How much authority does a site really have?
Enter any domain to get its Ahrefs Domain Rating from 0 to 100, with the backlinks and referring domains behind it. No account needed.
- Ahrefs Domain Rating out of 100
- An authority band at a glance
- Total backlinks
- Referring domains
- Dofollow share of links and domains
What you get
One number, and the link profile behind it.
The headline score is the domain's Ahrefs Domain Rating, shown on a gauge with a plain band like Moderate authority. Below it, Ahrefs' counts of backlinks and referring domains, and how many of each are dofollow.
domain rating · example.com
done
- domain rating64 / 100
- authorityModerate authority
- backlinks182,410
- referring domains4,912
- dofollow backlinks71%
- dofollow referring domains83%
Why it matters
Authority shapes who you can outrank.
Sites with stronger backlink profiles tend to win competitive searches. Knowing a domain's rating tells you how it stacks up and whether a link from it is worth chasing.
Benchmark
Compare with competitors
Check your domain and the sites ranking above you to see how wide the authority gap is.
Prospects
Vet link targets
Rate a site before you pitch a guest post or partnership, so outreach goes to domains whose links carry weight.
Health
Read the whole profile
Referring domains and the dofollow shares show whether a high score rests on many sites passing real authority, or on a few.
Who it's for
Built for anyone who judges website authority.
01
SEO specialists
Compare a client's rating with the competitors ranking above it, and show link building progress in one clear number.
02
Link builders
Check a prospect's authority before you spend time on outreach, and focus on the domains that will move your profile.
03
Agencies
Size up a prospect's domain on the first call, and explain the score with the backlinks behind it.
04
Site owners
Check your own domain from time to time to see whether new links and referring domains are moving your score.
How it works
From domain to rating in under a minute.
01
Enter a domain
Type your site, a competitor's, or any site you want to judge. A full URL works too; the checker reads the domain from it.
02
Wait for the reading
The checker reads the domain's numbers from Ahrefs. This can take up to a minute.
03
Read the results
The rating on a gauge with its authority band, total backlinks, referring domains, and the dofollow share of each.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Domain Rating is Ahrefs' score from 0 to 100 for how strong a website's backlink profile is, based on how many sites link to it and how strong those sites are. A higher number means a stronger profile.
Yes. The score, backlinks, referring domains and both dofollow shares all come from Ahrefs, so they match the Domain Rating you would see there.
No. Moz Domain Authority is a different metric built from a different link index, so the two numbers will not match. Compare domains with the same metric.
Yes. You can run 3 checks a day without an account. If you sign in, each check uses 5 credits, and checks are included on the Scale and Team plans.
It depends on your niche. As a rough guide, 40 to 70 is moderate to strong in most markets, and above 70 is typical of major brands and publishers. The most useful comparison is with the sites you compete with for the same searches.
Not directly. It is a third party metric that Google does not use. What it measures, links from strong and relevant sites, does tend to go with better rankings, which makes it a useful proxy.
Earn links from strong, relevant sites. Publish content worth citing, build relationships with publications in your niche, and aim for links from new referring domains rather than more links from the same ones.
The checker reads live data from Ahrefs for the domain you enter, which can take up to a minute. Keep the page open and the results appear when the reading is in. If it fails, you see an error and can try again, and signed in members get their credits back.
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