If someone who is just starting to work on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and is eager to increase your website Domain Authority, they might have felt discouraged by the process. Since Domain Authority is not a Google metric, but rather an SEO comparison tool owned and managed by Moz and it does not have any effect on search engine results, it is calculated separately, with a greater emphasis placed on backlinks. 

If there are not many backlinks that you have built yet, that is not a great sign. Therefore, you may be wondering how to increase your website Domain Authority without any backlinks? This is what we will be exploring in more detail here.

1. Domain Authority

To gain links from potential link partners, even if they do not abide by Google’s SEO best practices, a “minimum” DA score must be met. In other words, you need to have links to get more links. As we have previously explained, this is the case. A small amount of doubt that link building is a crucial element to consider when attempting offpage SEO to increase a website or web page’s Domain Authority score, the range of this number is from 0 to 100, and it is calculated by taking into account Moz’s proprietary data from their Link Explorer tool, which contributes at least 40% to the calculation.

Google desires to observe links as well, and from the beginning they have been regarded as a ranking factor for their Search Engine Result Pages. While Moz considers approximately 40 factors for their Domain Authority algorithm, they are not the sole factors. In fact, they take into account over 200 factors. They heavily depend on Link Explorer, which is one of their most profitable tools. 

Link building should be done wisely and never by buying links, and it is an important task to undertake. However, it is a process that takes time and should be done slowly and steadily. At SEO Agency Edinburgh, we have created, tried out, and implemented highly successful link-building strategies that we use for our customers.

If you want to increase your website Domain Authority without relying on backlinks, what actions can you take to address the remaining 60% of the Domain Authority algorithm? It’s worth noting that, similar to effective link-building strategies, this approach will require patience and persistence.

Although this list is not exhaustive, as novel tactics are constantly emerging, the following are some of the methods you can employ to enhance your DA while you wait for backlinks to enhance your reputation in the eyes of Google – which ultimately holds greater significance than your Domain Authority score.

2. Post Quality Content, More Often

In order to acquire the highly sought-after backlinks that the Domain Authority algorithm desires, you must provide something of value in return. A link should always serve a purpose, thus the material it leads to should offer value to those who click on it. The most effective way to ensure the content offers value is by creating quality content. 

Is that a very unclear statement? What would constitute good content?

Often, the answer in regards to the subject matter is very subjective to one’s audience. Therefore, it is important to gain a good understanding of your audience before coming to a conclusion. After obtaining this understanding, creating content that links to and engages the audience requires more effort:

Keywords: Before you start creating content for your website, it is important to make sure that you have a list of keywords you want to rank for. Additionally, it is essential to find the right keywords that match the content to the target audience. Writing content that nobody reads will not be beneficial for your website.

Content Freshness: After a while, your content may become outdated and insignificant. This may cause a drop in your Domain Authority score and organic rankings. If the number of keywords found on the Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is taken into account when determining Domain Authority (DA), then a decrease in DA score is likely due to the drop of the keywords in SERPs. If you want to ensure that your keywords stay at the top of Google’s search engine result pages, you must keep refreshing the content which is driving the most traffic to your website.

Content Length: Years ago, it was thought that a post or article with a word count of 300 – 400 was satisfactory, as it was short and to the point. It was assumed that people wouldn’t read longer pieces as their attention span was deemed to be that of a goldfish. If someone is looking for information, they typically want to be well-informed. It is usually difficult to provide enough detail in only 300 words. By investing the necessary time and effort into producing longer-form content, you not only give searchers and readers more of what they want, but also increase your chances of ranking higher in the SERPs for more keywords, thus giving you the opportunity to attract more links. 

3. URL Optimization: 

The most commonly overlooked element of on-page content is the URL. Generally, a website’s URL is auto-generated by the CMS and not optimized for search engine visibility, which is typically not ideal. For an SEO-friendly URL, it is necessary to adhere to certain recommended practices. It should include a relevant keyword, avoid any strange numbers and letters, and clearly communicate the subject of the content.

4. Work on Your Technical SEO

Technical SEO has grown to encompass a variety of topics, ranging from website structure and Schema markup to coding practices that could potentially block search bots or compromise website security. Though it can be tedious, Technical SEO is essential to successful SEO campaign. It involves a lot of intricate steps, so if you are not experienced in the field, it is essential to seek professional assistance. 

5. Make Sure that Your Website is Fast

Having a slow website can be detrimental to your online presence. Not only will people be less likely to stay on your website, resulting in a high bounce rate, but it can also lead to lower rankings in Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs). Furthermore, other websites may be unwilling to link to your site if it is too slow, which would leave you without any links to help increase your website Domain Authority score. A fast website is essential for improving user experience and keeping your online presence strong. There are numerous explanations why websites can be sluggish. 

Fortunately, there are numerous methods to uncover why your website is running slowly, such as Google’s Page Speed Insight tool. By utilizing this tool, you can detect any issues that are causing your website to be sluggish and take the necessary steps to improve its speed. By running a website audit, you can gain insight into any potential problems with your website. The audit will tell you exactly what needs to be fixed and offer suggestions for how to do so. Though the solutions may take some time to implement – especially if the issues involve code or large images – the effort will be worth it in terms of improving your domain authority and providing a better user experience.

6. Work on E.A.T

Google uses E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness) as one of the criteria to make a decision whether material will benefit the readers and should be ranked highly in its SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). E-A-T was first mentioned in the Search Quality Guidelines in 2014, which are given to the humans that help shape the search engine result pages, showing that not all of the work is done by bots. 

Evaluators were instructed to focus on assessing the quality of Google search results:

• The level of expertise of the content’s author.
• The degree of authority exhibited by the content’s author, the content, and the website.
• The trustworthiness of the site, the material, and the author of the content.

In essence, the E-A-T factors are characteristics that show a website is of excellent quality, thereby making it more user-friendly and better suited for higher rankings on search engine result pages (SERPs). To ensure a successful website, it is essential to have strong Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E.A.T). Achieving this involves a variety of elements, from the website itself to the content it contains and even to the people who create it. The content you create should be easy to understand, beneficial for the people you are writing for, and up to date.

Additionally, it should be obvious who created it. These are just some of the important considerations when producing content. The better you can prove that your content is reliable and authoritative, the more probable it is that people will link to it organically. The more quality links you have, the higher your Domain Authority rating will be.

7. Invest in Some PR

Though one may assume that the prevalence of social media has diminished the need for traditional public relations, that is not the case. Having a public relations team can be beneficial to all businesses, big or small. However, for larger enterprises, getting links from authoritative sources is critical to competing with other websites with high Domain Authority scores.

Press coverage without a link can still be beneficial for your website’s authority in Google’s eyes, as it can help to increase overall brand recognition. Having a good PR team is still the best way to get coverage from prominent media sources, which is what ultimately matters for increasing Domain Authority. To improve your Domain Authority without backlinks, there are several steps you can take. From optimizing your content for SEO to improving page load speed and ensuring your site is mobile-friendly, you have the power to boost your domain’s ranking. If you need more help, our experts are available to provide tailored advice. Contact us today to book a call with one of our specialists.