Page Authority

What is Page Authority?

Page Authority (PA) is an SEO metric developed by Moz that evaluates the likelihood of individual web pages ranking highly in search results on a 1-100 scale. Unlike “Domain Authority” measuring overall domain strength, it measures individual page ranking power. Higher scores mean greater likelihood of top rankings in competitive keyword searches.

In a nutshell: A web page’s “search ranking prediction score.” How much other sites trust this page.

Key points:

• What it does: Quantifies a page’s search ranking power
• Why it’s important: Supports SEO strategy prioritization and competitor analysis
• How to use it: Optimize high-PA pages and identify improvement opportunities for low-PA pages

Why it matters

SEO specialists must decide which pages deserve optimization resources. Checking Page Authority might reveal that improving an existing high-potential page is more effective than creating new articles.

Additionally, competitor analysis reveals which competitor pages are strongest. When investigating “why competitor A ranks first for keyword XX,” checking PA scores lets you infer their link count/quality and content optimization degree.

How it works

Page Authority calculation centers on link data. Moz’s algorithm analyzes “which pages link to this page” and factors in the linked-from page’s trust level, topic relevance, link count, and more.

Calculation uses a logarithmic scale — improving from 10 to 20 is easier than improving from 20 to 30. Achieving high scores becomes exponentially harder.

Internal linking strategy also impacts PA. Pages receiving links from high-PA pages inherit authority and see PA increases.

Page load speed, mobile compatibility, and user engagement signals are also considered.

Real-world use cases

Competitor website analysis SEO agencies compare client and competitor pages, identifying opportunities like “competitors have high-PA pages on topic X while we don’t,” then develop content strategy accordingly.

Link-building priority setting Digital marketers selecting from multiple article candidates for link-acquisition campaigns concentrate resources on high-PA articles to maximize ROI.

Strengthening internal link strategy When publishing new articles, placing links from existing high-PA pages passes authority to new content, accelerating ranking improvements.

Benefits and considerations

Benefits: With SEO optimization, you can prioritize pages for maximum impact. Competitor analysis clarifies market position.

Considerations: Page Authority is Moz’s proprietary metric, not an official Google metric. It doesn’t completely correlate with actual search rankings. Consider it alongside other SEO metrics like traffic keywords and conversion rates.

Related terms

• Domain Authority — Rates overall domain ranking power, not individual pages
• Backlinks — The greatest factor in Page Authority calculation
• Link Building — SEO tactic that improves Page Authority
• Keyword Research — Search volume analysis for high-PA pages
• Search Rankings — Actual search positions Page Authority predicts

Frequently asked questions

Q: How do I improve Page Authority? A: Acquiring high-quality external links is most effective. Links from industry experts, related sites, and authoritative sources work well. Improving page content quality and optimizing internal links also help.

Q: PA is low but the page ranks highly. Why? A: Page Authority emphasizes link count, but actual rankings depend on multiple factors. Content quality, user signals, and site-wide DA (Domain Authority) matter too.

Q: Does Page Authority change daily? A: No. Moz updates databases monthly or bimonthly. Daily link changes don’t reflect, and changes take weeks to appear.