What this score is, and where it comes from
The score comes from Open PageRank, a dataset published by DomCop. It applies the original PageRank idea to open web crawl data: a domain scores higher when many well-linked domains link to it. Scores run from 0 to 10, and the scale is logarithmic, so going from 6 to 7 is much harder than going from 2 to 3.
It is not Google's PageRank, which Google stopped publishing years ago, and it's not the same as the proprietary scores sold by SEO suites, such as Moz's Domain Authority or Ahrefs' Domain Rating. Each of those is built from a different link index with a different formula, so the numbers won't match. Open PageRank's advantage is that it's open and consistent, which makes it useful for comparing domains against each other.
How to use it
- Enter up to five domains, separated by commas, like yoursite.com, competitor.com.
- Press Check authority. Domains are listed from strongest to weakest.
- Use the comparison to decide where to spend outreach time. A link from a well-linked domain usually counts for more than several from weak ones, but relevance to your product matters too.
How to raise your domain authority
Authority scores follow links, so the only lasting way to raise one is to earn links from sites that are themselves well linked. For a new product, that usually means:
- Launching on directories and launch boards that give each product its own indexable page.
- Writing something genuinely useful, such as a guide, a dataset or a tool, that others want to cite.
- Getting featured in newsletters, podcasts and roundups in your niche.
- Fixing broken links to your site and reclaiming mentions that don't link yet.
Expect it to take months. Open PageRank is refreshed periodically from new crawls, so new links show up in the score with a delay.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this the same as Domain Rating (DR) or Moz Domain Authority (DA)?
- No. Domain Rating is Ahrefs' metric and Domain Authority is Moz's; both come from their own private link indexes. This tool shows Open PageRank, an open score from DomCop based on public crawl data. All three measure link strength, so they tend to move together, but the numbers aren't interchangeable.
- Why does my domain say it isn't in the dataset?
- Open PageRank only scores domains it has seen linked from other sites. New domains, or ones with very few links, often aren't in it yet. They'll appear after other sites link to them and the dataset is next refreshed.
- What is a good domain authority score?
- It depends on your niche. On Open PageRank's 0 to 10 scale, most small sites sit between 0 and 3, established independent businesses often reach 3 to 5, and only very large, heavily linked sites go above 7. Compare yourself with similar sites rather than with the biggest names.
- How often is the score updated?
- Open PageRank refreshes its data periodically from new crawls, not in real time. If you just earned a big link, give it time before checking again. We also keep each result for up to a day to stay within the data service's limits.
- Does domain authority affect Google rankings?
- Not directly. Google doesn't use any third-party authority score. These scores are estimates of link strength, which does matter to Google, so they're a useful proxy, but content and relevance count just as much.