A Deeper Dive Into DA vs. DR: Which Metric Is Better for Your SaaS Business?

As SaaS businesses continue to focus on improving their SEO performance, understanding Domain Authority (DA) and Domain Rating (DR) is crucial for creating an informed link-building and content strategy.

However, it’s important to know how these metrics are calculated, their significance in the context of Google’s search algorithm, and how to leverage them for better SEO outcomes.

What Is Domain Authority (DA) and How Is It Calculated?

Domain Authority (DA), developed by Moz, is a metric that predicts how well a website will rank on search engines, using a scale from 0 to 100. Higher DA scores suggest a higher likelihood of ranking well, while lower DA scores indicate a weaker backlink profile and less ability to rank.

How DA Is Calculated:

DA is calculated by evaluating several factors, but the most important ones include:

1. Backlink Profile Quality: The number of backlinks pointing to a website, including the authority of those referring domains.

2. Link Diversity: The variety of domains linking to a site. Websites that get backlinks from many different, high-quality sites tend to have a higher DA.

3. Anchor Text: The text used in the hyperlink that links to a website. Keyword-rich anchor text from authoritative sites can boost DA.

4. MozRank and MozTrust: These are proprietary metrics developed by Moz to assess the link equity (link power) and trustworthiness of a website, both of which contribute to DA.

DA Range and Google’s View:

• 0-20: Sites with little or no backlink profile. These sites are likely new or have a low online presence.

• 21-40: Moderate authority. These sites have some backlinks but may need more high-quality links to compete effectively.

• 41-60: Solid authority. Websites in this range are often competitive and may rank for medium-difficulty keywords.

• 61-80: High authority. Sites in this range typically rank for a variety of keywords and are considered reliable by Google.

• 81-100: Extremely high authority. Websites with a DA in this range are highly authoritative and dominate SERPs for competitive keywords.

What Google Says About DA:

Google does not use DA as a ranking factor. While Google considers the quality and quantity of backlinks as part of its ranking algorithm, DA is a third-party metric created by Moz to predict rankings, not a direct Google ranking signal.

Google’s own ranking system evaluates the trustworthiness and relevance of a website’s backlinks, but the specific calculations behind Google’s ranking algorithm are much more complex and involve hundreds of other factors, such as content quality, user experience, and page speed.

What Is Domain Rating (DR) and How Is It Calculated?

Domain Rating (DR) is a metric developed by Ahrefs to evaluate the strength of a website's backlink profile based on the quantity and quality of links pointing to the site. Like DA, DR is measured on a scale from 0 to 100, with higher DR scores indicating stronger backlink profiles.

How DR Is Calculated:

DR is determined by evaluating:

1. Quality of Backlinks: Ahrefs uses the Ahrefs database to identify the backlinks pointing to a website. The more high-quality backlinks from authoritative sites, the higher the DR score.

2. Backlink Volume: DR also considers the total number of backlinks to a website. However, Ahrefs places more weight on the authority of the referring domains rather than the total number of links.

3. Followed vs. Nofollow Links: DR considers only followed backlinks (those that pass SEO value), which means links marked as nofollow do not contribute to DR.

4. Referring Domains: The more unique domains that link to your site, the higher the DR. This shows the diversity of the sources linking to you.

DR Range and Google’s View:

• 0-20: Websites with very few backlinks and minimal authority.

• 21-40: Low authority. These sites are likely to have some quality backlinks but may need more high-authority links to increase DR.

• 41-60: Moderate authority. Websites in this range typically rank for medium-competition keywords and may attract quality traffic.

• 61-80: High authority. DR values in this range are often associated with well-established brands that rank for highly competitive keywords.

• 81-100: Very high authority. Websites at this level have an extremely strong backlink profile and are often industry leaders.

What Google Says About DR:

Similar to DA, Google does not use DR as a ranking factor. However, DR is a good indicator of the strength of your backlink profile and is closely correlated with your site’s ability to rank for competitive search queries. While Google evaluates the quality and relevance of your backlinks, it does so using a more sophisticated algorithm that also takes into account content relevance, user experience, and other ranking signals.

Which Is Better: DA or DR for Your SaaS Business?

Both DA and DR serve similar purposes but are slightly different in focus. Here’s a breakdown of their strengths and weaknesses:

1. Use DA for a General Overview of Website Strength:

   • DA is more about overall website authority and its ability to rank for a broad range of keywords.

   • If you're looking to assess your site’s ability to compete in a large, competitive industry, DA gives a good indication of whether your backlink profile is strong enough.

2. Use DR for Backlink Profile Specifics:

   • DR is more focused on the strength and authority of the backlinks themselves, giving you a clearer picture of how many high-quality backlinks you have pointing to your site.

   • For SaaS businesses, DR may be more helpful in gauging whether your link-building efforts are producing results and if you’re earning backlinks from authoritative sources.

Which Should You Focus On?

For SaaS companies, both DA and DR are important, but your focus should be on improving your backlink profile. Since Google does not directly use DA or DR, your ultimate goal is to earn high-quality backlinks from authoritative sites in your industry to improve rankings. If you can raise your DR and DA through consistent link-building, your SaaS business will likely experience more organic traffic and higher rankings.

• DA is helpful for understanding how likely your site is to rank for competitive terms

  • Most useful for keyword strategy, content curation, and keyword targeting

• DR is a more accurate reflection of the quality and strength of the backlinks pointing to your site.

  • Most useful for backlink research, backlink evaluation, and backlink targeting

By tracking both metrics, you can ensure that your SaaS business is building a strong and relevant backlink profile while also focusing on improving overall site authority to compete in search rankings.

Bottom-line

Understanding the differences between Domain Authority (DA) and Domain Rating (DR) and how they impact SEO is crucial for SaaS businesses aiming to grow their online presence in 2025.

While Google does not use DA or DR directly in its ranking algorithm, both metrics provide valuable insights into the strength of your backlink profile and website authority.

Focusing on improving both DA and DR will position your SaaS website to rank higher for competitive keywords, attract organic traffic, and establish itself as a trusted player in your industry.

Combine a strategic link-building approach with high-quality content and technical SEO to build your authority and improve your SEO performance.