Domain Authority is a proprietary score developed by Moz that predicts how well a site will rank in search results. It runs from 1 to 100, calculated from link profile factors like the number and quality of backlinks, linking root domains, and overall link equity. A DA of 10–20 is common for new or small sites, 30–40 shows moderate traction, 50–60 is competitive in most industries, and 70+ typically belongs to major publishers, universities, or government sites. There is no universal "should be" number. Your DA only matters relative to your direct competitors. If you run a local HVAC company in Ottawa and your competitors sit at DA 25–35, hitting DA 30 is meaningful progress. If you're competing against national e-commerce brands with DA 55+, you need sustained link building over months or years to close that gap. DA is logarithmic, so jumping from 20 to 30 is easier than 50 to 60. Key limitations to understand: - DA is a third-party metric, not a Google ranking factor. Google does not use Moz's score in its algorithm. - It updates roughly monthly, so short-term link wins won't move the needle immediately. - You can inflate DA with spammy links, but that typically harms actual rankings. - A site with DA 35 and topically relevant, high-quality backlinks often outranks a DA 50 site with thin or irrelevant links. At Ottawa SEO, we track DA as a rough benchmark but focus execution on acquiring links from contextually relevant, editorially placed sources. If a client's DA rises from 28 to 42 over six months while traffic and rankings climb, the DA increase is a lagging indicator of the real work—building genuine authority through content, outreach, and partnerships. Use DA to gauge relative standing in your niche, not as a target score divorced from business outcomes.