An SEO glossary of terms every marketer should know in 2026
A practical, current glossary covering the essential SEO terminology every marketer should be comfortable with, from foundational concepts to 2026-specific terms.
6 min read
Domain Authority, a metric developed by Moz, is one of the most widely referenced numbers in SEO, and also one of the most commonly misunderstood — it is not a Google ranking factor at all, but a third-party estimate of a domain's relative likely ranking strength, based on Moz's own proprietary methodology.
What Domain Authority actually measures
It is calculated primarily from backlink profile data — the number and quality of links pointing to a domain — using Moz's own link index and scoring model, producing a score from 1 to 100 intended as a rough, comparative indicator, not an absolute measure of quality.
- Based primarily on Moz's own backlink index and proprietary scoring model.
- Useful mainly for rough, comparative purposes between sites, not as an absolute quality score.
- Not used by Google in any way for actual ranking calculations.
What Google actually uses instead
Google has never published a single, simple authority score. Its actual ranking process considers hundreds of individual signals — relevance, content quality, E-E-A-T, technical factors, user experience signals and more — combined in ways Google does not fully disclose.
Chasing a higher Domain Authority score is chasing a proxy for a proxy — it correlates loosely with some of what actually matters, but optimising for the number itself misses the point entirely.
Why the confusion persists
Domain Authority became widely adopted partly because it offers a simple, single number in a domain that otherwise involves genuinely complex, opaque signals — the appeal of simplicity, even when the underlying metric is not what Google actually uses, explains much of its continued popularity.
How to use Domain Authority appropriately
As a rough, directional tool for comparing your own site's relative link profile strength against competitors over time, or as one input among several when evaluating a potential link building opportunity — never as a direct optimisation target in itself.
Frequently asked questions
Does Google have its own equivalent to Domain Authority?
No official, published equivalent — Google's internal signals are far more granular and are not distilled into any single publicly shared score.
Are Ahrefs' Domain Rating and Semrush's Authority Score the same thing?
They are similarly conceived, proprietary metrics from different platforms, each with their own methodology — none of them are Google metrics, and comparing scores across different tools directly is not meaningful.
Should I ignore Domain Authority entirely?
Not entirely — it has some rough directional usefulness for comparison, but it should never be treated as a direct SEO goal or a substitute for tracking Google's own confirmed ranking-related signals.
If you want help focusing your SEO effort on genuine ranking factors rather than proxy metrics, contact our team.
The takeaway
Stop chasing a Domain Authority number as a goal in itself — use it only as a rough, directional comparison tool, and focus your actual effort on the genuine ranking factors Google has confirmed matter.
Written by Fibvo — Bengaluru and Erode, India — working with clients in other time zones. Questions, or think we have it wrong? Tell us.
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