There was an interesting thread on Twitter about DA, Moz's domain authority metrics. In short, a blogger named Chloë wanted advice on getting her blog's "domain authority up." John Mueller of Google made a joke that DA is not important and Google doesn't use it but she came back and wrote "it is the most important metric for brands, it's the first thing they ask for, and if it's high enough they ask for your stats."
To be clear, Chloë and many bloggers in her position do understand that paid links should be nofollowed, and they understand how SEO works. The issue is with the brands they work with use DA as a metric for these types of things and it puts the bloggers in a position they should not be put in.
The truth is, this metric is only important to brands because these brands mistakenly think and believe that Google on some level values domain authority. In fact, most of these brands think DA is a Google metric and you and I know it is not. Even if you think DA is a good comparison to Google's PageRank, does that even matter these days?
The truth is, not only is it a mistake to think Google uses or values DA, but it is very harmful to the brand and the publisher to think this way. Why? Because the only reason this is valued at all is for the purpose of paying for links, which is directly against Google's webmaster guidelines. Let's dig in...
Here is the tweet:
I really want to get my domain authority up. I've been working on it hard for quite some time now and it's just stuck 😣 Anyone got any blog posts or pro tips on this? I feel like I've tried everything already 😅
— Chloë (@chlodoeslife) April 27, 2021
Here is the responses from John:
Thanks for the sarcasm, really appreciate it 👍🏻 You clearly don’t know how blog collabs work, if my DA isn’t at least 20, I won’t be able to land anything. Like I said before, I know it’s not important for Google Ranks, but it is the biggest metric brands look at for collabs
— Chloë (@chlodoeslife) April 28, 2021
Unfortunately, it is the most important metric for brands, it’s the first thing they ask for, and if it’s high enough they ask for your stats. Looking to write sponsored posts/paid collabs with brands for my blog
— Chloë (@chlodoeslife) April 28, 2021
Truth is, the whole thing around this makes me sad. It makes me sad that (a) bloggers are chasing down ways to improve their DA (b) when Google doesn't even use DA and (c) when the only purpose around getting higher DA is to get a do follow link (d) which is against Google's webmaster guidelines anyway. It is just so circular and backwards and even more so, it is like I am trying to educate the wider SEO space about the flawed logic here and of course, this is a niche blog, so they don't see it.
I've written about the topic numerous times:
- Google Can't Get Away From PageRank, Blame Moz Domain Authority
- Moz Updated Domain Authority (DA) & Some SEOs Are Freaking Out About Their Google Rankings
- Poll: Is Moz Domain Authority Helpful Or Hurtful To SEOs?
- Moz upgrades controversial 'domain authority' metric
Billie Geena and I went back and forth about this on Twitter as well, and I thought the conversation was worth sharing:
Hi I just wanted to weigh in on this. Barry and John you know I look up to you both, but as someone who used to be a blogger, Chloe's concerns are legitimate in her field.
— Billie 🦕 (@BillieGeena) April 28, 2021
It's so sad to see but PRs and brands only care about DA for their collaborations.
I think the SEO community as a whole, should see this as an education piece to try to sway their clients and colleagues into caring less about DA.
— Billie 🦕 (@BillieGeena) April 28, 2021
But until then DA is always going to be a thing to niches outside of SEO.
I also have a blog and don't look at my DA, maybe a couple times I've had a nosey. but I write about SEO and digital marketing.
— Billie 🦕 (@BillieGeena) April 28, 2021
I'm not trying to work with brands. It's super vital for less niche bloggers i.e. lifestyle, beauty.
For what reason? To drop do-follow links which is against Google’s guidelines anyway.
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) April 28, 2021
and think that it's ok to do.
— Billie 🦕 (@BillieGeena) April 28, 2021
I think it might be time for experts to get together and create a definitive guide to working with bloggers and Googles guidelines.
Maybe it'd help disillusion DA a little.
Dr. Pete from Moz jumped in to add this perspective:
Pardon a long reply. Moz certainly never intended DA to be used to value a site monetarily (and certainly not links), but it unfortunately filled that gap when Toolbar PR went away. It's a legacy we push back against daily, but that's not your problem ...
— Dr. Pete Meyers (@dr_pete) April 28, 2021
A couple of bits of unsolicited advice, and please understand that I hear and share your frustrations. First, fight for your value on the metrics you think speak well. If that's traffic or mentions or a handful of quality partnerships, great. Maybe you don't have a ...
— Dr. Pete Meyers (@dr_pete) April 28, 2021
The reality, in my experience, is that this has to start with smaller players and not big brands, and build up from there before you can get big brand attention.
— Dr. Pete Meyers (@dr_pete) April 28, 2021
However I feel about the uses/abuses of DA, most of DA still comes down to links, with an emphasis on traffic-driving links. Unfortunately, it can become a real chicken-and-egg problem, and I know that's frustrating.
— Dr. Pete Meyers (@dr_pete) April 28, 2021
The whole thing just makes me sad - we are focused on DA and not building out sites that Google wants to rank higher in the long term.
Stop it with DA - if you get an email about DA, tell them DA doesn't matter and do it over and over again until it stops.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
