7 Lesser-Known Strategies That’ll Skyrocket Your Domain Authority

Did you know that 70% of SEO experts monitor their Domain Authority score on a monthly basis?

As we enter a competitive digital landscape, your Domain Authority plays a huge role in your website’s success. As a ranking factor for the authority and dependability of your business as a source for key searchers, your DA score can make or break your position within a Google Search result.

With this in mind, we’ve delved further into the importance of DA in your SEO strategy and compiled 7 lesser-known DA-boosting strategies that could see your SERP score skyrocketing in no time. 

What is Domain Authority?

Before we get into the strategy, let’s learn about our aim. As a business leader, you want your website to appear on the top page of a Google Search result. 

Not only are the top few websites likely to receive the most clicks, but they are often ranked as the industry leaders of their niche by their target audience.

This is where Domain Authority comes in. Domain Authority, otherwise known as DA, is a metric crafted by experts at Moz, that tells a search engine how reputable a website is when it comes to ranking results.

DA ranges from a score of 0-100, with 100 being the most authoritative site, and 0 being the worst. As a startup, you want to certainly be aiming for the 50-70 mark for a chance of appearing on that first page of search results. 

How Is DA Calculated?

There are several ways that Moz calculates a DA score, however, the most significant form of ranking comes from links that refer directly to your domain, otherwise known as backlinks.

Gathering information updates from the Link Explorer index, Moz decides that the websites with the most authoritative backlinks are worthy of higher DA scores. This is why large news sites such as BBC News (DA95) and giant brands such as Apple (DA99) have some of the highest DA scores as they are constantly mentioned and hyperlinked within other content as sources of reputable information.

However, what if we told you that you could create the same buzz around your own content for an increase in backlinks and in turn a higher DA result?

Here are 7 lesser-known backlink boosting strategies that could improve your DA.

1. Link Up Your Online Mentions

As a startup aiming to improve its DA score, there’s nothing more frustrating than a brand mention without an accompanying link. 

Adding links to your mentions online could help improve your link-building strategy with little to no effort. A great way to do this is to set up your own Google alert for your brand name, which will alert you every time a brand-specific keyword is mentioned.

If this is the case, an unlinkable mention is easy to rectify. Simply get in contact with the post publisher or the publication editor and ask for a link to be added for context. 

2. Start Guest Posting

If you’re looking to boost your link-building organically, guest posting is an effective way to raise your DA score and your SERP position.

The best link-building strategies are driven by creating valuable content. Whether this is for your own blog or a guest site, the best way to be ranked as an authoritative leader is to start writing like one.

Take an interest in your niche industry trends and current topics of conversation, and find a gap to add your own original insights into the mix. Creating a well-researched post that is then accepted by a guest site, is a great method of boosting your Domain Authority, while also raising brand awareness as a key opinion leader within your industry. 

If you’re unsure where to start, tools such as Ahrefs and Similarweb are great at assisting you in discovering the best backlink opportunities. 

3. Optimise Your Current Content

SEO plays a large role in boosting your Domain Authority. If a site is well-optimised for user experience, it is twice as likely to be ranked by Moz and Google as an authoritative player within its niche. 

In order to improve your SEO, it’s important to address your current content before releasing new ideas. This consists of auditing your current blog posts, keywords, title tags and even your on-page code for a shot at SEO success.

As you can see above, a lot of effort goes into creating the perfect blog post. Ensure that you follow your own blog optimisation checklist, and audit your content regularly for CTAs, readable structure, well-positioned linking and even social proof.

4. Make That Content Sharable 

Once you’ve audited your current content, it’s time to make it sharable. The more your content is shared across various platforms, the more backlinks you’ll accumulate for DA ranking.

In order to earn high-quality ranking status from MozRank and MozTrust, you’ll need to create high-quality content that is published regularly. 

The key here is to promote your blog posts and product content as soon as it is live on your site. Share links on your social feeds and ensure that your content is creative with a chance of social virality. There’s nothing better than a backlink generated by a group of organic consumers. 

Why not try adding hashtags and visuals to your social shares for increased engagement? 

5. Try Niche Editing

Have you tried niche editing? Otherwise known as ‘link inserts’ this is a great method of boosting your Domain Authority.

This term refers to inserting a link to your content in an existing piece of work. The key here is to discover which publications are relevant to your niche while also ranking highly on Google. 

The benefit of niche editing is that it requires little effort, but offers big results. Aim for blogs and publications that have released a piece of content that directly mentions your expertise, product niche or a competing brand.

Identify an area of an article or blog post where you could link to your own website as an authoritative source and take a chance in pitching your link insertion to the editor. 

6. Profit Off of Broken Links

Did you know that you can also profit off of broken links? Many publications that have linked to outdated sources in the past, may be victims of the 404 link error. This suggests that the destination of a source link is either corrupted or no longer exists.

Many of these broken links go a miss, creating an opportunity for keen link builders in today’s competitive climate. One simple way to improve your backlink strategy is to simply message editors with a replacement link, that points search engines straight to your site. 

So, if you’re looking to find broken site links, the best way to start your journey is with a Google Search. Using search terms such as your keyword(s) + links, your keyword(s) + resources, and your keyword(s) inurl: links, you’ll start to identify links with 404 errors. These are the ones that can be replaced by your own content. 

Better still, why not use Ahref’s Broken Link Checker, for a shot at finding link sources at a faster rate?

“I find that if you’re willing to step in and offer to help, most companies will accept your article so they can quickly fix their broken links. This strategy takes plenty of time and patience. You may go weeks without finding broken links,” claims John Turner, founder of SeedProd.

“However, if you connect with even one brand using this method, there’s a good chance you could form a lasting partnership with the company and earn more backlinks in the future.”

7. Partner With Reputable Domains

Last but not least, make sure you’re partnering with reputable domains when engaging in link partnerships and exchanges.

If you’re teaming up with spammy websites, or domains with a low DA score, this could also negatively impact your own ranking. 

Partnering with competitors and leaders within your niche is the way forward. From collaborating on content creation to participating in partnered events, nurturing a strong relationship between high DA platers is a great way to improve your own link profile, while also gaining brand awareness. 

Going Beyond Backlinks

As we step into a competitive future of marketing, scoring reputable backlinks is getting tricker every day. As we move forward, it’s time to go beyond backlinks when aiming to boost your Domain Authority.

“How well your website ranks ultimately depends on how you choose to build it. In my experience, DA/DR scores are virtually always accurate and useful diagnostic tools for assessing a website’s reliability, strength and trustworthiness. To improve it, you should put a little elbow grease into your website and bolster those qualitative characteristics,” claims CEO of IronMonk Solutions, Amine Rahal.

As Moz adapts its DA ranking factors, it’s time to adapt your content in line with ever-changing trends.