Everything you need to know about Domain Rating
Learn what Domain Rating is and how to improve it with as little effort as possible.
1. What is Domain Rating (DR)?
Domain Rating (DR) is a 0–100 score (from tools like Ahrefs) that shows how strong and trustworthy your website's backlink profile is.
A higher DR means:
- stronger backlinks
- more authority
- a higher chance to rank in Google
DR is not an official Google metric, but it's one of the quickest ways to understand how powerful your domain looks to search engines.
2. How Domain Rating Works
Domain Rating is a trust score built from your backlinks.
Here's how it works in simple English:
Strong links matter more:
A link from a high-DR site gives you far more value than many links from weak sites.
Quality > quantity:
One DR 80 link can be stronger than ten DR 10 links.
Only follow links affect DR:
Nofollow links don't increase your score (but they're still useful for traffic and visibility).
One domain counts once:
Multiple links from the same website don't multiply your DR.
Authority flows through the web:
If strong sites link to sites that link to you, you gain indirect strength.
DR is logarithmic:
Going from DR 10 → 20 is easy.
Going from DR 60 → 70 is much harder.
There can only be one domain with DR 100 (currently Facebook). Everything else is rated relative to it.
DR measures the whole domain:
Any page can earn a link — the entire domain benefits.
3. Why Domain Rating matters
Domain Rating matters because it shows how much trust your website has built online.
A higher DR usually means:
- better rankings: Google trusts strong domains more.
- faster indexing: new pages get discovered quicker.
- easier ranking for new content: strong sites need fewer backlinks.
- more organic traffic: more authority means more visibility.
- better partnerships: people trust and link to high-DR sites.
A strong DR makes it easier for your entire website to grow over time.
4. How to check your Domain Rating
Checking your Domain Rating is simple.
You only need a tool that measures backlink authority.
Ahrefs
Enter your domain into Ahrefs Site Explorer and your DR appears instantly. Ahrefs is the industry standard for Domain Rating, and most websites rely on their score.
You can check your DR here: ahrefs.com/website-authority-checker
And see your backlinks here: ahrefs.com/backlink-checker
YourWebsiteScore
You can also check your DR on YourWebsiteScore.
Run a quick analysis and you'll see your Domain Rating together with a full site audit.
You can enable Monitoring so your DR and site health are checked daily and you can track changes over time.
Check your DR here: yourwebsitescore.com/analysis
Enable monitoring here: yourwebsitescore.com/advanced
Other SEO tools
Tools like Semrush and Moz use different names (Authority Score, Domain Authority), but they all measure the same idea: how strong your backlink profile is.
5. How to Grow Your Domain Rating (Content, Links, Tech)
Your DR grows when strong, trusted websites link to you.
Here are the simplest and most effective ways to make that happen:
Create content people love to link to
Backlinks come naturally when your content is genuinely useful.
The best formats are simple and high-value:
- helpful guides
- templates
- small tools
- comparisons
- research or data
If your content solves real problems, people will reference it.
A great shortcut is to create something people want to embed or reference. For example, badges, widgets or small tools that others place on their site often bring steady backlinks without extra effort.
Earn high-quality backlinks
This is the strongest driver of DR growth.
You can get powerful backlinks from:
- guest posts
- collaborations
- interviews and features
- strong directories
- tools others recommend
One high-quality backlink can outweigh twenty weak ones.
Keep your website clean and trustworthy
Search engines trust websites that feel safe and work smoothly.
Make sure your site stays:
- fast
- secure (HTTPS)
- free of broken pages
- easy to navigate with clear internal links
A clean website makes it much easier for search engines to understand and trust your domain.
Exactly for this, YourWebsiteScore was built:
it runs a full analysis, checks all important issues, and shows exactly what to fix.
With the new custom LLM prompts for your site, you can fix most problems in just a few clicks.
6. Low-effort ways to boost your Domain Rating
If you want fast DR gains without outreach or long content, the easiest method is submitting your website to high-authority directories and listing sites.
These platforms already have strong DR, and many give you a backlink just for submitting.
To make it easier, I created a small list of the places I personally submitted my website to.
You can check it here: yourwebsitescore.com/my-submissions
Use directories sorted by DR
Look for curated lists that show the Domain Rating of each directory.
Submit to the strongest ones first. A DR 80 link can be worth more than several DR 20 links.
Tools like these give you a curated list of directories:
- LaunchDirectories (launchdirectories.com)
- SubmitSaaS (submitsaas.com)
You can filter them by DR and then submit your site to each one yourself. That's how I did it too.
Prepare one simple submission pack
Most directories ask for the same details.
Create them once and submission becomes pure copy-paste:
- title
- one-line tagline
- short description
- long description (optional)
- URL
- logo (512×512)
- screenshot or hero image
- category
- social links (optional)
With this ready, you can submit to dozens of directories in minutes.
Submit even if the link is nofollow
Not every directory offers dofollow links. That is completely fine.
Quality nofollow links still help because:
- they strengthen your overall link profile
- a natural mix of follow and nofollow looks healthier
- Google can use nofollow links for discovery
- many directories send real traffic
- some nofollow links later become follow links
Fast results with very little work
Submitting your site to 20 to 40 strong directories usually gives you:
- new backlinks
- a more diverse link profile
- faster DR growth
- extra referral traffic
This is one of the best low-effort methods to grow your Domain Rating, especially for new websites.
7. Keep the progress going
Growing DR takes time, but the process is simple.
These small habits keep your momentum strong:
Publish helpful content
A few useful guides, tools or resources each month give people real reasons to link to you.
Earn quality backlinks
Guest posts, collaborations, features and interviews all help. Even one strong backlink every few weeks can make a noticeable difference.
Keep your site healthy
Make sure your site stays fast, secure, mobile-friendly and free of broken pages. Search engines trust clean websites more.
Track your progress
Watch your DR and referring domains. Focus on the actions that consistently move your numbers up.
Small steps add up.
Stay consistent and your DR will continue to grow.
8. No time? Use a submission service
If you don't want to submit your website to many directories yourself, there are services that can do it for you. You give them your details once, and they handle everything for you.
Normally, a good submission service can bring a new website from DR 0 to around DR 20–30. That's realistic and comes from safe, high-quality directories.
Be careful with cheap "guaranteed DR 70" offers (for example on Fiverr). They often use spam networks, and Google can detect unnatural link patterns. This may boost your DR for a short moment, but it can hurt your real rankings.
If you ever feel unsure which option is safe and offers good value for money, feel free to message me on X - I'm happy to help if I can :)
See your DR scoreand track it over time
Run a free analysis to see your Domain Rating and get actionable steps to improve your authority.