Website Authority Checker
Check the authority of any website on a 0–100 scale. Evaluate your own site, a competitor, or a potential link-building prospect — in seconds.
You will see:
- Authority Score from 0–100 for any website
- Total backlinks and referring domains
- Dofollow referring domain breakdown
- Signup unlocks: top pages by backlinks, top anchors, top organic keywords, 12-month trend and top competitors
How we calculate the Authority Score
Our Authority Score combines two weighted signals that fall into one honest category: the quantity and quality of referring domains linking to the site. We don’t pretend to measure Google’s own ranking formula — nobody outside Google does. We measure what’s observable: the link profile.
Link quality
The authority of the sites linking to this domain. 100 links from strong sites outweighs 10,000 from weak ones.
Link quantity
The total number of unique referring domains — not the raw backlink count. One site linking 50 times counts far less than 50 sites linking once.
Follow attribute
Dofollow links carry more weight than nofollow / sponsored / UGC. The deep view (signup-gated) shows the split.
How to use the Authority Score
Five practical ways SEO and content teams use website authority:
Vet outreach prospects before you pitch
Before you email a site about a guest post or link, check its authority to decide if it’s worth the effort. Saves hours spent on sites too weak to pass real link value, and sites so strong they’re unlikely to reply.
Screen incoming link offers before you accept
When someone pitches you a guest post, link exchange or paid placement, check the pitching site’s authority first. Pass on weak or spammy offers; accept offers that would strengthen your backlink profile.
Prioritize your link-building target list
If you have a list of 50 or 500 potential sites, rank them by website authority. Focus your first round of outreach on mid-to-high-scoring sites that match your niche.
Audit your existing backlink profile
Run your own domain through the tool, then check the Authority Scores of the sites currently linking to you. Low-authority or suspicious links are worth a closer look.
Track your own site’s progress over time
Check your own domain every few weeks to see if your SEO work is moving the score. A slowly rising number is a signal your backlink efforts are paying off; a flat or falling score means your current approach isn’t working.
How to improve website authority
Earn backlinks from more unique referring domains
Links from sites that have never linked to you before move the score more than multiple links from the same site. Focus on digital PR, original research, unlinked brand mentions, and broken-link outreach to earn new referring domains.
Publish content that ranks and attracts links
Write pages that target keywords your audience searches for AND that other sites will want to reference. Pages that rank well earn organic traffic and tend to attract backlinks over time, which improves the inputs to your Authority Score.
Keep the backlink profile clean
Avoid paid links, link exchanges, private blog networks, and any tactic that creates unnatural patterns. The Backlink Monitor module (paid) can help you spot and take action on links that look like they might be hurting your profile.
Frequently asked
Is the Website Authority Checker free to use?
Yes. One check per day is free with no signup required. A free Outerank account unlocks three checks per day plus the deep sections — top pages, top anchors, top organic keywords, 12-month trend and top competitors.
What exactly is the Authority Score?
A 0-to-100 estimate of a website's authority based on the quality and quantity of referring domains linking to it. Higher scores generally mean a site is more trusted and influential, but a lower score is not automatically bad — a score of 30 can be strong in a small niche and weak in a competitive one.
How is this different from Domain Authority or Domain Rating?
Domain Authority is Moz's authority metric. Domain Rating is Ahrefs' authority metric. We don't use either — our score is calculated from our own live authority index, which pulls from a different backlink dataset. All three are 0-100 but the numbers aren't directly comparable because each uses its own formula and index coverage.
How often is the Authority Score updated?
The underlying backlink index updates continuously. When you run the checker, the score reflects the latest data in the index at that moment. Signed-in accounts can run checks on a schedule via the Backlink Monitor module to track the score over time.
Why is my site's score lower than I expected?
The most common reasons: few unique referring domains (one site linking 50 times counts far less than 50 different sites linking once), a very new site that hasn't had time to earn links, or links concentrated on nofollow / sponsored attributes. The deep sections (unlocked with a free account) show the breakdown so you can see exactly where the score comes from.
Can I check competitor domains?
Yes. Enter any domain — your own, a competitor's, or a potential link-building target. The Competitor Backlink Checker at /platform/competitor-backlink-checker is the next step for a side-by-side comparison.
Does this guarantee Google ranking?
No. Authority Score is an estimate of a site's link profile strength, not a prediction of Google ranking. Ranking depends on dozens of signals including content, intent match, user signals and freshness. A high authority score is one input to a healthy SEO strategy — not the whole story.
What's the paid upgrade?
Backlink Monitor on the Starter plan ($39/mo) adds continuous authority tracking, link-change alerts and the full backlink profile. Pro ($89/mo) adds 5,000-link monitoring, scheduled reports and AI narrative.
Website authority is just the start.
The free check gives you a score. Backlink Monitor shows you every link behind it, who’s linking to your competitors, and which of those links you could pitch for next — plus continuous tracking and alerts.
See the Backlink Monitor plan