Debug: DB lookup batches (click to expand)
| Domain | PR | Linking Domains |
Followed Linking Domains |
Website Authority |
|---|
How it works
The Website Authority Checker gives each domain a single 0 to 100 score (WA). It blends three separate signals of ranking strength from our local copy of the web's link data: Moz's Domain Authority, Open PageRank, and the count of followed linking domains. Nothing is crawled live, and you do not need an API key.
The WA formula:
WA = round(0.5 × DA + 0.3 × (PR × 10) + 0.2 × FLD_norm)FLD_norm = min(100, log10(max(1, FLD)) × 14.3), a log scale, so very high follower counts do not swamp the score.
Blending three signals from separate sources makes the score harder to game than any one metric. You cannot spam your way to a high WA by inflating one input.
Single mode checks one domain right away. Bulk mode checks up to 100 domains at a time on your plan. Bulk jobs run in the background against the local database.
Which version of your domain we check. Enter example.com and we look up both example.com and www.example.com. We show the version with the higher WA. A subdomain you type yourself, such as support.google.com, is looked up as written. We never swap in the root domain.
Plan caps. On the Free plan you can submit up to 100 domains per bulk job. Each domain counts as one lookup toward a daily quota shared with our other domain-lookup tools.
Known limitations.
- A monthly snapshot, not live data. Each row shows the latest crawl of the metrics behind it. Links you earned this month may not show for up to a month.
- Some domains have no data. Very new sites, sites with little traffic, and sites with no inbound links may not be in the index yet. Those rows say no data.
- WA is not a Google ranking factor. Like DA, it is a third-party estimate of link strength. Use it to compare yourself with competitors.
What the columns mean
- Domain
- The version of the domain we checked, with or without www. We show whichever has the higher WA in our index.
- Website Authority (WA)
- Our 0 to 100 score that blends DA (50 percent), PageRank (30 percent) and a log-scaled followed linking-domain count (20 percent). Tiers: 0 to 29 is low, 30 to 59 is medium, 60 or more is high.
- Domain Authority (DA)
- Moz's 0 to 100 estimate of ranking strength. Shown next to WA so you can see how much of the score comes from this one signal.
- Page Rank (PR)
- The Open PageRank score on a 0 to 10 scale, computed independently of Moz. A domain with no PageRank data contributes 0 to the WA blend.
- Linking Domains
- How many different domains link to the target. A higher count usually goes with a stronger WA, but not in a straight line. The score uses a log-scaled version of the followed subset.
- Followed Linking Domains
- The linking domains where at least one link is followed, with no
rel="nofollow"tag. This is the count the WA formula uses, because nofollow links pass no ranking value.
Frequently asked questions
What is website authority?
Website Authority (WA) is our 0 to 100 score that blends three separate signals of ranking strength into one number. Moz's Domain Authority carries 50 percent of the weight, Open PageRank 30 percent, and the domain's followed linking-domain count 20 percent. One headline score built from three sources is harder to game than any single metric. Inflating one signal will not move all three.
How is the Website Authority score calculated?
The formula is WA = round(0.5 × DA + 0.3 × (PR × 10) + 0.2 × FLD_norm), where:
- DA is Moz's Domain Authority (0 to 100), the most widely cited third-party SEO signal.
- PR is Open PageRank (0 to 10), multiplied by 10 to match DA's range. A domain with no PageRank data contributes 0 here.
- FLD_norm is the followed linking-domain count on a log scale:
min(100, log10(max(1, FLD)) × 14.3). So 10,000 followed domains gives about 57, 100,000 gives about 71, 1 million gives about 86, and 10 million or more gives 100.
The result is rounded to a whole number from 0 to 100, so it reads naturally next to DA in the results table.
How is Website Authority different from Domain Authority?
Domain Authority (DA) is Moz's own metric, built from Moz's view of the link graph alone. Website Authority (WA) is our blend. It adds two more signals, PageRank from an independent crawl and a scaled count of followed linking domains, so the score does not depend on one data source. In practice WA tracks DA closely, because DA carries half the weight. But when one metric is unusually high or low, the other two pull WA back toward a fairer middle. The two scores complement each other.
What is a good Website Authority score?
WA uses the same tiers as DA:
- 0-29: low. Typical for new sites and sites with few links.
- 30-59: medium. Established sites that earn links steadily.
- 60+: high. Industry leaders and major brands.
"Good" always depends on your competitors. If the top 10 results in your niche all score 35 to 45, reaching 50 is a real win. If they score 80, you have a longer climb. Compare against the sites that actually rank.
How do I check the authority of a website?
Enter the domain, such as example.com, in the box above and click Check. You get the Website Authority score and the three metrics behind it (DA, PR and Followed Linking Domains), so you can see where the score came from. Bulk mode checks up to 100 domains in one submission on your current plan. Use it to size up a list of link-building targets or to compare competitors.
How can I increase my Website Authority?
Earn more good backlinks over time. WA blends three link signals, so the same work lifts all of them. Practical steps:
- Publish content other sites want to cite: original data, research and useful tools.
- Reach out for guest posts and resource-page listings.
- Fix broken inbound links so existing link value is not lost.
- Disavow toxic links from spam sites in Google Search Console.
WA moves slowly, because all three metrics update on monthly crawl cycles. Review it every quarter rather than every week.
Is Website Authority a Google ranking factor?
No. Neither WA nor the metrics it blends are Google ranking factors. Google has its own link signals plus dozens of others, such as content quality, user behavior, freshness and intent matching. WA is a third-party estimate of how strong a domain's link profile is. It goes up alongside rankings because the same work improves both, but raising WA does not cause better rankings by itself. Use it to compare yourself with competitors, not as a final SEO score.
Why is my Website Authority lower than competitors with fewer backlinks?
Because WA is not a backlink count. It blends three signals that favor quality over quantity. A competitor with fewer backlinks but stronger metrics across the board will score higher: higher DA from strong linking sites, higher PageRank, and a wider spread of followed linking domains. The log scale on followed domains also matters. The gap between 10,000 and 100,000 followed domains counts for less than the gap between 100 and 1,000. Past a certain volume, the quality of each link counts for more than the number.