.

A useful test is simple:

Would you still want this backlink if DR and DA did not exist?

If the answer is yes because the placement is relevant, visible, editorial, and useful to readers, it is more likely to support the business as well as the metric.

The bottom line

Domain Rating and Domain Authority are proprietary comparative scores from different providers.

DR measures relative backlink-profile strength in Ahrefs. DA predicts relative ranking ability in Moz. Both depend heavily on backlink data. Neither is a Google ranking factor, and the values cannot be converted reliably from one system to the other.

Use one metric consistently for benchmarking. Then inspect referring domains, individual pages, relevance, traffic, rankings, and conversions before making a decision.

The score is a diagnostic shortcut. The links, pages, and business outcomes are the evidence.

Research notes

  • Ahrefs Keywords Explorer approved queue snapshot, Google US database: primary keyword volume 250, Keyword Difficulty 21, traffic potential 350, parent topic “da rankings.”
  • Current search results were reviewed on August 2, 2026 local time. Google automated access returned a verification block. DuckDuckGo and Brave results showed comparison articles and explainers, confirming that a focused blog comparison matches the result format.
  • Ahrefs, “Domain Rating: What It Is & What It’s Good For,” reviewed for DR's definition, scale, link-based calculation, and limitations.
  • Moz, “Domain Authority: What is it and how is it calculated,” reviewed for DA's definition, model, inputs, relative use, and ranking-factor disclaimer.