What is Domain Rating?
Ahrefs' metric (0-100) measuring the strength of a website's backlink profile.
Understanding Domain Rating
Domain Rating (DR) is Ahrefs' proprietary metric that measures the strength of a website's backlink profile on a scale from 0 to 100. It's similar to Moz's Domain Authority but uses Ahrefs' own algorithm and data.
DR is calculated primarily based on the quantity and quality of backlinks pointing to a domain. Like DA, DR is a comparative metric rather than a direct Google ranking factor. It's useful for competitor analysis, link-building prospecting, and tracking SEO progress. A higher DR generally correlates with better ranking ability, but content relevance, user experience, and technical SEO also play crucial roles in actual rankings.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Domain Rating?
Ahrefs' metric (0-100) measuring the strength of a website's backlink profile.
Domain Rating (DR) is Ahrefs' proprietary metric that measures the strength of a website's backlink profile on a scale from 0 to 100. It's similar to Moz's Domain Authority but uses Ahrefs' own algorithm and data.
What does Domain Rating stand for?
Why is Domain Rating important?
For Ahrefs users, Domain Rating is the go-to metric for assessing link profile strength and competitive positioning. DR is particularly useful for link building—when prospecting guest post opportunities or partnership sites, DR helps quickly identify which sites would provide valuable link equity. Tracking DR over time shows whether your link building efforts are moving the needle.