What is Page Authority? SEO Guide for Beginners
Learn what page authority is, how it differs from domain authority, and how to increase the authority of individual pages on your site.
Page Authority (PA) is a metric developed by Moz that predicts how well a specific page will rank in search engine results. It is scored on a scale from 1 to 100, with higher numbers indicating a stronger likelihood of ranking. Unlike Domain Authority, which measures the strength of an entire website, Page Authority focuses on the ranking potential of a single URL.
Why Page Authority Matters for SEO
Page Authority helps you understand which individual pages on your site (or a competitor's site) are the strongest. This is valuable because Google ranks pages, not websites. You might have a DA of 40, but if a specific page has a PA of 55 because it has earned strong backlinks, that page can outperform pages from higher-DA sites.
When evaluating link building opportunities, PA tells you whether a specific page would be a good source for a backlink. Getting a link from a page with PA 60 is far more valuable than a link from a page with PA 10, even if both are on the same domain. The equity passed depends on the linking page's strength, not just the domain's overall score.
PA is also useful for competitive analysis. When you search for your target keyword and see the PA scores of the ranking pages, you get a realistic picture of what you are competing against. If the top 10 results all have PA above 50 and your page sits at 15, you know you need to build more links to that specific page.
Understanding PA helps you prioritize your internal linking strategy. Pages with high PA can pass significant equity through internal links to weaker pages. Knowing which pages are strongest lets you strategically distribute authority across your site.
How Page Authority Works
Moz calculates PA using a machine learning model that evaluates link data, including the number and quality of links pointing to that specific URL. It considers factors like the linking domains' authority, the relevance of those links, and the overall link profile diversity.
Like Domain Authority, PA uses a logarithmic scale. Moving from PA 20 to 30 is much easier than moving from 50 to 60. The difficulty increases exponentially as you climb, because you are being compared against every other page Moz has indexed.
PA fluctuates as Moz's web index updates. If a high-authority site removes a link to your page, your PA may drop even though nothing on your end changed. Similarly, if a linking page's own authority increases, your PA may rise.
Ahrefs has a comparable metric called URL Rating (UR), and Semrush uses Page Authority Score. These metrics measure the same concept but use different data sources and algorithms. Do not compare PA scores across different tools, as a PA of 40 in Moz is not equivalent to a UR of 40 in Ahrefs.
The relationship between PA and DA matters. A high-DA site with a new page will start with a moderate PA because some domain-level authority trickles down. A low-DA site needs exceptional links to build high PA on individual pages.
How to Improve Page Authority
Build quality backlinks directly to the target page - PA is primarily driven by the links pointing to that specific URL, not your homepage or domain in general. When doing outreach, link building, or guest posting, make sure the links point to the exact page you want to strengthen. Ahrefs and Moz Link Explorer let you see which pages have the most link equity.
Earn links from high-authority pages - A single link from a page with PA 70 can move the needle more than 20 links from PA 10 pages. Focus your outreach on getting featured in established resource pages, industry roundups, and authoritative guides. Quality always beats quantity for PA growth.
Create link-worthy content on the page itself - Pages that contain original research, unique data, free tools, comprehensive guides, or visual assets naturally attract backlinks over time. If your page offers something no one else has, people will link to it without you asking. Invest in making the page genuinely valuable.
Strengthen the page through internal linking - Link to your target page from your highest-authority pages. If your homepage has PA 50 and links to a blog post, some of that authority flows to the blog post. Audit your internal links to make sure your best content links to pages you want to boost.
Promote the page actively across channels - Share the page on social media, in newsletters, in forums, and in communities where it adds value. While social shares do not directly impact PA, they increase visibility, which increases the chance of someone linking to it. More eyeballs on your content means more organic link opportunities.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Confusing Page Authority with Domain Authority: PA measures a single URL. DA measures the whole domain. A high DA does not mean every page on the site has high PA. Focus on building authority at the page level for your most important content.
Chasing PA as an end goal instead of rankings: PA is a predictive metric, not a ranking factor. Google does not use Moz's PA score. It is useful for benchmarking and competitor analysis, but your actual goal is higher rankings and more organic traffic. Do not optimize for the metric itself.
Neglecting pages after initial publication: PA grows over time as a page earns more links. But if you never promote or update a page after publishing, it stagnates. The best-ranking pages are the ones that receive ongoing attention, both in content updates and link building efforts.
Key Takeaways
- Page Authority predicts how well a specific URL will rank, based primarily on the quality and quantity of backlinks to that page
- PA is different from Domain Authority and is often more relevant for competitive keyword analysis
- Build backlinks directly to the pages you want to rank, not just to your homepage or domain
- Use PA as a benchmarking tool to prioritize link building efforts and identify competitive gaps
Related Articles
What are Backlinks? SEO Guide for Beginners
Learn what backlinks mean in SEO, why they matter, and how to use them to improve your search rankings.
What are Canonical Tags? SEO Guide for Beginners
Learn what canonical tags mean in SEO, why they matter, and how to use them to improve your search rankings.
What are Core Web Vitals? SEO Guide for Beginners
Learn what Core Web Vitals mean in SEO, why they matter, and how to use them to improve your search rankings.