Moz Review: Domain Authority Is Moz's Metric, Not Google's - and That Matters

Domain Authority is a Moz metric. Google does not use it, does not see it, and has said so repeatedly. What it is. A proprietary 0–100 logarithmic score, built by Moz, that predicts how likely a domain is to rank — derived largely from its link profile. It is a prediction of ranking ability, produced by a third party, using third-party data. What it is not. It is not a Google ranking factor. Google has no metric called Domain Authority and does not consume Moz's score. Raising your DA does not cause Google to rank you higher; both numbers may move together because both respond to the same underlying reality. It is not an absolute measure of quality. It is relative and logarithmic — moving from 20 to 30 is far easier than 60 to 70, and a score in isolation means little. It is not stable. Moz recalculates it periodically and the algorithm changes, so your score can move without anything about your site changing. Do not treat a fluctuation as a result. Why it still has legitimate uses, because dismissing it entirely is also wrong: Comparing competitors at a glance. Evaluating a potential link or partner site relative to others. Tracking a trend over months, not weeks, as a rough directional signal. The failure mode to avoid is making DA the objective. Chasing a Moz score produces link-buying and low-quality tactics that risk the actual thing you care about — traffic and revenue. The metric is a proxy. Optimise the thing, not the proxy. The same caution applies to every competing tool's equivalent — Ahrefs' Domain Rating, Semrush's Authority Score. All are third-party predictions, all are useful for comparison, none is Google's opinion. And a broader point about SEO tool data generally. Search volume figures are estimates, modelled from clickstream and other sources, and different tools give different numbers for the same keyword. Use them for relative comparison — is this term bigger than that one — not as absolute forecasts. Treating an estimated 8,100 monthly searches as a revenue projection is how SEO business cases go wrong.

The Standard plan's numbers are specific, and specific numbers are how SEO tools are actually rationed. Read them against your needs before subscribing. $99/month, or $79/month paid yearly: 1 user. If two people need access, you are on a higher tier — this is the most common reason teams outgrow an entry plan. 3 tracked sites. Fine for one business; restrictive for an agency or anyone with client sites. 300 tracked keywords per month. This is the limit most people hit first. A single moderately broad site can easily justify tracking more than 300 terms, and once you are choosing which keywords to sacrifice, you are on the wrong tier. 400,000 pages crawled per month. Generous for most sites; a large ecommerce catalogue can exceed it. The AI and GEO features are the current differentiator — AI Overviews by keyword and an AI Visibility Dashboard. This is a genuine and fast-moving area: search increasingly returns AI-generated answers, and appearing in those is a different problem from ranking a blue link. Every major SEO tool is building this and none has settled methodology yet. Treat the data as directional and early rather than authoritative. The free tools are unusually good and worth naming, because for a lot of people they are enough: Domain Analysis, Keyword Explorer, Link Explorer, Competitive Research and the MozBar browser extension. Use them before paying for anything — they will tell you whether you need the paid product. How Moz compares within the category, honestly. Ahrefs and Semrush are the other two major players, and the practical differences are: Ahrefs is generally regarded as strongest on backlink data, Semrush on breadth of features including paid search, and Moz on accessibility and educational material. Moz's Beginner's Guide to SEO, Learning Center and Academy are genuinely excellent and largely free, and for someone learning the discipline that has real value beyond the software. On the promotional pressure. The site carried "Last chance to save up to 40% – ends today!" at the time we checked. SaaS discounts of this type recur. Take the free trial, decide on the product, and let the deadline pass if you are not ready — there will be another.

A tool measures. It does not do the work, and being clear about that prevents a lot of wasted subscription money. What genuinely drives search performance: Content that answers the query better than what currently ranks. This is the whole game and it is the part software cannot do for you. A tool can tell you the term exists and who ranks for it; producing something better is human work. Technical health — the site is crawlable, fast, works on mobile, has no broken canonicals or blocked resources. Tools genuinely help here, and site crawling is one of the clearest wins in the category. Links from sites that would plausibly link to you anyway. Earned, not bought. Google's guidelines treat link schemes as spam and the downside risk is real. Being a real business with genuine expertise. Google's quality guidance has moved consistently toward evidence that a page reflects actual knowledge and accountability. Time. SEO results take months. Any tool or agency promising fast results is describing something else. Where the money is often better spent than on a subscription: Google Search Console is free and is the only source of your actual data — real impressions, real clicks, real queries, real positions. Every third-party tool is estimating what Search Console gives you exactly. If you are not using it, set it up before paying for anything. Google Analytics is free. Actually writing the content, which for most small sites is the binding constraint rather than data. When a paid tool genuinely earns its cost: You are doing this professionally or for clients. Competitive research at scale — seeing what competitors rank for is genuinely difficult without a tool. Backlink analysis, which is essentially impossible without third-party crawl data. Tracking many keywords over time in a defensible, reportable way. And the honest framing for a small business: $948 to $1,188 a year is real money. If your site has a handful of pages and you are not producing content regularly, a tool will give you numbers to look at and nothing to act on. Buy the tool when you have a process it can serve, not to create one.

How much does Moz Pro cost? The Standard plan is $99 a month, or $79 a month paid yearly. That includes 1 user, 3 tracked sites, 300 tracked keywords per month and 400,000 pages crawled per month. Is Domain Authority a Google ranking factor? No. It is Moz's own proprietary 0-100 prediction of ranking ability, based largely on link data. Google does not use it. Should I try to raise my DA? Not as an objective. Chasing the score leads to tactics that risk your actual traffic. Optimise for outcomes; treat DA as a comparison tool and a rough trend indicator. Are the search volume numbers accurate? They are estimates, and different tools give different figures for the same keyword. Use them for relative comparison rather than absolute forecasting. What is the free trial? A free trial is offered on Moz Pro, alongside permanently free tools including Domain Analysis, Keyword Explorer, Link Explorer, Competitive Research and the MozBar. Which limit will I hit first? Usually the 300 tracked keywords per month, or the single user seat if more than one person needs access. How does it compare to Ahrefs and Semrush? Ahrefs is generally regarded as strongest on backlink data, Semrush on feature breadth including paid search, and Moz on accessibility and educational content. Are the AI visibility features worth it? Appearing in AI-generated answers is a genuine emerging problem and every major tool is building for it. Methodology is early across the industry — treat the data as directional. Do I need a paid SEO tool at all? If you have few pages and no regular content process, probably not yet. Set up Google Search Console first — it is free and gives you actual data rather than estimates. How long does SEO take? Months. Anything promising fast results is describing something else.