Page Authority
A third-party score (developed by Moz) predicting how likely a specific page is to rank in search engine results, based on link data.
Simple Explanation
Page Authority (PA) is a score from 1 to 100 that predicts how well a specific page will rank in search results. It was created by Moz (a popular SEO tool company) and is NOT an official Google metric — Google doesn't share its actual page strength scores. Think of PA like a credibility score for a single page: a score of 70 means this page is very likely to rank well; a score of 20 means it's harder. The score is mainly based on how many other websites link to that specific page. More high-quality links = higher PA.
Advanced SEO Explanation
Page Authority uses a logarithmic scale (1–100) based on Moz's link index data. The primary inputs are the number and quality of external backlinks pointing to the specific URL, internal link equity flowing into the page, and the overall domain strength. Because it's logarithmic, moving from PA 20 to 30 is much easier than moving from PA 70 to 80. PA is one of many third-party authority metrics — alternatives include Ahrefs' URL Rating (UR), Semrush's Page Score, and Majestic's Citation Flow/Trust Flow. None of these directly replicate Google's PageRank, which Google no longer makes public. PA's primary practical use is for competitive analysis (comparing your pages to ranking competitors) and link prospecting (evaluating sites for link building).
Why Page Authority Matters for Rankings
Competitive benchmarking
Comparing your page's PA to the top-ranking pages for your target keyword helps estimate the link building effort required to compete.
Internal link strategy
High-PA pages can pass authority to other pages via internal links — routing equity from strong pages to pages you want to rank.
Link building targeting
When prospecting for backlinks, sites with high PA on relevant pages are more valuable link sources than low-PA sites.
Content prioritization
Investing in content on URLs that already have moderate PA is more efficient than starting from zero on new URLs.
Real-World SEO Examples
Using internal links to distribute PA
Your homepage has PA 60. Your blog post targeting 'best SEO tools' has PA 25. An internal link from the homepage passes authority to the blog post, increasing its PA over time.
Homepage (PA 60) → not linking to your target blog posts Blog post (PA 25) → accumulating authority slowly
Homepage (PA 60) → internal link to blog post (PA 25) Blogs interlink with related posts Result: blog post PA increases as authority flows
Common Page Authority Mistakes
✗ Mistake
Treating PA as a Google ranking factor
✓ The Fix
PA is a Moz metric, not a Google metric. It's useful for estimation and comparison but does not directly affect your rankings.
✗ Mistake
Optimizing for PA instead of actual ranking signals
✓ The Fix
Focus on earning high-quality backlinks, improving content quality, and building internal links — PA will rise as a byproduct.
✗ Mistake
Ignoring page-level PA in favor of domain-only metrics
✓ The Fix
A high-DA site can have very low PA on specific pages. Evaluate page-level authority when assessing link opportunities.
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Page Authority FAQs
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Continue Learning: Next Terms
Domain Authority
A third-party score (developed by Moz) from 1–100 predicting how likely an entire domain is to rank across search results, based on its overall link profile.
Intermediate🔗Internal Linking
Hyperlinks connecting one page on a website to another page on the same website, used to guide users, distribute link equity, and establish site hierarchy.
Beginner🔗Broken Links
Hyperlinks that lead to pages returning an error (typically 404 Not Found), whether internal links between your own pages or external links pointing to pages that no longer exist.
Beginner