What is page authority (PA)?
Simply put, page authority (PA) is a measure of how likely a web page would rank on search engine results pages (SERPs) on a scale of 1-100, with a higher score indicating a higher likelihood of ranking. It was developed by a company called Moz.
If you want a more in-depth understanding of this topic, check out the FAQ section below:
Question #1: How is my (PA) calculated?
It is calculated using a machine learning model that is designed to pick out the ranking algorithm used by the thousands of SERPs that Moz predicts your page against. It uses a logarithmic scoring system, which means it becomes increasingly more challenging to bump up your score the closer you get to 100.
Also, the scoring system Moz uses gets updated regularly, so do not worry if you see your score fluctuating.
Question #2: What is a good page authority (PA) score to shoot for?
Technically, there is no such thing as a good page authority (PA) score to shoot for because it is designed to be more of a comparative metric than an absolute one. This means that your goal is to simply have a higher score than your biggest competitor.
So, even if the YouTube homepage has, say, a score of 90 and the best performing page on your website—in terms of search rankings—only has a score of 10, unless your website is a direct competitor to YouTube, this massive difference in scores does not really mean anything.
Question #3: What is the difference between page authority (PA) and domain authority?
The biggest difference between the two lies in the names. As we have seen earlier, page authority (PA) measures how likely a particular page will rank in SERPs. In contrast, domain authority, as the name suggests, measures how likely a particular domain (or set of subdomains) will rank in SERPs.
They are, however, measured in virtually the exact same way by Moz.
Question #4: How can I improve my score?
The most direct way to improve your page authority (PA) score is to get more quality backlinks. This is because having more backlinks means more people are referencing your content or sharing it, which, in turn, implies that you actually know what you are talking about—which is just another way of saying you are an authority in your field.
Question #5: Does a high page authority (PA) score guarantee a high Google search ranking?
No, a high score does not guarantee a high Google search ranking.
Keep in mind that the page authority (PA) scoring system was developed by an external company that is not, in any way, connected to Google. This means they have no actual way of knowing exactly how the Google search algorithm works.
In addition, backlinks are just one of the hundreds of ranking signals that Google considers in determining which pages should rank. If you really want to perform well in search, you will also need to focus on things such as:
- The quality of your content – At the end of the day, the first step to ranking in the search is to provide your target audience with content that you know they would find valuable and interesting. It is the only way you can get them to come, actually consume your content, and share it with other people.
- The keywords you use – You need to find out what keywords your target audience uses to search for products, services, and content like yours and try to incorporate them in the content you put out.
- How you use your target keywords – Keep in mind, however, that it is not just about stuffing your content with the keywords you are trying to rank for. Doing so can actually cause you to get penalised by Google.
The goal, then, is to find the right keyword density for every single piece of content you publish. Fortunately, most modern SEO tools help you do just that easily.
For more definitions and related article, check this relevant page from the Moz website.