Domain Authority is a proprietary score from Moz, scaled 0 to 100, that estimates how likely your domain is to rank in search results. You check it by entering your URL at moz.com/domain-analysis or installing the MozBar browser extension. Ahrefs calls the equivalent metric Domain Rating (DR), and Semrush uses Authority Score; all three measure roughly the same thing—backlink quantity, quality, and diversity—but use different algorithms, so your score will vary between tools. DA is not a Google ranking factor. Google does not use or see Moz's score. It's a third-party prediction model trained on correlations between backlink profiles and actual rankings. That said, DA is useful for competitive benchmarking: if a competitor has DA 45 and you have DA 28, they likely have a stronger backlink foundation, which often translates to better rankings for overlapping keywords. A ten-point gap is meaningful; a two-point gap is noise. Scores move logarithmically, so jumping from DA 20 to 30 is far easier than 50 to 60. Most small-to-midsize Canadian businesses sit between DA 15 and 35. Local service sites in Ottawa we work with typically range DA 18–28 when they start, climbing to the low 30s after 12–18 months of consistent link building. National brands or major publishers often hold DA 60+. New domains start near zero and need months to register meaningful authority. DA updates roughly monthly when Moz recrawls the link graph, so don't expect daily movement. Also, because it's relative—scaled against all domains in Moz's index—your score can drop even if you gain links, simply because competitors gained more or Moz re-indexed stronger sites. Focus on the trajectory over six months, not week-to-week swings. At Ottawa SEO, we track DA alongside organic traffic and keyword rankings. If DA grows but traffic stalls, the links aren't relevant enough. If traffic grows but DA lags, you're likely winning with on-page and content, which is fine—it means link building is your next leverage point. Treat DA as one signal in a dashboard, not the goal itself.