How to Use Domain Authority to Evaluate Competitors

Knowing your Domain Authority (DA) is useful—but knowing your competitors' DA is powerful. It helps you benchmark your SEO performance, uncover opportunities, and set realistic goals based on market dynamics.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to use Domain Authority to evaluate your competitors, what patterns to look for, and how to apply those insights to your own SEO strategy.

Why Competitor Analysis Matters in SEO

Search engines are comparative platforms. You're not just trying to be “good”—you're trying to be better than the others targeting the same keywords.

By evaluating competitors’ DA, you can:

•   Gauge ranking difficulty
•   Spot backlink gaps
•   Set achievable link-building targets
•   Understand content strengths and weaknesses

DA is an effective first step in competitor SEO audits—but should always be paired with deeper analysis.

Step 1: Identify Your True SEO Competitors

Your real-world business competitors and SEO competitors may not be the same. SEO competitors are those ranking for the same keywords you target—even if they aren’t in your industry.

To find them:

•   Search your target keywords and note who ranks
•   Use tools like Moz, Ahrefs, or SEMrush
•   Explore “related domains” in backlink tools
•   Look beyond the homepage—check their subdomains and blog URLs too

Step 2: Compare DA Scores Side by Side

Once you’ve identified key competitors:

1. Use Moz Link Explorer to check their Domain Authority

2. Create a spreadsheet with:

Highlight those with significantly higher or lower DA than yours

This gives you a relative view of your competitive positioning.

Step 3: Evaluate the Quality of Their Backlink Profile

A high DA doesn’t always mean a clean profile. Analyze:

•   Source of backlinks: are they editorial or directory-based?
•   Relevance: are the links topically aligned?
•   Diversity: how many unique domains link to them?
•   Trustworthiness: check their Trust Flow for deeper link quality insights (see DA vs. Trust Flow)

This helps separate artificially inflated DA scores from genuinely authoritative domains.

Step 4: Identify Link-Building Opportunities

Explore where competitors are getting links that you’re not. You can:

•   Use Moz’s “Link Intersect” tool
•   Check guest post sources and press mentions
•   Find forum discussions or resource pages that link to them
•   Look for unlinked brand mentions that you can reclaim

The goal isn’t to copy their links—but to find patterns and gaps that inform your own link-building campaigns.

Step 5: Compare Content Types Driving DA Growth

Competitors may have high DA due to strong linkable content assets like:

•   Research reports
•   Free tools
•   Data visualizations
•   Long-form evergreen guides

Use Does Your Content Fill or Kill? to assess your content depth compared to theirs.

Are you producing material that others want to reference and link to?

Step 6: Map DA to Ranking Potential

Your competitor’s DA gives you insight into:

•   How hard it is to outrank them for certain keywords
•   Whether you need to build more links or improve content
•   Which SERPs are open for competition

A good rule of thumb:

•   If their DA is much higher (30+ points), target long-tail alternatives first
•   If their DA is close to yours, focus on on-page and topical relevance
•   If their DA is lower, double down on content + links for a fast win

Refer to How Often Should You Check Your DA to align this tracking with broader reporting.

Mistakes to Avoid in DA-Based Competitor Analysis

•   Looking only at DA without content or traffic checks
•   Ignoring page-level metrics like PA (Page Authority)
•   Assuming higher DA = better SEO
•   Using DA as the sole success metric

DA is a guide, not gospel. It must be viewed in context with rankings, engagement, and actual performance.

Bonus Tip: Monitor DA Trends Over Time

Don’t just check competitor DA once. Monitor it:

•   Monthly (for SEO-active sites)
•   Quarterly (for large brands)
•   After major algorithm updates or backlink campaigns

Use this data to adapt your content calendar, outreach targets, and keyword focus.

Use DA to Guide Your Competitive Growth

When used wisely, Domain Authority helps you understand where you stand and how far you need to go. It’s not about chasing the highest score—it’s about closing gaps and building real visibility.

Ready to uncover how you compare? Explore our SEO Services, review our Digital Marketing Services,or Contact us to start benchmarking your domain today.

For a full picture of how DA fits into strategic SEO, continue exploring our Domain Authority Guide or check the Blog for fresh insights and analysis.