Domain Authority (DA) is one of the most commonly referenced metrics in SEO — and one of the most misunderstood. This guide explains what DA is, how to check it accurately, and how to use it meaningfully as a Bali business owner rather than chasing a number that doesn’t directly determine your Google rankings.
What is Domain Authority?
Domain Authority is a score developed by Moz (a US SEO software company) that predicts the relative ranking strength of a website’s domain. It’s scored from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater likelihood of ranking well in search results.
DA is a predictive metric, not a Google ranking factor. Google does not use DA in its algorithm — Google builds its own assessment of a website’s authority from signals like backlink quality, content relevance, and user behavior. However, because DA is calculated from backlink data that closely correlates with Google’s own assessment, websites with higher DA tend to rank better — making it a useful proxy measure.
Other similar metrics: Ahrefs’ Domain Rating (DR), Semrush’s Authority Score. These all measure slightly different aspects of backlink authority but serve similar purposes as proxy metrics for SEO strength.
How to Check Your Domain Authority
Moz’s Free DA Checker. At moz.com/domain-analysis, enter any domain to see its DA score, page authority for specific pages, and the top backlinks. Free to check but limited in the number of daily queries without a paid subscription.
MozBar Chrome Extension. Install the free MozBar extension in Chrome and it displays DA/PA scores directly in Google search results — useful for quickly assessing the DA of competitors ranking for your target keywords.
Ubersuggest’s Free Domain Overview. Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest (ubersuggest.com) provides DA scores plus basic backlink and traffic data in a free tier that’s more generous than Moz’s free access.
Ahrefs’ Free Backlink Checker. ahrefs.com/backlink-checker provides Ahrefs’ DR score (their equivalent of DA) for any domain, free with limited data. Ahrefs’ database is generally considered the most comprehensive backlink index.
Benchmarks for Bali Businesses
DA benchmarks in context of Bali’s competitive landscape:
- DA 1–20: New or very small websites with few backlinks. Common for businesses that launched a website recently without any active backlink strategy.
- DA 20–35: Small to medium Bali businesses with some organic backlinks (directory listings, supplier links, some press). Competitive for local search but limited for competitive informational keywords.
- DA 35–50: Established businesses with consistent content and a deliberate backlink strategy over 2+ years. Competitive for most local and regional search terms.
- DA 50+: High authority in the Bali/Indonesian context — typically larger media publications, major tourism portals, or businesses with extensive content and PR history.
Important: DA is relative. A villa website with DA 25 competing against other villas with DA 15–22 is well-positioned. The same DA 25 competing against Booking.com (DA 92) for generic “Bali villa” is not competitive. What matters is your DA relative to the websites you’re competing against for your specific target keywords.
Checking Competitor DA
The most useful application of DA checking for Bali businesses: understanding the competitive landscape before targeting a keyword. Before investing in SEO for “boutique hotel Seminyak,” check the DA of the websites ranking on page 1 for that term. If they all have DA 50–70, getting there requires significant authority building. If they’re DA 20–35, you can compete more quickly.
Use MozBar or Ubersuggest to check competitor DAs directly from the Google results page for your target keywords — a 5-minute competitive analysis that informs months of content investment.
Want help interpreting your DA and building an authority strategy for your Bali business website? Contact Bali Web Design.