Domain Authority: 5 Ways to Boost it without Buying Backlinks

Are you tired of endlessly searching for ways to boost your domain authority without resorting to buying backlinks? Do you feel like you’ve hit a wall, and nothing seems to be working?

As a fellow blogger, I understand your frustration. You pour my heart and soul into creating and optimizing content, hoping to drive traffic to your site and improve rankings, only to stare at disappointing results.

It is like running on a treadmill that never speeds up, no matter how fast you run. Nevertheless, I’ve discovered unconventional ways to boost domain authority without buying backlinks. Yes, you read that right.

No shady tactics or empty promises, just proven methods that work. So, buckle up and get ready to take your website rankings to the next level. You might also enjoy reading: 7 Ways to Optimize Your Blog for Ad Revenue (Plus a bonus tip!)

What is Domain Authority?

Domain Authority is a search engine ranking metric that will tell you how well your website will perform on search engine result pages (SERPs).

Moz created this metric, assigning the score between 0 and 100. A website with a higher score has a better chance of ranking its content on search engine results. Domain authority shows your site’s relevance and credibility in your industry or on specific topics.

For instance, if you write health articles, the metric measures your knowledge and expertise in the health industry. Websites with quality health content are likely to have high domain authority.

We’ll dive into how Moz arrives at the metrics in a bit.

Do you want to know your website’s domain authority? Use this Moz’s Domain Authority checker ; it is free.

How Moz Calculates Domain Authority

Moz uses several factors to determine every website’s DA. However, the most significant factor is backlinks.

But what are backlinks? Backlinks are inbound links from other sites pointing to your domain. For example, if you publish a unique study in your industry that other sites refer to in their content, they tell search engines that you’re an authority in that field.

Moz collects this data from its updated Link Explorer Index, giving sites with more quality backlinks higher DA scores. And by quality inbound links, I mean links from websites with high domain authority.

You can learn all about other factors in Moz’s Authority Scoring Guide. Now, let’s discuss how to boost your website’s domain authority.

How to Improve Your Domain Authority? (the right way)

Because Moz uses backlinks to primarily determine a site’s authority, focusing on off-page SEO strategies like link building is the best way to boost your score. And since you can’t control who links to your site, some bloggers turn to black-hat SEO, like buying backlinks.

I wouldn’t recommend this strategy because it could lead to Google penalizing your website for spammy link practices.

But the good news is you can safely boost your site’s credibility and DA scores in many ways. Here are some effective and Google-compliant methods for link-building and authority boosting.

1- Focus on High-Quality Content

One of the most effective ways to boost your website’s domain authority is to publish high-quality content. You want to create engaging, informative, and relevant content that your audience will find helpful and valuable. Your audience will likely share stellar content on their social media pages, and as it goes viral, you are likely to earn natural backlinks.

And you don’t have to create only top-notch articles. You can also create lengthy guides, infographics, videos, slides, and podcasts to which other sites can link.

Remember to follow Google E-E-A-T guidelines to write for your audience and search engines.

Of course, you also need to distribute and promote your content. Here is how you can do that:

Build an email list and share new pieces with your subscribers
Publish your content on various social media platforms
Publish an eBook

Besides increasing traffic and engagement, high-quality content can also boost Domain Authority in the following ways:

Increase brand awareness, more leads, and ultimately, more sales.
It positively impacts user experience and lowers your bounce rate, thus keeping your content on top of SERPs.
You have a higher chance of earning natural backlinks because users find your content valuable and authoritative.

High-quality content is a tested and trusted approach to building strong domain authority.

2- Leverage Social Media Platforms

We’ve brushed shoulders with social media share in the first point, but there is more. You can leverage Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to share your content and increase brand visibility and reach.

These social media platforms have millions of daily users, which means social media marketing can generate organic traffic for your website.

And it is not just social shares. Check out these surprising ways social media platforms help to boot domain authority:

Increased referral traffic to your website
Improved brand awareness from a wider audience.
Social signals such as likes, shares, and comments on your content indicate its value and relevance to the audience.
Sharing website content on social media can attract more links from authoritative websites.
You can build social proof, encouraging readers to trust a website or brand since others have endorsed it.

3- Contribute Guest Posts

Besides writing breath-taking articles on your website, guest posting can help you earn backlinks from high DA sites in your industry.

Many publishers are looking for experienced content writers to contribute to their content. If you land a guest posting opportunity, write thoughtful content to elevate your brand expertise.

You’ll like to have a backlink to your website in the body of the post or the byline.

Can you imagine earning a backlink from Forbes magazine or Business Insider because you contributed to their content through guest posting? And if you’re wondering how to get a guest posting opportunity, search for “write for us (your industry)” on Google.

To boost your Domain Authority faster with guest blogging, pitch for opportunities in your industry publications. A backlink from a reputable publication with a similar topical relevance to yours can do wonders.

4- Improve On-Page SEO

Another thing you can control to boost authority is your On-Page SEO strategy. On-Page SEO strategies are things you can do to optimize your web page for users and search engines.

Here is what it entails:

a) Use keywords in your articles

People will only find your content if you include keywords in the right places on your blog post.

For example, if your target keyword is “Domain Authority Checker,” ensure you naturally include it in the title tag of your article. You’ll also use this keyword naturally in the H2s and within the post to help Google display it in the SERPs.

And I’m not talking about short-tail keywords only; you can also incorporate long-tail keywords. Besides the title and headers, ensure you include the primary keyword on the Meta description. While this doesn’t affect Google’s ranking, it tells the potential audience what they expect to find in your post.

One more thing. When choosing the primary keyword to target, DA can help you know whether you’ll favorably compete with websites already ranking on page one for the same keyword. I suggest using keywords with a Keyword Difficulty score lower than or equal to your Domain Authority.

Let’s use an example. To rank for “sound-absorbing paint,” you’ll need a DA of 30 and above to rank on page one.

b) Do proper internal linking

Internal linking is one of the most underrated On-Page SEO tactics. It helps improve user experience, directing users to other informative content within your website.

Internal links also enhance your site’s crawlability. They act as roads that search engine bots pass to see the relationship between articles on your website, thus helping with page indexing.

So, if you’ve published many web pages, you can link several pages to create topical authority.

As more pages point to one page within your website, it tells Google the page is trustworthy. That content will rank higher for its primary keywords, thus boosting domain authority.

5- Collaborate With Industry Leaders

Collaborating with industry leaders is the best way to boost your Domain Authority without buying backlinks. I’m talking about partnering with others in your industry to create valuable content.

Nothing improves credibility like social proof and endorsement from industry leaders. When the big fish in your industry recognize you as a valuable contributor, it helps establish your brand as an authority.

But how do you collaborate with industry leaders and create content together? We’ve already talked about guest posting, but you can explore other ways, like co-authoring white papers or e-books or creating joint webinars or podcasts.

You can also use backlink tools to identify broken links on websites with higher DA within your industry and pitch to provide new links.

Here is how you go about broken link building:

Find broken links on related websites using a backlink checker.
If you haven’t published a related blog post or article that can replace the broken link, create one.
Write a personalized pitch to the editor, offering a replacement for the broken link.

Domain Authority: What you should understand

While you don’t need to know the ins and outs of DA calculations, here are essential points to remember about this metric.

1- It Isn’t a Ranking Factor

DA isn’t among Google’s ranking algorithms, although it can significantly impact your ranking potential. You’ve probably seen this on SERPs when content from a website with a DA score of 56 outranks the one with a score of 80, especially if they create in-depth, fresh, and informative content.

Nevertheless, Google uses factors that enhance Domain Authority in its ranking factors. For instance, several linking pages and linking root domains are essential for DA and ranking.

Therefore, DA positively correlates with SEO indicators like organic traffic and keyword ranking.

2- Google’s PageRank Is The Primary Authority Rank

Before Moz started calculating Domain Authority, Google’s PageRank was the only authority metric. Google would show page authority on its toolbar, but as black-hat SEOs began exploiting that data to improve their rankings, it no longer displays it.

But as page A links to B, Google passes page A’s PageRank to B. This means that if your site earns more backlinks from authoritative sites, you get more PageRank.

You Can Boost Your Domain Authority and Rank Higher on Google Today!

You’ve worked hard to create high-quality content and optimize your website for search engines. But despite your best efforts, you still struggle to rank high on Google. You’re not alone. Many bloggers experience similar frustration when their hard work doesn’t seem to pay off.

But don’t give up! You have various ways to boost your domain authority without buying links. If you implement the five strategies outlined in this article, you can boost your domain authority and rank higher on Google.

So, take a deep breath, embrace these game-changing tips, and prepare to take your website to the next level. You’re about to get what you’ve always wanted money from your content.

Now, go forth and conquer!

FAQs On How To Increase Domain Authority

How Do I Increase Domain Authority Without Backlinks?

Here are ways to improve domain authority without relying solely on backlinks:

Ensure your website is optimized for search engines.
Create engaging content to keep users longer on your website.
Optimize images, minimize the number of plugins, and choose a reliable hosting provider to increase site speed.
Promote your website on social media channels to increase traffic and engagement.
Focus on local SEO
Improve user experience
Publish original research or data

What Is a Good Domain Authority For Backlinks?

Many SEO experts recommend getting backlinks from websites with a higher domain authority than your own. For example, if your website has a domain authority of 30, you might want to aim for backlinks from websites with a domain authority of 40 or higher.

Does SEO Help Domain Authority?

Yes, SEO can help improve your domain authority. One of the key components of SEO is link building, which involves acquiring backlinks from other websites to your own. Backlinks are an important factor in determining domain authority, as they can indicate that your website is authoritative and trustworthy.

When other high-authority websites link to your website, it can signal to search engines that your website is also authoritative and trustworthy.