Domain Authority vs. Page Authority vs. PageRank
Question. I am working in some SEO stuff for my company after your course but I really don’t get the difference between Domain authority and Page authority.
- I have been noticing that some website do not have the same PA and DA, not even close why is that?
- I am assuming that they are not the same concept but…Are they a similar concept but PA is all the website and DA the landing page that you are at the moment?
Please, would you mind to explain me the difference and if you have some article to read about I will appreciate it.
Answer.
All of this really goes back to Google’s original concept of PageRank. Basically, the “genius” of Google was to realize that you could count the “votes” of the Internet, so that when Website “A” had many websites (e.g., websites, b, c, d, e) linking TO it, then Website A was “more important” and had a higher PageRank. Then when analyzing which website should show up on Google searches, Website “A” would have a higher PageRank and, all things being equal, would outrank other lesser websites (those that had fewer inbound links).
PageRank = the popularity of a domain and an individual page as measured by inbound links.
Then, you go down the “Rabbit Hole.”
Domains vs. Pages
Not only do Website DOMAINS have a PageRank (e.g., CNN.com, or NYTimes.com, or JM-SEOTIPS.org), but individual PAGES have a rank, too. So for instance, the HOME PAGE of CNN (which has many links TO it, both on the CNN domain and from other websites) as a PAGE will have a higher PageRank than some subordinate page (e.g., a news article just published). Think of it like a stereotypical FAMILY and their WEALTH
- The JONES family has a networth of $100,000.
- Dad, is the “head” of the family and controls the money – so his Net worth might be $80,000
- Mom, has the secondary job and has a Network of $15,000
- The kids each might have a networth of $2500
Now, the family as a whole = domain authority. The individual family members = page authority. Next, you have to consider how one family member can help another. Suppose Jimmy wants to be a car. His networth is only $2500 but he can “borrow” $7500 from Dad. And/or the car dealer knows Jimmy has Dad “behind him” and so he is more important than James, whose Dad has a networth of only $75,000. They are intertwined: the PageRank of an individual page and the DOMAIN authority of the whole website: not the same, but definitely intertwined.
In sum, a web page has a page PageRank, and a domain (as a whole) has a domain PageRank. Page authority and domain authority.
The domain rank helps the page PageRank as it “flows thru…”
All of this feeds into link-building: all things being equal, you want links from DOMAINS with high DOMAIN rank and from the most powerful page on those domains (e.g., usually the home page). Hence, a link
FROM the home page of CNN
vs.
FROM a sub page of CNN
The FIRST one is MORE VALUABLE than the SECOND because it has BOTH the strong domain authority of CNN and the strong Page Authority of the home page.
Context Matters: Relevant Links come from Relevant Websites (as Measured by Keywords)
NEXT – don’t forget CONTEXT. This may actually be even more important than Domain or PageRank. If you want to rank #1 for the search ‘Brahman Cattle,’ then a link from the National Association of Brahman Cattle Breeders (Brahman.org) may be worth MORE than a link from CNN because of keyword context. Similarly, if you are comparing TWO pages on a website, a link from one whose context (keywords / content) is similar to your own target is worth MORE…
Context matters, too!
Larry Page (Co-Founder of Google) Gave the Name to PageRank (Unfortunately)
Finally, as you sort all this out in your mind, remember that PageRank got is name from Larry Page, co-founder of Google. So that makes for a lot of the confusion as a domain has a “PageRank” and a page has a PageRank. Hence, many third parties have broken this out to Domain Authority and Page Authority – which are not really separate but intertwined.
Hope this helps!
About Jason
Got a question? Click this link to or call . is founder and Senior SEO / Social Media Director of the . He teaches the SEO training classes for the group, and therefore provides most of the SEO tips for this blog. His goal with this blog is to provide an easy 'one-stop shop' for the busy marketer looking for tips, tricks, and secrets on how to get to the top of Google and Bing for free using proven SEO tactics. When not dreaming up SEO tips, Dr. McDonald lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, two dogs, a cat, four iguanas and twelve children (just kidding). Really you read down to the bio on this guy? Enjoy the blog.
