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SEO concepts compared

Domain Rating (DR) vs Domain Authority (DA)

What each one is, how they differ, when to use which, and how they should appear in a client report.

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Domain Rating (DR)

Use when: Comparing candidate sites quickly when your team already works in Ahrefs.

Domain Authority (DA)

Use when: Comparing candidate sites when your team works in Moz.

Short answer

Domain Rating (Ahrefs) and Domain Authority (Moz) are third-party scores estimating a site's link strength. They're built from different link indexes and formulas, so the same site scores differently in each, and Google uses neither. They're useful for rough comparison within one tool, but they're easy to inflate and say nothing about relevance or real readers, so they should never be the only reason to choose a site.

Reviewed October 30, 2026 against search engine documentation.

Definitions

Domain Rating (DR)

A score from 0 to 100 created by Ahrefs to estimate the strength of a website's backlink profile, calculated from its own link index.

Domain Authority (DA)

A score from 1 to 100 created by Moz to predict how likely a domain is to rank, calculated by its own model from its own link index.

Side by side

AspectDomain Rating (DR)Domain Authority (DA)
Made byAhrefsMoz
Scale0 to 1001 to 100
Based onAhrefs' backlink indexMoz's link index and ranking model
Used by Google?NoNo
Main weaknessCan be inflated with low-quality linksCan be inflated; differs from other tools

When to use each

Use Domain Rating (DR) when

  • Comparing candidate sites quickly when your team already works in Ahrefs.
  • Tracking the link profile of the same site over time in one tool.

Use Domain Authority (DA) when

  • Comparing candidate sites when your team works in Moz.
  • Giving clients a familiar reference point, clearly labelled as a third-party estimate.

Common mistakes

  • Choosing link placements by a DR or DA threshold alone, ignoring topical fit and readership.
  • Promising clients a higher DR or DA as an SEO outcome.
  • Comparing a DR from one site with a DA from another as if they were the same scale.

How it should appear in a client report

Record the score, which tool and the date checked as one column among several: topical fit, traffic evidence and placement conditions. Never present a score as the reason a placement is valuable on its own.

See sample reports

Frequently asked questions

Which is better, DR or DA?
Neither is better in general. Use whichever your team knows, stay consistent, and treat it as one input alongside relevance and real readership.
Will building links raise a client's DR or DA?
It may, but that's a tool metric, not a business outcome. Report placements and their evidence, not score changes, as the deliverable.

Tell us what your clients need

Share the service, rough scope and market. You'll get a written scope and quote to review. Nothing starts until you agree to it.

  • You keep the client relationship
  • Unbranded deliverables
  • Written scope before work starts
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