What is Page Authority?
Page Authority (PA) is a score developed by Moz that predicts how well a particular page will rank on search engine result pages (SERP).
Page Authority scores range from 1 to 100, with higher scores corresponding to a greater ability to rank.
Page Authority is based on data from our web index and takes into account dozens of factors. Like Domain Authority, it uses a machine learning model to identify the algorithm that best correlates with rankings across the thousands of SERPs that we predict against, then produces Page Authority scores using that specific calculation.
How is Page Authority scored?
Page Authority is scored on a 100-point logarithmic scale, so it’s significantly easier to grow your score from 20 to 30 than it is to grow from 70 to 80. We constantly update the algorithm used to calculate Page Authority, so you may see your score fluctuate from time to time.
What is a “good” Page Authority?
Based on how Page Authority is calculated, it’s best used as a comparative metric (rather than an absolute, concrete score) when doing research in the search results and determining which pages may have more powerful or important link profiles than others. Because it’s a comparative tool, there isn’t necessarily a “good” or “bad” Page Authority score.
How Do You Review Page Authority?
It is important to keep an eye on your page authority, this can be done by reflecting on a few factors. You should:
- Review the number and quality of backlinks you have accumulated
- Evaluate if your page ranks well for high-competition searches
You can also use tools like MozBar to get an idea of your page’s performance.
How Can You Improve Page Authority?
Page authority is holistic and influenced by a range of factors, there are some things you can do to indirectly improve your page authority. Some of these include:
1. Remove Any Spammy Blog Comments
Spammy blog comments with bad links can detrimentally affect page authority.
Pages can be targeted with this black hat SEO technique, in an effort to undermine a page’s authority and its ranking in SERPs. Be vigilant and remove these comments to reverse the effect.
2. Quality Link-Building
Quality link building is always essential for good SEO. Reaching out to companies with a similar focus or mission can help a page build its authority and its perceived legitimacy.
The authority of a link is based on a few factors:
- It’s no-follow attribute
- How many external links there are
- Where the link is placed on the page
- The page’s authority
Bear these factors in mind when generating links in order to maintain and improve your own page authority.
3. Keep Content Regularly Updated
Make sure you keep your pages relevant by regularly updating them with new content, this is a simple way to give your page authority a boost.
How do I influence Page Authority?
Like Domain Authority, Page Authority is a holistic score and difficult to influence directly. It is made up of an aggregate of metrics that each have an impact on the score. This multi-factorial dependence is intentional: Since Google takes a lot of factors into account when ranking a page, a metric that tries to calculate it must incorporate a lot of factors, as well.
The best way to influence a page’s Authority is to improve its link profile. This can be accomplished by getting external links from other high-authority pages, which in turn act as “votes of confidence” for the authority of your page.
Why Did My Page Authority Change?
Page Authority depends on many factors and can fluctuate for a wide number of reasons. Determining why your PA changed can sometimes seem difficult. Since there are many factors that influence PA, If your PA has gone up or down, it could be because:
- Moz’s web index has yet to account for changes to your link profile;
- High-authority sites have achieved even more growth, skewing the overall scale;
- Some of your links are not accounted for by Moz’s PA rankings;
- Your DA is lower than competitors.