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. Moz scores it on a logarithmic scale from 1 to 100, with higher numbers corresponding to a greater ability to rank. Unlike Domain Authority, which measures the predictive ranking strength of an entire domain or subdomain, Page Authority focuses on the ranking potential of a single URL. Moz calculates both with the same methodology, so the two metrics are directly comparable in how they are built.

One thing to be clear about up front. Moz states plainly that "PA is not an acknowledged Google search engine ranking factor." It is a third-party prediction invented by Moz, not a score Google created or uses. Treat PA as a benchmarking and comparison tool, never as a dial that Google reads.

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 trained to identify the algorithm that best correlates with rankings across many actual search results. According to Moz, the score incorporates dozens of factors, including linking URLs, linking root domains, linking subdomains, MozRank, MozTrust, followed versus nofollowed links, anchor text distribution, branded mentions, and Spam Score. The dominant inputs are the quantity and quality of links pointing to that specific URL, and Moz weights the diversity of linking root domains heavily.

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 page-level metric called URL Rating (UR), measured on a logarithmic scale from 0 to 100, that represents the strength of a page's backlink profile (UR counts both internal and external links, but only dofollow links pass it). Semrush rolls page-level and domain-level strength into a single Authority Score that also runs from 0 to 100 and blends backlink signals, estimated organic traffic, and spam factors. These metrics measure a similar concept but use different indexes and algorithms, so do not compare scores across tools. A PA of 40 in Moz is not equivalent to a UR of 40 in Ahrefs or an Authority Score of 40 in Semrush.

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

In Practice

Say you want to win the keyword "best project management software" and your target page sits at PA 22. You open Moz Link Explorer (or Ahrefs, reading UR instead) and inspect the page-one results. A realistic snapshot looks like this.

Before, your competitive position is weak.

Position  Ranking URL                                  PA
1         competitor-a.com/best-pm-software            71
2         competitor-b.com/project-management-tools     64
3         competitor-c.com/pm-software-roundup          58
...
9         yourdomain.com/best-pm-software               22

The gap tells you the work is page-level link building, not generic domain effort. So you point real links at that exact URL. You earn a link from an industry roundup page that itself sits at PA 68, you add a contextual internal link from your highest-authority guide, and you publish an original benchmark dataset on the page that other writers cite. Three months later the index recalculates.

Position  Ranking URL                                  PA
...
4         yourdomain.com/best-pm-software               49

Two details make this realistic. First, the climb from 22 to 49 is plausible in a few months because the logarithmic scale makes the lower and middle range move faster, whereas pushing from PA 70 to 80 can take far longer for the same link effort. Second, the links had to target the specific URL. A pile of new links to your homepage would have lifted Domain Authority while leaving this page near where it started.

What is Domain Authority? - the domain-level companion metric, calculated by Moz with the same methodology as PA.
What are Backlinks? - the primary signal that moves Page Authority up or down.
What is Link Equity? - the value a link passes, the underlying currency that PA tries to measure at the page level.
What is Anchor Text? - one of the factors Moz names in its PA model, since anchor text distribution shapes how link equity is interpreted.
What is Link Building? - the practice of earning the links that raise a page's authority over time.

Sources

Moz, "Page Authority" (checked 2026-05-30) - official definition, the 1 to 100 logarithmic scale, the machine learning model and named factors, and the statement that PA is not a Google ranking factor.
Moz, "Domain Authority" (checked 2026-05-30) - the domain-level metric and confirmation that DA and PA share a methodology.
Ahrefs, "What is URL Rating (UR)?" (checked 2026-05-30) - the comparable page-level metric, its 0 to 100 logarithmic scale, and dofollow-only link treatment.
Ahrefs Help Center, "What is URL Rating (UR)?" (checked 2026-05-30) - page-level versus domain-level distinction.
Semrush, "Page Authority" (checked 2026-05-30) - the 0 to 100 scale and logarithmic scoring of Semrush's Authority Score.
Semrush Knowledge Base, "What is Authority Score?" (checked 2026-05-30) - the three components of Authority Score (backlink signals, organic traffic, spam factors).