Website Authority Checker
Enter any domain to see its Domain Rating, a 0 to 100 score for how strong the site's backlink profile is.
What website authority tells you
Authority is a shorthand for how strongly the rest of the web vouches for a site. Search engines look at links as one of their signals, so a site that many trusted sites link to tends to find it easier to rank. Domain Rating turns that link strength into one number, which makes it simple to compare sites.
It measures links and nothing else. It does not look at your content quality, your traffic or how fast your pages load, so treat it as one input rather than a verdict.
How to use the score
- Benchmark against competitors. Check your site and the sites that outrank you. The gap shows how much link building you may need.
- Vet link prospects. Before you pitch a site for a guest post or a link, check its score and make sure it is a real, active site in your field.
- Track progress. Check back every few months to see whether your link building is moving the number.
A high score does not guarantee rankings, and a low score does not rule them out. A page that answers the search better than the others can still win.
Frequently asked questions
What is website authority?
Website authority is a way of describing how strong a site looks to search engines, mostly because of the links that point to it. There is no single official score. Different tools publish their own, and Domain Rating is one of the most widely used.
What is Domain Rating?
Domain Rating (DR) is a score from 0 to 100 from Ahrefs that shows the strength of a website's backlink profile compared with other sites in their database. It is built on a logarithmic scale, so going from 70 to 80 is much harder than going from 10 to 20.
Is Domain Rating a Google ranking factor?
No. Google does not use DR. It is a third-party estimate, useful for comparing sites against each other. Rankings depend on many things, including how well a page answers the search.
What is a good Domain Rating?
It depends on your market. A local business with a DR of 20 may be well ahead of its local competitors, while a national brand may need 60 or more to keep up. The useful question is how your score compares with the sites you compete with for the same searches.
How can I improve my Domain Rating?
DR follows your backlinks, so the way to raise it is to earn links from different, trusted websites in your field. Useful content, digital PR, partnerships and genuine mentions all help. Buying low-quality links can put your site at risk and is not worth it.
Why does my score differ from other authority tools?
Each tool measures authority its own way and uses its own link database. A DR score from Ahrefs will not match a score from another provider, so compare numbers from one tool at a time.
Is the tool free? Do you store the domains I check?
It is free with no sign-up. We do not save the domains you check.
Want to raise your authority?
The most reliable way to strengthen a site is to earn good links. Our team can help with link building services, or start with an SEO audit to see where your site stands. You can also use our free Website Word Counter to check the pages that outrank you.
Want help ranking above your competitors?
Tell us about your site and we will show you where links and content can do more.
Talk to our SEO team