DR in Ahrefs: what it is and how to check the authority of a website

In the fierce competition for users’ attention, it is important to understand how to determine how trustworthy your website is to search engines. One of the key metrics for this is Domain Rating by Ahrefs, which shows the impact of external links on the authority of a website. Next, let’s analyze what DR is, how it differs from other metrics, why it should be tracked, and how to quickly get up-to-date data for your website.

What is DR at Ahrefs?

According to the official source, DR (Domain Rating) in Ahrefs is a numerical assessment of the «strength» of the external link profile on a logarithmic scale from 0 to 100. DR is calculated taking into account the number of unique external donor resources and their authority, with an increase from 50 to 60 being more important than from 20 to 30.

DR takes into account the following key factors:

• unique donor sites: the number of different sites that lead to the analyzed domain;
• authority of donors: The DR of each of these donors, which affects the «weight» of the transmitted links;
• distribution of link juice: how many other sites link to the donor – the more outbound links the donor has, the less «juice» it passes on.

This metric does not take into account the age of the resource, internal optimization, or the volume of organic traffic – only the quality and quantity of external links. Although DR is sometimes compared to Moz’s Domain Authority (DA), their algorithms are different and not interchangeable. It also evaluates the strength of a link profile on a scale of 0-100, but its algorithm is based on other signals and its own donor base. Another popular pair of metrics that SEOs work with is Majestic’s Trust Flow (TF) and Citation Flow (CF), where TF measures the «quality» of links and CF measures their «quantity». Comparing these metrics with DR helps you to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of your backlink profile.

Why do you need DR?

Ahrefs DR helps SEOs compare the strength of their own website with competitors, identify the most valuable sources of external links, and make informed predictions about search engine rankings.

Firstly, DR score allows you to quickly understand how far you are behind or ahead of other sites in building backlinks, which makes it an indispensable tool for benchmarking. Secondly, DR analysis of donors helps you prioritize sites with high authority for guest posting or link exchange, which increases the effectiveness of your link building strategy. And finally, although Google does not officially recognize any third-party metric, numerous studies show a strong correlation between high DR and better SERP rankings. Therefore, DR is often a reliable predictor of the success of your SEO efforts.

How is DR calculated?

The main stages of DR calculation are as follows.

1. Counting unique donor sites.

First, Ahrefs identifies all unique resources (referring domains) that contain at least one dofollow link to the analyzed website. Each such donor is considered a separate «vote» for your page.

2. Assessment of donor credibility.

Each of these sites is assigned its own DR, which demonstrates how «weighty» the link from this donor is. These DRs determine the amount of link juice they can pass on.

3. Taking into account the distribution of «link juice».

A donor site divides its DR evenly among all the unique resources it links to. That is, if a donor with a DR of 50 has 10 unique outbound links, each link transfers approximately DR 5.

4. Iterative aggregation and normalization.

After distributing the link juice among the donors, Ahrefs repeats the calculation several times, adjusting the link weights depending on the updated DR values. Finally, the resulting raw value is converted to a logarithmic scale from 0 to 100 to allow for easy comparison of resources of different levels of authority.

5. Ignored factors.

The DR calculation does not take into account the age of the website, internal page optimization, organic traffic, or other factors outside the link network. The metric is entirely focused on external links and their quality.

How to check domain ranking in Ahrefs

To find out what DR your website has, you can use two simple tools on the Ahrefs platform: the free Website Authority Checker and the paid Site Explorer. Both solutions allow you to quickly get detailed information about backlinks, donors, and the rating of the resource itself.

1. Website Authority Checker.

For a quick DR check without registration, go to the Website «Authority» Checker page on the Ahrefs website. In the search field, enter the address of the desired resource and click Check Authority. In a few seconds, you will see your DR on a scale from 0 to 100, the total number of backlinks and donors, as well as a list of the top 100 sites that link to your site. This method is ideal when you need to quickly assess the strength of a link profile without having a subscription.

2. Site Explorer.

If you have an Ahrefs subscription, log in to your account and select Site Explorer from the top menu. Enter the website address and select Domain in the analysis type field. After clicking Search, you will get an expanded card of your site with DR, total number of backlinks and donors, keyword list, and organic traffic volume. This is the most complete check option, as it gives you access to all Ahrefs analytical reports.

Tips for increasing Domain Rating

To systematically increase the authority of your website and improve its DR, it is useful to follow a clear link building strategy. Implementing even a few of the above recommendations will already yield tangible results.

• High-quality backlinks. Focus on donors with a high DR, because such sites provide more link juice and significantly increase your authority. To find high-quality sources for backlinks, use Ahrefs Site Explorer, which we have already mentioned above.
• Unique web resources. Each new donor site has more impact than multiple links from the same source. Focus on diversity rather than on quantity: even average DR sites on unique topics often contribute to the growth of the overall ranking.
• Content worthy of a link. Create exclusive long-form guides, case studies, and your own research – something that other authors naturally refer to. Such material is actively shared in professional communities and generates organic backlinks without any additional effort on your part.
• Guest posts. Write articles for authoritative blogs and magazines in your niche. Choose resources with DR higher than yours and offer valuable content with natural links to your site. This not only adds quality backlinks but also increases your visibility.
• Fix broken links. Use tools (such as Ahrefs Broken Link Checker) to find 404 links on third-party sites. Contact the webmasters with a proposal to replace it with your relevant article or guide, thus restoring the benefits for both the audience and yourself.

Conclusions

Domain Rating by Ahrefs is a convenient indicator of the quality of external links and helps you focus your efforts on the most effective link building strategies. By regularly tracking DR and combining it with other metrics, you will be able to respond to changes in your backlink profile in a timely manner and increase the authority of your website. Remember: improving the metric requires consistency – start by checking your DR today.

Oleksandr Romanenko

Team Lead/Senior SEO specialist

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