Page authority and domain authority—two powerful SEO metrics, often misunderstood, yet essential for climbing the search engine ranks.

Knowing the difference between page authority and domain authority can help you implement smarter, results-focused SEO strategies, giving your website an edge.

This guide will compare and contrast page authority vs. domain authority to highlight their similarities and differences. We’ll also outline proven methods to increase both SEO metrics.

Let’s get started!

TL;DR - Page Authority vs. Domain Authority

Pressed for time to read the whole article? The table below provides a quick rundown of page authority (PA) vs. domain authority (DA):

Continue reading for an in-depth review of page authority and domain authority, including how to improve the scores.

But if you’re only interested in boosting your website’s domain authority, we offer expert help.

Profit Engine helps online businesses, SEO agencies, and affiliates struggling to rank because of low-quality backlinks or poor SEO practices. We provide high-quality, strategy-driven link-building solutions to boost your website’s perceived domain authority and trustworthiness so it ranks high on SERPs.

See how strategic link-building can turn your website into an SEO powerhouse—contact us today!

What Is Page Authority? 

Page authority refers to a specific web page’s likelihood to rank in relevant search engine results pages (SERPs). Moz is credited with creating the page authority metrics. The scale assigns web pages a value between one and 100 — higher scores mean better ranking ability.

The assigned page authority depends on at least 40 variables, with the key factors including:

• Backlink profile
• Referring domains
• Dofollow vs. nofollow links
• Anchor text distribution
• Branded mentions

What Is a Good Page Authority?

According to Moz, a good page authority is any score between 30 and 70. But the benchmark depends on your niche.

As such, you should only compare your web page’s authority score to that of a competitor website. 

How to Increase Page Authority

The best way to boost your web page authority is by optimizing the factors that influence the score. For example, since referring domain authority influences page authority, you should pursue backlink placements in high-DR websites.

Let’s outline other ways below:

• Content Optimization: Organize your content using header tags, which will make it easier for website visitors and search engines to scan your web pages.
• Link Building: Leverage internal links and contextual link-building from high-DR, niche-relevant domains to signal search engines that a web page contains authoritative, helpful information.
• Keyword Optimization: Incorporate high-intent keywords into your content to help your page rank in relevant searches.
• Optimize Your Meta and Alt Tags: Use alt tags with relevant keywords to improve your image search visibility and website’s overall accessibility.

What Is Domain Authority? 

Domain authority is very similar to page authority—it determines a website's probability of ranking in relevant searches. It ranges from one to 100, with a higher score meaning a better likelihood of appearing on the first SERP.

Note: Search engines like Google do not use domain authority to rank pages. Instead, domain authority is primarily a comparative metric that shows how your website matches up against your competitors.

What Is a Good Domain Authority?

Given the definition of domain authority, you can tell that there’s no one-size-fits-all score that website owners should aim for. For example, a DA-30 might seem low on the surface level, but it is a decent score for most websites.

As such, we recommend comparing your DA to that of your competitors’ websites as opposed to using it as a standalone metric. This means that DA-30 is good if your competitors are also DA-30 (+/- 2).

How to Increase Domain Authority

Here’s the good news: Even if your website ranks below your competitors', you can boost its DA quickly.

We’ve outlined simple SEO hacks to help you increase your website’s competitiveness:

• Get Backlinks: Implement a link-building strategy to secure genuine backlink placements through guest posts, niche edits, and HARO opportunities.
• Conduct Regular Backlink Audits: Learn how to find toxic backlinks and remove or disavow them so they don’t hurt your website’s domain reputation.
• Focus on On-Page SEO: Publish optimized, authoritative content to attract high-intent visitors and encourage them to stay on your website longer.
• Ensure a Consistent UX: Google’s search algorithm favors websites with a mobile-friendly design and intuitive navigation.

Looking to grow specific web pages’ authority or your website’s domain authority?

Choose the right link-building agency.

At Profit Engine, we help clients secure high-quality backlink placements through guest posts, niche edits, and HARO to boost page authority as well as website authority.

Explore our link-building packages to see how our process works and how we can help you with your link strategy!

Relevant Characteristics Between Page Authority and Domain Authority

Now that we’ve defined page authority vs. domain authority, let’s outline their main characteristics, as highlighted in the table below:

Based on the table above, it’s apparent that page authority and domain authority refer to different SEO performance metrics. 

However, they work together to help you optimize your website’s SEO so that it ranks higher on SERPs.

Similarities and Differences

Next, let’s compare and contrast page authority vs. domain authority.

Page Authority and Domain Authority Differences 

Here’s how page authority differs from domain authority:

• Focus: PA measures a single web page’s performance, while DA measures your entire website’s ranking strength.
• Volatility: PA is easy to boost by improving a few ranking factors, such as adding internal links or using headers. In contrast, domain authority requires domain-level changes, like growing your backlink profile, which can take months.
• SEO Use Case: DA helps you identify high-PR websites for link-building outreach, which is not applicable to PA.

Page Authority and Domain Authority Similarities

Below are the main shared attributes between page authority and domain authority:

• Purpose: Both predict how well you’ll rank in relevant searches.
• Range: Both use Moz-developed, 100-point logarithmic scales.
• Impact on SERP Ranking: Neither PA nor DA is a ranking factor on Google.
• Improvement Approach: Link-building significantly influences the assigned PA and DA scores.

What About Topical Authority?

Topical authority refers to search engines’ perception of your website’s expertise in a subject. High topical authority means your website is ranked among the most knowledgeable in your niche, so it ranks high in related searches. 

Oftentimes, Google’s search algorithm determines topical authority using the E-E-A-T framework (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness). This means your content should show prior (probably hands-on) experience in the subject matter.

There are two main ways search engines can confirm your topical authority:

• High-DR websites have contextual, niche-relevant backlinks pointing to your website.
• Your website’s user experience sends trust signals to search engines, prompting them to recognize your site as an authority in your niche.

Bottom Line

We hope this guide has helped you differentiate page authority and domain authority and understand how they complement each other to boost your website’s SEO performance.

Often, you can boost your web pages’ page authority using a few simple tweaks, like incorporating relevant keywords. The main challenge is improving your website’s domain authority to have an edge over your competitors.

For that, we recommend securing genuine backlink placements by working with a link-building agency.

At Profit Engine, we have 10+ years of experience helping clients leverage backlinks to grow their websites’ domain authority. Our team leverages AI and SEO tools to prepare smart, data-driven link-building strategies tailored to your website.

Schedule a free, no-obligation call so we can help you grow your domain authority!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

We’ll wind up our guide by answering commonly asked questions about page authority vs. domain authority:

Can a Page Have High Page Authority But Low Domain Authority?

Yes. A page can have high page authority but low domain authority. This is because page authority depends solely on the specific page’s content and SEO efforts. 

In contrast, domain authority depends on the entire website’s SEO metrics and could be low if some pages are not optimized.

How Are Page Authority and Domain Authority Calculated?

There is no specific formula for calculating page and domain authority. 

Instead, Moz’s machine learning algorithm calculates the scores based on multiple factors, including content quality, on-page SEO, internal linking, and backlink profile.

Which Metric Should I Focus on More - Page Authority or Domain Authority?

It depends on your SEO strategy and desired performance. For example, you should focus on page authority when trying to boost your page's likelihood of ranking for specific keywords.

In contrast, domain authority gives you a holistic assessment of your website’s SEO performance and provides link-building insights to help your site rank higher on SERPs.

Do Backlinks Influence Both Page Authority and Domain Authority?

Yes. Backlinks influence both page authority and domain authority, but the impact is different. 

For page authority, backlinks are a vote of confidence that a webpage contains relevant, high-quality content related to specific keywords. As such, the web page is likely to rank for those keywords in related searches. 

On the other hand, high-quality backlinks to multiple web pages increase a website’s overall perceived trustworthiness.