The Page Authority scale, created by Moz, is a way for digital marketers to determine how well their page should rank. The better the score, the higher your site’s ranking will be. There are so many different elements to remember when it comes to digital marketing and search engine optimization (SEO).
It’s easy to believe you’ve covered all the bases in terms of what an optimized page requires, only to discover later that you overlooked something critical.Other times, you might not even realize that a particular aspect of your page was important.
This is where Page Authority (PA) comes into play.
This one-of-a-kind system makes it easier to identify problems with your SEO and what you need to do to fix them.
What is the Page Authority?
Page authority is the value that a search engine assigns to a Web page in terms of search engine optimization (SEO). The higher the value, the more likely it is that a Web page will appear early in organic search results.
Google’s consistent message is “Craft pages for your users, not search engines,” and what little is known about how search engines evaluate authority supports that philosophy. The mathematical algorithms that determine page authority are kept secret to prevent website owners from attempting to manipulate search results, but there are some factors that appear to influence how likely a Web page is to appear on the first page of query results.
PageRank, a numerical value that represents the number of high-quality Web pages that point to a specific Web page, is the first and perhaps most important factor. The domain on which the article is hosted is another factor that may influence PageRank. An article posted on the domain of a well-known news organization, for example, is more likely to pass on page authority than an article posted on an abandoned WordPress blog.
Search engines assess the quality of a page using an evolving set of machine learning algorithms that attempt to replicate how humans assess the quality of a Web page. Both on-page and off-page ranking factors influence the level of quality. A Website publisher has control over on-page ranking factors. They include activities such as creating useful content and linking to other relevant, useful content. Off-page ranking factors are those over which publishers have no direct control. They include receiving links from other high-quality Web pages and positive social media reviews. Off-page factors are more important because they are less likely to be influenced by a publisher attempting to improve their rankings regardless of the quality of their page.
Domain Authority vs. Page Authority
It is critical to understand the distinction between Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority. DA considers the authority of the entire website, whereas PA only scores the single page.In other words, the more pages with a high PA score you have, the higher your domain score will be.
This is why many people focus on improving Page Authority rather than overall Domain Authority — by making small changes on each page, the overall website becomes more powerful in terms of SEO.
How is Page Authority Calculated?
Moz uses more than forty different ranking factors to determine a page’s Authority score. These elements include the number of high-quality backlinks pointing to the page and the overall content quality. Other factors such as keyword density, traffic, and user behavior are also taken into account.
A Page Authority score of 100 points is generated using a specific algorithm. Any pages with a PA of 90% or higher are considered A+ level. Similarly, a low Page Authority score indicates the need for additional SEO work, both on-page (such as content quality) and off-page (such as link building).
The level of quality is influenced by both on-page and off-page ranking factors which we have listed here in a jiff;
On-page ranking factors
Here are the things that can help improve your on-page ranking
- The page’s content topic has a clear focus, is useful or entertaining, can be easily linked to, and contains an appropriate mix of text, multimedia, and advertising.
- Keyword usage, including variants, is directed at a single search intent. Keyword placement is entirely natural.
- The URL of the page contains relevant keywords. The URL does not redirect.
- The page links to authoritative sources and provides relevant content to the visitor.
- The page loads as quickly as possible; the faster, the better.
- The page is designed to be mobile-friendly and render in all browsers.
- The page is hosted on a site with an easily navigable logical hierarchy.
- Page sections (header, navigation, body, ads, footer) are identified, and white space is used appropriately.
- The website on which the page is hosted is a large site with a good reputation that regularly publishes new content.
Things that can harm your on-page ranking
- There are HTML validation errors on the page.
- Keywords are used in an unnatural way, which is referred to as keyword stuffing.
- The page’s links return 404 error messages.
- Pages with no content or gibberish peppered with keywords.
- Content on other pages is repetitive or duplicated.
- The content on the page is thin, which means there isn’t much of it.
- The page’s content is promotional.
- Cloaking occurs when a page displays different content or URLs to human users and search engines.
- Elements on the page behave in ways that the user does not expect.
- There is hidden text or links on the page.
Off-page ranking factors
Things that can help you improve your off-page ranking
- The page has a large number of inbound links from high-quality websites.
- Links to the page include relevant keywords and keyword variants.
- The page is mentioned on social media by authoritative people with a large following.
- The website on which the page is hosted is frequently cited as an authoritative source.
Things that can harm your off-page ranking
- The page’s inbound links are from low-quality, spam sites.
- The domain that hosts the page has a bad reputation.
Why Does Page Authority Matter for SEO?
There are digital marketing professionals who insist that PA is irrelevant. However; it’s a part of a larger puzzle that needs to be solved to make sure your website is optimized properly.
The MozBar tool can help you figure out where you should focus your SEO efforts because it considers multiple aspects of your website at once. It’s also great for quickly capturing the current state of a page and the potential growth it has with some polishing.
One way to demonstrate development, change, and improvement over a given time period is through the use of a low present-appreciation (PA) score that increases to a high future-appreciation (PA) score, as an example.
You can use Page Authority to gauge the success of your optimization strategies, but it will not improve your rankings on its own.
How to Build Page Authority
After defining Page Authority and explaining its significance, we’ll move on to discussing strategies for increasing your score.
Some details to look out for are as follows:
1. Build More Backlinks
Acquiring more inbound links from authoritative websites is a simple method to boost your Page Authority.
Bear in mind that getting links from reputable sites is the focus here. For this reason, if the website you requested backlink from has a low page rank, building a link exchange might not be a great option. In fact, you will risk ruining your optimization efforts if you do this.
Instead, you should focus on finding people with high PA and DA who work in your field or a related one. Then, approach them with the idea of exchanging links.
As your PA increases and your backlink to their content improves both your SEOs, reciprocal linking will become less of a hassle. Because it will create mutual benefit for both sites.
2. Create Quality Content
It’s a well-known fact that high-quality content naturally attracts more readers and results in inbound links. After all, if your posts, videos, and other media are interesting and useful, other websites will want to link to your content and share it with their audiences.
It may take some time and effort, but it is possible to master the art of regularly posting high-quality, professionally-written content. In addition, there are many ways in which posting on a regular basis improves SEO.
To begin, fresh content is highly valued by Google. Second, creating new content creates an opportunity to rank for additional keywords. It is a great idea to create an editorial calendar to plan out when and what kinds of content you’ll add to your website.
3. Examine Your Competitors
Checking a website’s page authority and domain authority is one of the best features of Moz. So, it’s simple to spy on the rivals and learn their strategies to beat you.Using this data, you can develop unique approaches to increasing your PA and making content that is superior to theirs.
4. Boost the Authority of Your Site by Revamping Older Content
Checking all pages for ones with low Page Authority scores can help you increase your overall Domain Authority. In order to bring your score up, content should be updated with new keywords, internal links, and fresh information. You may also choose to expand on brief posts by writing a longer piece or including a video or other interactive media. You can read our blog post How to Increase Views by Updating Old Blog Posts to get a better angle on revamping older content.
5. Distribute Your Posts Through Alternative Channels
Remember that a reputable backlink can come from anywhere. This includes social media platforms. Make sure to share any new blog posts or articles on your preferred platforms. Each time someone shares the post or adds their own backlink, it counts towards your total number of backlinks.This can significantly boost your overall DA and PA scores over time, making it easier for individual pages and your entire website to appear in the SERPs.
6. Avoid Things That Can Harm Your Overall SEO
Finally, avoid using so-called black hat SEO techniques at all costs. These rarely go as planned and can have a negative impact on your overall ranking in the SERPs. Worse, they have the ability to have your page blacklisted by Google. This process means that your visitors will see a warning before they can access your website, which is often enough to turn them away.
As a result, always follow best SEO practices and handle things like backlinking in a non-spammy or shady manner.
Wrapping Up
Page authority is the value assigned to a Web page by a search engine in terms of search engine optimization (SEO). The higher the value, the more likely a Web page will appear near the top of organic search results.
While it may not appear to be very important, checking your Page Authority score is a good way to see where your website is currently at and how likely it is to rank high in the SERPs. You can improve your overall Domain Authority by taking your score into account and making changes to individual pages.
