Domain Authority 2.0 is the latest update that was made by google in 2020, and google also stated how you can pass the domain authority 2.0 test. But first, let's understand, What is Domain Authority?
Domain authority is a search engine ranking which predicts how well your website is authenticated and trustworthy. Domain Authority Score ranges from 1 to 100, the more the score you get, the more chances to get listed on google search engine results.
Domain authority is calculated mainly from two factors which are
1: Number of good and verified links and 2: Linking of the root domains.
Good Domain Authority:
In today's time, there are plenty of websites that are on google and many of the websites which are made decades back have a good quality of back links which are from google and Wikipedia and different other top websites. On the other side startups who have small websites have few inbound links which will have much lower DA score.
It's true that every website needs DA Score but you don't need to have a high domain authority score, But you should have more DA Score than your competitors who are falling under the same category. Your competitors should be under the same category, caliber, targeting the audience with keywords and topics.
Just think of the quality back links which have high domain authority you have more chances to improve. Your ranking and your DA Score should be compared to your true competitors.
I have seen many startups who are confused between domain authority and page authority. Domain Authority measures the ranking strength of the entire domain and sub-domains but page authority refers to the strength of the website pages.
How you can improve your Domain Authority Score:
# Identify Your Competitors
In case you don’t know your competitors you can check your keywords on Google AdWords keyword planner and retype those keywords on google.com. where you can check which companies are coming on top organically with that particular keyword.
Once you have figure out you can check your competitor's website for their content and DA Score.
# Analyse your Links
More followed links you have in your back link profile the better you get the chances.
# Create Great Content
The creation of great content is one of the most important factors of the website because it's true "CONTENT IS KING". Which you can create content by checking your top pages of your competitors.
# Status of Top Pages:
You can improve your DA score by checking your top pages weather they are active and accessible.
# Promote your pages
But in today's time Domain Authority is not about links it's about how many verified links you have on your website, moreover google evaluates your website based on your Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness which is also called EAT.
EAT has been under google guidelines for many years but now they are emphasizing more on this factor and making them the key ranking signal.
According to the report which was given by google on “How Search Works” states that they want to rank reliable sources.
As we have already discussed earlier and we all know content is king therefore when you hire anyone for the content, hire a professional because you need expert content for your website, not cut copy paste or in other words you can say paraphrasing. Which is why Google wants to feature content that is written by legit experts in the particular field. For Eg. If you are writing any legal article you should ask any law student or legal expert depend on the topic.
As per the Google guidelines, high E.A.T legal advice should be written or produced by people or organizations with appropriate legal expertise.
So if you want your content to rank in 2020 it needs to be written by people that know their stuff.
Be Transparent
Google also focuses on off-site signals to figure out sites Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. When it comes to Off-Site Signals it refers to
• Whether your website is hacked or not
• Unnatural Links
• Penguin Penalty (Filtering out bad links)
• Links from unrelated websites.
• Low-Quality Links
• Same links from the Same IP Address.
• Manual Links.
• Selling Links.
ETC.
Google will focus on
• About us Page
• Easy to find the contact page
• Reference and External links to sources.
• Privacy Policy and Terms of Service
• Author Bylines in every article (Who wrote the article)
When you are working on content and you are hiring a freelancer, any random person can claim to be an expert. But if any other website agrees with your content it becomes a different story. But if another website disagrees about your content or what your business claims which you have made are off no use.
TRUST THE EXTERNAL SOURCES
Its 2020 and you have plenty of systems like a podcast, audio files, videos through which Google can see you as an expert on a given topic.
It's true a single business might have multiple websites but a single website should show the single category of business. Let take an example of Tata Group.
They have multiple products they deal with in transportation, telecommunication, servers, pipes, and many more, but for all, they have different websites. They have not stacked all the categories under the same website.
So, Its very essential to have a professional writer and Category Website.