What DR is. Domain Rating is Ahrefs’ 0–100 score for how strong a website’s backlink profile is compared with other sites in its database.
DR vs DA. Moz’s Domain Authority is a similar score from a different company, built on its own link data. Google uses neither.
Use it to compare, not to judge. A DR is good when it is higher than or close to similar sites. Check traffic and relevance too.
Domain Rating (DR) is a score from Ahrefs that shows how strong a website’s backlink profile is. It runs from 0 to 100 and compares each site with the others in Ahrefs’ database. A higher DR usually means more, and stronger, websites link to it. DR is not a Google metric, but SEOs use it to compare sites and to judge how much a link from them might be worth.
Our catalog lists DR next to Ahrefs traffic for most sites, because DR on its own can mislead. Here is what it actually measures, and where it goes wrong.
How Domain Rating works
Ahrefs calculates DR from the websites that link to a site. According to Ahrefs’ explanation of DR, two things matter most:
- The DR of each linking site. The higher a site’s DR, the more weight its links pass on.
- How many sites each linking site links to. A site splits its rating equally among all the domains it links to. So a DR 10 site that links to three domains can influence your DR more than a DR 80 site that links to a million.
Ahrefs then scales the result to fit between 0 and 100. Because DR compares every site with every other site, it is relative. Your DR can drop even if you didn’t lose any links. That happens when other sites gain a lot of links and push the rest down the scale.
Ahrefs also says DR correlates with Google rankings “pretty well”, but not as well as URL Rating (UR), its score for individual pages.
DR vs DA: what’s the difference?
Domain Authority (DA) is Moz’s take on the same idea. Moz describes it as a search engine ranking score “that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search engine result pages,” as quoted by Search Engine Journal. Search Engine Land notes that DA scores range from 1 to 100. The current version, launched in 2019, is a neural network model based on link counts, Spam Score and how links are distributed.
| Domain Rating (DR) | Domain Authority (DA) | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Ahrefs | Moz |
| What it shows | How strong a site’s backlink profile is compared with other sites | How likely a site is to rank, predicted from link data |
| Scale | 0 to 100 | 1 to 100 |
| Data | Ahrefs’ own link index | Moz’s own link index |
| Used by Google | No | No |
Because each tool uses its own link data and formula, the same site usually has a different DR and DA. Compare DR with DR and DA with DA, never one site’s DR with another site’s DA.
Google uses neither. John Mueller of Google has said “we don’t use domain authority at all in our algorithms,” as reported by Search Engine Roundtable. Search Engine Journal’s review of Google’s statements also concludes that DA is “definitely not a ranking factor.” The scores are still useful, because they give you a quick read on a site’s backlinks.
What is a good Domain Rating?
There is no single good number. Ahrefs calls DR “a relative metric by definition” and says your DR is good “if it’s higher than or comparable to similar sites.” So compare your site with the sites that rank for your keywords, not with the biggest sites on the web.
Very high DR is also rare. In BuzzStream’s sample of 62,916 sites that sell link insertions, only 120 sites, or 0.19%, had a DR of 80 or more.
When you are judging a site for a link, DR is only a starting point. Ahrefs itself suggests also checking whether the site has high-quality backlinks, links out to lots of websites, publishes good content, gets organic traffic and is relevant to yours. We cover these checks in what makes a good backlink.
How to check a website’s DR
Enter the domain in Ahrefs’ free Website Authority Checker, or in Site Explorer if you have an Ahrefs account. For DA, use Moz’s own tools. In our catalog, most sites show their DR next to their Ahrefs traffic and price, so you can compare them before you buy.
Filter by minimum DR and see each site’s Ahrefs traffic beside it, so a high score with no visitors stands out.
How to increase your Domain Rating
- Earn links from relevant sites with a higher DR. Ahrefs advises aiming for backlinks from high-DR websites because they carry more weight.
- Prefer sites that don’t link out to thousands of domains. A site’s rating is split among every domain it links to, so a focused site passes more.
- Keep the links you have. Losing links can lower your DR, so check now and then that your best links are still live.
- Ignore quick DR boosts. Spammy links can push DR up without helping your rankings, so check that a site’s DR comes from real backlinks before you buy a link on it.
- Be patient. In our experience, a new link usually shows up in Ahrefs within a few days to four weeks, so judge your DR over months, not days.
Should you pay more for a higher DR?
Prices do rise with DR. In BuzzStream’s 2026 data, a guest post bought directly from a DR 50–59 site averages $470, against $832 for DR 60–69. Pay for a higher DR only when the site also has real traffic and fits your topic. Our guide to link building pricing shows the full prices by DR and traffic.
Frequently asked questions
Is Domain Rating a Google ranking factor?
No. DR is an Ahrefs metric, and Google has said it doesn’t use domain authority scores like it. DR is still useful for comparing sites, because it reflects their backlinks.
Is DR the same as DA?
No. DR comes from Ahrefs and DA from Moz. They measure similar things with different data and formulas, so the same site usually gets different scores.
What is a good DR for a new website?
A new site starts near 0 because few sites link to it yet. Compare it with similar sites in your niche, and focus on earning relevant links rather than chasing a number.
Why did my DR drop?
Either you lost links, or other sites gained a lot of links and pushed the rest down the scale. Ahrefs says this can happen even when you lose no links at all.
Does a high DR mean a site is good for links?
Not on its own. Check that the site gets real organic traffic, fits your topic and doesn’t link out to lots of unrelated sites.
Want links from sites with real DR?
Tell us your target DR, and we’ll send sites where traffic backs up the score.
Muhammad Suleman is the founder of Markzone. He has done guest posting and link building since 2018 and has worked with hundreds of clients. Today his team handles 300–400 orders a month for brands and SEO agencies, with publisher sites in every major niche. He leads outreach, site checks and reporting, and writes about link building from his daily work with publishers and clients.