The Moz Component
The first thing you want to understand when it comes to Domain Authority, or DA, is how this new means of classifying websites is calculated. Certainly there are many efforts to ensure a certain neutrality defines DA, but you may find this isn’t always the case. There’s an old quote by Robert A. Heinlein that sums it up best: “Certainly the game is rigged. Don’t let that stop you. If you don’t bet you can’t win.”
If you learn the rules, you’ll understand how to place your digital “bet”, as it were. With DA, a given website is scored on a 1 to 100 scale. This is done through an algorithm that has been put together by Moz. If you’re unfamiliar, Moz is a Software as a Service (SaaS) organization which is centered in Seattle. Moz has developed SEO software since about 2008.
How Moz Scores Sites
Through the years, Moz has honed their algorithm(s); but since it is an algorithm, there are certain areas of visibility which will be harder or easier to acquire. For example, if you’ve got a low Moz score of between 20 and 30, you’ll have an easier time getting a better score than if you’re around 70 or 80. Most sites average between 40 and 50. Your goal is to, at the very least, get above a score of 60.
What determines score is a suite of defining characteristics, the most important of which are linking root domains, MozRank, MozTrust, quality content, social signals, and search engine friendliness.
Linking root domains basically means you’ve got a lot of sites who have backlinks to yours—the more, the better. MozRank determines just how strong said external links are. MozTrust defines the quality of those external links.
Quality content is what it sounds like: content that is qualitative; more on that shortly. Social signals are shares, likes, and commentary pertaining to your content in a positive way. Lastly, search engine friendliness specifically refers to SEO, and how that affects your site’s visibility. Basically, all of these factors fall under the shadow of SEO.
The SEO Component
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a central part of online visibility today. For SEO to be effective, your website must have certain qualities. SEO techniques deliver visible ROI which can be measured, allowing for continuous optimization.
Something else you’re able to get from SEO is analytic data that allows you to determine where operations are successful, and where they aren’t. Some videos and articles are more likely to be successful than others. Determining what works best for you is best done by successfully crunching the numbers.
Such analytic data can also help you to determine where common errors are, and can help you to set them right for greatest online effectiveness. So what does good SEO look like? Software and technology marketing agency in London, UK says it’s going to have the right keywords, and requisite quality. Content has to have information useful to the user, and likely to be shared.
You want articles, or blog posts, which are uploaded on a daily basis. Each one should have information that helps readers inform their actions. Each should have links to information which isn’t immediately evident. It should have a visual element as well, and you’ll likely find some level of entertainment increases value for readers.
The Bigger Picture
But content shouldn’t stop at blogs. You want videos with links in the description as well. And it goes without saying that both blogs and videos shouldn’t have that “salesy” quality. They should feel justified not by the businesses they represent, but by the information they present.
Now where the “graded” or “slanted” quality of Moz comes is in terms of trending ideology. Because of the social component defining a site’s popularity, your score will be likely to fluctuate based on the values your company espouses. This isn’t something that is necessarily “fair”. It is directed by the market.
There are two other Heinlein quotes which demonstrate why such an ethic is fundamental to effective operations. One is: “Democracy is based on the assumption that a million men are wiser than one man. How’s that again? I missed something.” The contradictory quote is: “Autocracy is based on the assumption that one man is wiser than a million men. Let’s play that over again, too. Who decides?”
When it comes to algorithms, algorithms are designed to overcome the democratic and autocratic. Truly, a Moz score ends up being an indicator of trends, rather than of concrete, axiomatic reality. But trends revolve around axioms. So you can Moz data to identify where the hidden axiom is, and design the most “evergreen”—or continuously effective—online solutions over time.
