Domain Authority is a concept used across the SEO industry to estimate a website's ranking potential based on the quality and quantity of its backlink profile. Different tools calculate it differently — Moz has "Domain Authority", Ahrefs has "Domain Rating", and we have our own DA Score.
Our DA Score (0-100):
Disavow calculates a proprietary DA Score for every domain in your backlink profile. It is built from multiple independent data sources — not just one metric. We cross-reference a domain's backlink strength, the number and quality of sites linking to it, spam signals, and its overall web footprint to produce a single authority score.
The scale:
- 0-15 (Very Low): Likely spam or brand new sites - 16-35 (Low): Small or niche sites with few backlinks - 36-50 (Medium): Established sites with moderate link profiles - 51-70 (Good): Well-known sites with strong backlinks - 71-90 (Strong): Major publications and industry leaders - 91-100 (Elite): Top global websites like Google, BBC, Wikipedia
Why it matters for backlink audits:
A link from a site with DA Score 80 is far more valuable than 100 links from sites with DA Score 5. When auditing your backlinks, low DA Score is one of several signals our Smart Risk Engine uses to identify potentially harmful links.
Important note:
DA Score is one factor among many. A low-authority site is not automatically toxic — it might just be new or niche. That is why our Risk Engine uses 4 layers of analysis, not just authority alone. For more on how authority fits into the bigger backlink picture, see our <a href="/blog/backlinks-explained-beginners-guide" class="text-amber-400 hover:text-amber-300 underline">beginner's guide to backlinks</a>.