Domain authority checker, next to three competitors

Every vendor has its own 0 to 100 scale and none of them is Google's. We show the metric beside three sites that outrank you, because the gap is the information, not the digit.

The count that authority scores are mostly built from. Yours next to theirs tells you how far the links group of your score has to move.

How many of the keywords the site is written for appear in the first results page. A site with authority and no rankings has a content problem, not a links problem.

An estimate from ranking positions and search volumes, so it is a signal, not a count. Useful beside the others; useless alone.

Older domains with steady links have an easier time. A young site with a low number is normal; the fixes and the pitches are how it changes.

Chosen from the sites that rank for your keywords, not from a list you type. Change them in the product if the automatic pick is wrong.

Domain Authority, Domain Rating and Authority Score are three vendors' estimates. They disagree with each other and none is used by Google.

A site can score high on links from pages that link to everyone. The checker shows referring domains with the outbound count of the linking page.

A high-authority domain with no page about your subject passes less than a small site that is exactly about it. Relevance is in the backlink checker rows, not in the score.

One reading says little. Run it monthly; a rising count of referring domains from relevant sites is the thing to watch.

The most common gap. Content is close, links are not. The agent exists for this.

The pages are thin or missing. The SEO checker lists which, and the fixes.

Directories and link pages that point at everyone. High count, low value; the backlink checker shows the outbound counts.

Ranking for keywords nobody searches. Volume beside position, in the rank checker, sorts that out.

Pick the weak ones to overtake first; their backlink lists are the easier pitches.

A site people search by name has an easier time everywhere. Mentions on other sites are where brand searches come from.

The clinic or trade across town with twice your links is usually listed on local guides you can be on too.

Competitors in roundups and alternative pages. Their referring domains are your pitch list.

Gift guides and reviewers that link to competing products and not yours.

Their list, sorted by relevance, is where to start.

Links to a thin page are wasted. The SEO checker says which pages are ready.

The preview judges the pages and finds the people. Launch, and it drafts the asks every night.

A vendor's estimate, 0 to 100, of how likely a site is to rank, built mostly from the count and quality of referring domains. Each vendor's scale is its own.

A website that links to you at least once. The number that authority is built from and the one to watch monthly.

An estimate from ranking positions multiplied by search volumes and expected click rates. A signal, not a count from analytics.

The number of keywords for which the site appears in the first hundred results in the chosen country.

The three sites that rank above you most often across your keywords, chosen automatically and changeable in the product.

Whether a linking page is about your subject. Not in any authority score, and the thing that decides whether a link helps.

A 40 at one vendor is not a 40 at another. Compare sites inside one scale only.

Links from pages that link to everyone raise some scores and nothing else. The backlink checker shows the outbound counts.

Links to a thin site are wasted. The pages come first; the agent builds to them.

Authority 32. Four hundred referring domains, most of them directories, profile pages and blog comments pointing at the home page. Six pages on the site, each under 500 words. Ranks for eleven keywords, none in the top ten. The number looks respectable in a report and does nothing in a search result.

Authority 31. Forty-one referring domains, thirty of them from pages in its own category: two roundups, a trade publication, a handful of guides, a partner page. Twenty-two pages on the site, each written for one keyword. Ranks for 140 keywords, nine in the top three. One point lower on the scale, in a different league in results.

Relevance and the page the link points to. Site B's links land on the pages that need to rank, from pages about the same subject. Site A's land on the home page from pages about everything. No authority score sees the difference, which is why the checker shows referring domains and ranking keywords beside the score instead of the score alone.

Compare referring domains to your three competitors, not the score. If they have ten times yours, the work is links. If they have the same and still outrank you, the work is pages. The free preview runs the agent on your domain and tells you which, with the first five prospects named.

A link to the page written for a keyword does more for that keyword than ten to the home page. Ask for the page, not the site.

A guide, a comparison, a data page. Writers link to pages that help their readers; nobody links to a pricing table.

Sites that already name you without a link are the easiest asks there are. The checker in the product lists them.

Links disappear when pages are rewritten. The agent watches each won link and drafts a note the day one goes.