If you are familiar with Semrush, then you have probably heard about the Authority Score. In this post, we’ll explain what the Authority Score measures and how it can be of use to you when coming up with marketing strategies.
Semrush Authority Score – What is It and How is it Measured?
Semrush Authority Score is a compound metric we use to measure a webpage’s or domain’s overall SEO performance and quality. The score is derived from many other individual metrics (more information on that below) that represent authority and trustworthiness and employs special technologies like machine learning and neural networks like website optimisation hampshire to ensure the score in up to date and accurate.
You can find this score when performing due-diligence on a specific webpage or domain in the Link Building Tool, Backlink Audit, Backlink Analytics or in the Domain Overview on Semrush.
How Authority Score is Calculated
Authority Score is result of complex mathematical calculations done by a AI-powered algorithm that employs machine learning to measure the authority of each domain based on different parameters like backlink signals, popularity, and quality.
The calculation is done in 2 steps:
- Our first algorithm uses backlink data, website traffic data and organic search data to comprehend the rankings of the most trusted and popular domains on the internet.
- Our second algorithm reviews backlink data to monitor how a site decreases or increases its authority by gaining links. The metrics in this calculation are:
- The number of referring subnets linking to the domain
- The number of referring IPs linking to the domain
- The total number of backlinks to the domain
- The number of referring domains linking to the domain
- The authority of each referring site
- The number of outbound links from each referring site
- Follow vs. no-follow links pointing to the domain (inbound links)
- Follow vs. no-follow links pointing away from the domain (outbound links)
The Authority score is measured on a scale of 0 to 100 with the former being the weakest. There are very few domains on the web with scores of above 95. These are largely considered authority websites.
What is a Good Authority Score?
Authority Score is simply a measure of the overall quality of a webpage or domain. A look at the graph below reveals that the first webpage has plenty of backlinks, in terms of referring IPs and domains but its Authority Score is lower than that of the second webpage. What this simply means is that the second webpage has better quality backlinks or referring IPs and domains than the first webpage – this domain’s SEO strategy seems to be working.
How to Utilise Authority Score in Search Engine Optimisation
The Authority Score may prove extremely useful in link building, especially when it comes to identifying quality domains to associate your webpages with. You can use the score to tweak your SEO strategies to get better results. Some of the specific areas where you can use the Authority Score are:
Competitor Analysis
- Evaluating link building prospects
- Evaluating domains you wish to purchase
- Tracking the performance of an SEO campaign over time
- Looking out for negative SEO
In such scenarios, the Authority Score can prove really useful. It could come in handy in comparing how much work a domain needs to do to catch up with its competitors or how much return would you get from investing or partnering with a specific domain or website.
If a website’s score is going up, this may be an indicator that the domain is actively trying to boost its online reputation and presence. It may also mean that its competitors are simply not working hard enough.
