In an effective link building strategy, every link matters. Yet, when it comes to domain authority (DA) vs page authority (PA), many SEO professionals ask the same question: where should you place your backlinks to maximize SEO impact? Should you target specific pages or rely on the overall power of a website? In this article, we’ll clarify the difference between these two metrics, how search engines like Google use them, and what best practices you should follow to build a relevant and long-lasting backlink profile.
Domain authority vs page authority: core definitions
Domain authority: the overall strength of the website
Domain authority (a metric by Moz) is a predictive score designed to indicate a website’s ability to rank in search engine results. Scored from 1 to 100, it factors in:
- the volume and quality of inbound links,
- the diversity of referring domains,
- the strength of its internal linking,
- its content’s relevance and age.
It provides a global view of the website’s SEO popularity.
Page authority: the strength of a specific URL
Page authority measures the likelihood of a specific page ranking in search engine results. It’s influenced by:
- external links pointing to the page,
- its internal linking structure,
- its semantic consistency with surrounding content.
A high-PA page from a moderate-DA site can outrank competitors in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
What the scores don’t tell you
Authority metrics aren’t connected to Google
Metrics like Domain Authority, Trust Flow, or Citation Flow come from SEO tools such as:
- Moz (DA / PA),
- Ahrefs (Domain Rating / URL Rating),
- Majestic (Trust Flow / Citation Flow),
- SEObserver (French-oriented aggregation),
- Babbar.tech (topical authority),
- Semrush (Authority Score).
➡️ All of these tools operate outside Google’s ecosystem.
They use their own crawlers, link databases, spam filters, and scoring logic.
One tool may detect more backlinks than another, but that doesn’t mean they are valued by Google.
Your only reliable source: Google Search Console
đź“Ś If you want to see which backlinks really matter, rely on Google Search Console.
It’s the only platform directly linked to Google’s index that shows:
- which backlinks are recognized,
- how they’re distributed across referring domains,
- your most linked pages,
- the anchor text used.
Which link building strategy should you adopt?
Page-level links: more powerful, less stable
A backlink placed on a strong, active page (popular article, evergreen content) is often more impactful. It passes targeted link equity that can help boost a key page.
However, be cautious:
- Blog posts may get unpublished.
- E-commerce product pages might be removed.
- A deleted URL may return a 404 or be redirected, which dilutes its authority.
Domain-level links: more durable
A website’s homepage URL rarely changes: https://example.com/
A backlink on the homepage is more stable, less prone to deletion or redirects, and often seen as more trustworthy by Google.
A balanced link profile: key to SEO success
- Diversify your sources: quality backlinks from relevant websites.
- Vary the target levels: product pages, categories, homepage, supporting content.
- Maintain topical consistency: contextually relevant links in high-quality content.
- Avoid over-optimization: don’t place 10 links to each product page — especially for e-commerce sites.
A solid external link profile is built on a healthy mix of deep links and homepage-level authority signals.
SERP analysis: understand what drives rankings
Tools like Ahrefs, SEObserver, or Babbar.tech help analyze SERPs to understand whether a result ranks because:
- The entire website is strong? Domain authority (DA or DR) does most of the heavy lifting.
- A specific page is powerful? Then a direct link to that page will likely deliver better results.
This detailed analysis helps adjust your off-page SEO strategy based on real-world conditions.
Example: real case study
In this example for the query “ninjalinking”, we notice several interesting cases. The top result uses an EMD and exact-match anchor text pointing to the homepage — a mix that combines the best of both DA and PA.
But not everyone can rank with their homepage. The second result appears to rank mostly thanks to domain strength (440 root domains). In our case, ninjalinking is an informational, non-strategic page. But if we wanted to move beyond position 8 (as of 02/05/2025), it might be worth building links directly to this URL. However, we’d first want to ensure that it’s passing PageRank effectively.
Key takeaways
- Domain authority helps assess the overall strength of a site.
- Page authority provides more precise insights at the URL level.
- Google Search Console remains your only reliable source for active backlinks.
- Links to specific pages are more powerful, but also more fragile over time.
- An effective link building strategy blends authority, quality, diversity, and long-term stability.
Need a data-driven link building strategy?
At Stiv.Media, we design and manage link building campaigns by combining insights from Domain Authority, Trust Flow, Google Search Console, and SERP analysis.
The result: high-performance backlinks aligned with your SEO goals.
Looking to launch a balanced and effective link building campaign?
