How to Increase Domain Rating: 7 Steps That Work in 2026
To increase domain rating, earn backlinks from new referring domains that carry a high DR and link out to few sites. Ahrefs scores your backlink profile, not your content, so link volume alone does little. Quality, variety and patience matter more than any single tactic.
Plenty of teams still burn budget on cheap link bundles that add no new referring domains or invite a manual action. This guide covers how DR works, what each tactic costs and how long growth really takes.
What Is Domain Rating?
Domain Rating (DR) is an Ahrefs metric that scores the strength of a website’s backlink profile on a 0 to 100 scale, relative to other sites in the Ahrefs index. It counts links only. Content quality, traffic and brand strength are not part of the score.
DR is relative, so your number can fall when other sites grow faster, even if you lose no links. It also gets harder to climb as it rises. Moving from DR 10 to 20 takes far fewer links than moving from 70 to 80.
Domain Rating vs. Domain Authority vs. Website Authority
DR is the Ahrefs backlink-only score. Domain Authority (DA) is Moz’s score, which predicts ranking potential from link data and other signals, including Spam Score. Website authority is the broader idea of how trusted a site is. None of these is a Google metric.
[Comparison Table]
| Metric | Provider | What it uses | Best use |
| Domain Rating (DR) | Ahrefs | Backlink profile only | Filtering link prospects |
| Domain Authority (DA) | Moz | Links plus other signals, including Spam Score | Competitive benchmarking |
| Authority Score | Semrush | Backlinks plus other signals | Quick comparisons inside Semrush |
| Website authority | No single owner | Links, brand, trust, topical coverage | Judging real credibility |
Pick one metric and stay with it. Comparing a DR 55 site to a DA 40 site tells you nothing. Pair any score with traffic and topical fit, which is the filter that counts when you vet prospects. Our breakdown of authority vs relevance explains how to weigh the two.
How Is Domain Rating Calculated?
Ahrefs looks at the unique referring domains pointing to your site, weighs each by its own DR, and divides that value by the number of sites each one links to. It then scales the result to 0 to 100. Three inputs drive the score: how many domains link to you, how strong they are and how selective they are.
Number of Referring Domains
Referring domains are the unique sites that link to you, and Ahrefs counts each one once no matter how many links it sends. Fifty links from one site add far less than fifty links from fifty sites. Growing the count of unique linking domains is the most direct lever on DR.
That is why sitewide footer links and bulk links from one network barely register. Check the count in Site Explorer or any backlink checker tool, and compare it with your competitors before you set a target.
Treat dofollow links as the ones that move DR. Nofollow links still bring traffic and keep a profile natural, but expect little DR from them. Our guide on why some backlinks have nofollow covers when that is fine.
The DR of Linking Domains
Ahrefs passes more link equity from higher-DR sites than from lower-DR ones. A link from a DR 70 site moves your score more than one from a DR 20 site. Relevance still drives rankings, so an off-topic high-DR link helps the metric more than it helps traffic.
Link equity works the same way in practice. Strong sources pass more, but only if the link sits in editorial content on an indexed page.
How Many Sites Each Referring Domain Links To
A linking site splits its rating across every domain it links to. A link from a DR 60 site that links to ten domains passes more than one from a DR 60 site that links to ten thousand. The Linked Domains report in Site Explorer shows how generous a prospect is before you pitch.
Directories, resource pages and best-of roundups with hundreds of outbound links are the usual dilution traps. Check outbound counts before you pay for any placement.
Does a Higher Domain Rating Improve Rankings?
Not directly. Google does not use DR or DA as a ranking factor. DR does correlate with rankings, because strong backlink profiles tend to belong to pages that rank, but Ahrefs says its page-level URL Rating tracks rankings better. Treat DR as a link-building scorecard, not a lever on Google.
Rankings come from page-level links, relevance, search intent and content quality. A DR 30 site with a strong, relevant page can outrank a DR 70 site with a thin one. DR earns its place as a prospecting filter, a client reporting number and a rough proxy for website credibility.
The trade-off is that DR is easy to inflate with low-value links. A rising DR with flat organic traffic growth is a warning sign. For competitive terms, Keywords Explorer builds its Keyword Difficulty estimate from the referring domains of ranking pages, so link counts matter more than your DR.
How to Increase Domain Rating (7 Steps)
Audit your profile, build assets worth linking to, pitch high-DR sites, reclaim dead links, build relationships, strengthen internal linking and fix technical issues. Do them in that order, because each step makes the next cheaper. The table compares cost, speed and risk. All figures are typical ranges and vary by niche.
| Step | Typical cost | Time to first links | Main risk |
| Backlink audit | Tool subscription plus a few hours | Immediate | Over-disavowing good links |
| Linkable assets | Free to several thousand dollars | 3 to 12 months | Assets that earn no links |
| High-DR pitching | Under $100 to $1,000+ per paid placement | 2 to 8 weeks | Undisclosed paid links |
| Broken links and resource pages | Mostly time | 1 to 3 months | Low reply rates |
| Relationships | Time, ongoing | 3 to 12 months | Slow payoff |
| Internal linking | Free | Weeks | No direct DR gain |
| Technical fixes | Free to moderate | Weeks | No direct DR gain |
Audit Your Current Backlink Profile
Export your backlinks from Site Explorer and Google Search Console, then flag toxic backlinks, spammy anchors and lost links. Fix what you can through removal requests. Use the Google Disavow Tool only for clear manipulation you cannot remove, because Google already ignores most junk links.
Review anchor text distribution, referring domain growth and link velocity. A burst of dozens of links from weak domains in one week is a pattern SpamBrain looks for. Our notes on safe backlinks per day cover pacing. Moz’s Spam Score is a prompt for review, not a verdict.
Reclaim lost links worth keeping by contacting the site. Use Google Search Console to cross-check what Ahrefs shows, and read up on disavowing links before you upload anything.
Create Linkable Assets and Link-Worthy Content
Linkable assets are pages that give writers a reason to cite you: original data, free tools, templates, calculators and definitive guides. Build them around topics where journalists and bloggers already link out. Use Content Explorer to find pages with many referring domains, then publish something newer or more complete.
Most assets earn nothing without promotion, so budget for outreach and expect months, not weeks. A study can cost anywhere from a few hours to several thousand dollars in data and design. It earns links only if the findings are new, which is the logic behind information gain in SEO.
Target and Pitch High-DR Websites
Build a prospect list in Site Explorer and Content Explorer, then filter by relevance, traffic and low outbound link counts. Pitch one clear angle: a guest post, an expert quote, a data point or a resource. Guest posting and digital PR are the main routes to editorial backlinks on authoritative websites.
Prices vary widely. Many agencies charge from under $100 for low-tier sites to several hundred dollars for mid-tier ones. Placements on strong publications can top $1,000, and digital PR retainers often run into the thousands per month. Digital PR is slower and less predictable, but it produces the safest high-DR links.
Google’s guidelines specifically warn against paid links without rel=”sponsored” or nofollow, and against excessive link exchange, which falls under link schemes. A PBN can lift DR for a few months, then collapse when the network is found. Journalist query platforms in the style of HARO remain a clean option for quotes.
Use Broken Link Building and Resource Pages
Broken link building finds dead links on relevant sites and offers your page as the replacement. Resource pages curate links on one topic and exist to link out. Both give an editor an easy reason to say yes, so they usually convert better than cold guest post pitches, especially when your replacement page matches the dead one closely.
Reply rates are modest and vary by niche. Resource pages often list dozens or hundreds of links, so the DR they pass is diluted. Check the Linked Domains report first and skip pages that link to everyone.
Build Relationships, Not Just One-Off Links
Editors and bloggers who know you reply faster and link again. Contribute to the same publications over time, share useful data without asking for a link, and keep a simple CRM of contacts. Repeat links from one domain add nothing to DR, but a good relationship opens introductions to new domains.
This is the slowest step and the hardest to scale. It is also how teams earn backlinks naturally instead of buying them. Social signals are not a DR input, though sharing helps the right people find your work.
Optimize Internal Linking
Internal links do not raise DR directly, because DR counts only links from other domains. They do spread link equity from your strongest pages to the ones you want to rank. Link from pages with many referring domains to priority pages, and use descriptive anchor text.
Fix orphan pages so no useful page sits without an internal link. Keep anchor text varied on your own site as well as in outreach.
Fix Technical SEO Issues
Technical SEO will not add referring domains, but it protects the links you already earn. Fix broken pages that still receive backlinks, redirect old URLs to relevant targets, and keep pages indexable and fast. Good page experience also makes editors more willing to cite you.
Check for 404 pages with backlinks in Site Explorer and Search Console. A 301 redirect to a close match keeps most of the value, while redirecting everything to the homepage tends to waste it. Our guide to redirects in SEO covers the cases.
How Long Does It Take to Increase Domain Rating?
Most sites need three to six months to see a clear DR change, and meaningful growth usually takes six to 24 months. New domains move fastest because the first links count most. Higher scores take longer, since each extra point needs many more referring domains.
DR Growth Timeline by Starting Point
| Starting DR | Realistic goal | Typical timeline | What usually works |
| 0 to 10 | DR 20 | 3 to 6 months | Relevant profiles, unlinked mentions, first editorial placements |
| 10 to 30 | DR 40 | 6 to 12 months | Guest posting, broken link building, first linkable assets |
| 30 to 50 | DR 55 | 12 to 24 months | Digital PR, data studies, steady outreach |
| 50 and above | Add 5 to 10 points | 12 to 24 months or more | Large PR campaigns and brand-driven links |
These ranges vary with niche, budget and link velocity. A spike followed by silence looks odd, while steady acquisition from varied sources looks natural. DR can also drop when other sites outgrow you, so track it monthly in Ahrefs and watch organic traffic growth alongside it.
Conclusion
To increase domain rating, start with the audit, then spend your budget on the few tactics that bring unique, relevant referring domains from sites with low outbound counts. Skip bundles and networks, because the penalty risk outweighs a quick number. Judge progress by referring domains and organic traffic, not DR alone. This week, export your backlink profile and list five competitor referring domains you do not have yet.
FAQs
A good DR is one near or above the sites ranking for your target keywords. No universal number exists. Compare yourself with direct competitors, and read the score alongside traffic and relevance rather than as a standalone grade.
No. DR comes from Ahrefs and uses backlinks only. DA comes from Moz and uses links plus other signals. The two scales differ, so the same site can score differently on each. Pick one tool for tracking.
Yes. Ahrefs offers a free checker and a free Webmaster Tools plan for sites you verify. Features and limits change, so confirm what the current plan includes before you build reporting around it.
There is no fixed number. It depends on your starting DR, the DR of the linking domains and how many sites they link to. Low-DR sites may move ten points with a few dozen strong referring domains. Higher scores need far more.
Expect little. Treat dofollow links from unique referring domains as the ones that move DR. Nofollow links still bring referral traffic and make a profile look natural, and Google treats them as hints.
Common causes are lost links, linking sites that lost their own DR, linking sites adding more outbound links, and rivals growing faster. Check lost backlinks in Site Explorer and compare against competitors before you change your strategy.
Slowly. Strong content and brand mentions can earn backlinks without outreach, but waiting alone rarely produces results in under a year. Pair link-worthy content with light promotion to speed things up.
They can raise DR in the short term because Ahrefs counts the links. They also break Google’s link spam rules, and SpamBrain looks for network patterns. Losses can arrive suddenly, so avoid them on any brand you plan to keep.
Yes to the first, rarely to the second. Sudden spikes of weak links stand out, so keep growth steady and varied. Disavow only manipulation you cannot remove, such as links you bought. Ordinary junk usually needs no action.
