Is It Still Relevant?
Yes, page authority remains highly relevant in today’s SEO and digital marketing landscape. While it’s important to understand that Google’s algorithm does not use Page Authority (PA) directly—since PA is a proprietary metric developed by Moz—it is still widely used as a reliable indicator of a page’s potential to rank in search engine results pages (SERPs).
In recent years, search engine algorithms have continuously evolved to prioritize user experience, content quality, and authority. Google’s continued updates like the Helpful Content Update (2022, with refinements in 2023) and the emphasis on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) have increased the value of authoritative pages. A high PA generally correlates with strong E-E-A-T signals, making it a valuable metric for digital marketers looking to assess and compare individual page performance.
Additionally, with the growing use of AI-generated content and the increasing competitiveness for top SERP spots, metrics like Page Authority provide a simplified yet insightful way for marketers to prioritize content improvements, link-building efforts, and strategies for high-value pages.
Real-world Context
Page Authority is a practical metric for many SEO strategies, such as content auditing, link-building campaigns, and competitive analysis. Here are a few real-world applications:
1. Prioritizing Content Updates: A digital marketing team for an eCommerce site uses a content audit to identify which pages have low organic traffic but high conversion potential. By checking PA, they identify underperforming product pages with moderate authority. These pages become top priorities for content updates, adding detailed descriptions, user reviews, and FAQs to boost value and rankings.
2. Outbound Link Targeting: A PR agency launching a link-building campaign analyzes blogger and news websites to find suitable partners for guest posts. They use the PA metric to assess the strength of specific blog articles (not just domains), ensuring they secure links from pages that will positively impact their client’s SEO profile.
3. Competitor Analysis: An SEO consultant audits the top 10 results for a client’s primary keyword. In addition to examining Domain Authority, they analyze each ranking page’s PA to understand the backlink strength and onsite optimization that makes each page rank. This helps build a roadmap for dethroning the competition with better-optimized content and stronger backlinks.
Background
The concept of Page Authority was developed by Moz, a leading SEO software company, in the early 2010s. It was created as a way to predict how well a specific page is likely to rank in search results based on a variety of on-page and off-page SEO factors. Page Authority was intended to complement Domain Authority (DA), which assesses the overall strength of an entire domain. While DA gives an overview of a website’s authority, PA zooms in on individual pages.
In its early days, Moz developed PA using a machine-learning model that considered numerous variables, including Moz’s link metrics (like MozRank, MozTrust) and the number and quality of inbound links. Over time, the algorithm has evolved. Notably, in 2020, Moz introduced Page Authority 2.0, which leaned more heavily on a new set of link-based features and improved correlation with actual Google SERP rankings. This update better reflected how real-world search engines value individual pages based on link equity and other factors.
Though it is not used by Google itself, PA became a de facto industry standard for SEOs and marketers seeking a quantifiable way to compare the strength of specific pages across domains.
What to Focus on Today
Today, improving Page Authority should be part of a broader SEO and content marketing strategy. Here’s how to optimize for better PA in the current digital landscape:
1. Create Rich, Relevant Content: Focus on producing in-depth content that targets user intent. Content should be structured properly using headers, keyword optimization, and schema markup to enhance readability and search engine understanding.
2. Build High-Quality Backlinks: Link-building is still crucial. Prioritize backlinks from authoritative, contextually relevant pages. This can be achieved through tactics like digital PR, guest contributions, original research, and broken link building.
3. Internal Linking Strategy: Pass authority within your site by linking from high-PA pages to those with lower authority. Use descriptive anchor text to support contextual relevance.
4. Use SEO Tools and Metrics: Tools like Moz, Ahrefs (UR metric), and SEMrush (Authority Score) can provide complementary insights. Compare these tools to get a more holistic view of page strength and link profiles.
5. Mobile Usability and Core Web Vitals: Ensure your page loads quickly, is mobile-responsive, and meets Google’s UX standards. These technical optimizations improve user experience and indirectly support authority and ranking potential.
6. Utilize Updated Metrics: With updates like Moz’s Page Authority 2.0, be sure to use the most recent version of the metric to glean the most accurate predictions.
In summary, while Page Authority is not a Google ranking factor, it remains a valuable compass for digital marketers. It helps prioritize SEO tasks, benchmark content performance, and guide link-building decisions in a data-driven way. By understanding and strategically improving PA, marketers can influence how well their pages perform in organic search and ultimately drive more qualified traffic to their websites.