How to Compare Sites with a DA and PA Checker

With over a decade of being in business doing SEO and digital marketing, one thing I have learned is simple: unless you are comparing your competitor's sites, you are losing. One of my best utility tools — and something that I suggest to clients and colleagues across the world — is the DA and PA checker.

For anyone looking into search engine optimization, knowledge of Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA) can potentially unlock improved link-building techniques, outshine your competition, and make your website more authoritative on Google's scorecard. In this article, I'm going to demonstrate exactly how I actually use a DA and PA checker for comparing and contrasting websites and how you can make it a part of your SEO playbook.

What is DA and PA, Anyway?

Let's begin at the beginning but with a useful spin. 

Domain Authority (DA)

- is a scoring system that Moz created to estimate the likelihood that a site will rank in search engine results. The score ranges from 1 to 100, with better ranking ability having higher scores.

Page Authority (PA)

-  is the same but for individual pages, not domains. You may have a high DA site, but there is one page that is significantly higher in PA because it has more content or links, or both.

Based on my own experience of launching SEO campaigns on e-commerce websites, tech blogs, and local businesses, these figures are a necessity not only to track your own progress but to track where your competitors are.

Why Website Comparison Using a DA and PA Checker is Important

If you're an SEO expert without employing the domain authority of competitors to compare, then you're blind in a minefield. The reason why comparison of sites with a DA and PA checker is vital is as follows

Link-Building Prospects measurement

I tend to begin by having a list of websites I intend to acquire links from. I check each one using a DA and PA checker before I reach out to them. If a website has a great DA and the page concerned is related and good PA, I can say that a link from them is worth its weight in gold.

Benchmarking Against Competitors

For yet another SaaS client, we used a DA and PA checker to discover that the average DA for the top 10 ranking competitors was 60+. My client's was 42. From that alone, we could have realistic expectations and scale our content and outreach efforts accordingly.

Finding Weaknesses You Can Attack

I've noticed over time that sites rank well even with bad DA/PA scores — it's mostly a sign that the keyword is a more realistic target to rank for. It's an indication to put everything into that target and overtake them with better content and better links.

Step-by-Step Guide to Site Comparison with a DA and PA Checker

Let's talk about application. This is the way I actually do this in actual SEO projects:

Step 1: Choose a Trustworthy DA and PA Checker Tool

There are multiple tools out there, but the one I have used time and again because it never changes is Moz's Link Explorer. For quick checks, you might want to utilize Small SEO Tools or Ahrefs' free tool. Whatever you choose, make sure that it gives you DA as well as PA values.

Step 2: Get a List of URLs

When auditing a niche or creating a backlink plan, I like to start in a spreadsheet. I will type:

My site

My competitors

High-authority blogs

Industry-related directories

Step 3: Check Each URL with the Checker

For each page and each domain, I gather:

DA

PA

Backlink count

Linking root domains

Spam score (optional but nice to have)

Step 4: Check Authority and Relevance

Genius authority is great  but relevance is non-negotiable. I've had clients buy backlinks from massive sites that didn't work because the content wasn't contextually relevant.

Comparing, I look for:

Is the DA of this site higher than mine?

Is the PA of the page/article solid?

Does the page link to competitors with anchor text specific to intent?

Is the content nearly word-for-word the same as mine in topic or purpose?

Step 5: Take Action

Based on what I find, I do either of the following:

Outreach: Reach out to high-DA sites that have referenced my competition.

Content improvement: If lower DA sites are outranking me, I know that my content or on-page optimization is subpar.

Guest posting: Identify high-DA blogs that accept guest posts in my category.

Real Example from My Experience

One of the most fulfilling uses of a DA and PA checker was for a local SEO campaign for an attorney firm. The attorney firm wished to rank for "personal injury lawyer in Houston."

We scanned the top 5 ranking pages and found the following:

DA: 35 to 72

PA (on their ranking pages): 25 to 60

Backlink profiles: Varied but very local

Our client's site possessed a DA rating of 29. We knew that we needed to develop the latter with local, relevant on-theme backlinks. We began approaching the local news websites, law directories, and legal bloggers through email. It took 4 months, and then the DA had risen to 41, while the PA of the ranking page stood at 32  sufficient to position them in the top 3 results.

None of this would’ve happened without a clear understanding of how their competitors stacked up through a DA and PA checker.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Focusing only on DA:

DA is helpful, but it’s not everything. I’ve seen high-DA sites with poor PA fail to rank because the specific page wasn’t optimized or linked properly.

Ignoring Spam Score:

Obtaining a backlink from a high-DA but high-spam-score site can damage more than benefit. Always verify this figure if possible.

Overestimating Authority:

A DA 90 website isn't necessarily superior to a DA 40 website; if that DA 40 website is more niche-specific, it may be superior.

Final Thoughts

Comparing websites using a DA and PA checker is one of the smartest and most efficient ways to guide your SEO strategy. Over the years, I’ve come to rely on this simple but powerful practice to inform link-building, content creation, and competitive research.No matter if you're an SEO rookie or an old pro, this approach can give you a picture that delivers concrete results. Just remember — figures don't give you the whole picture but they do give you a map. What you choose to do with that map is up to you.

If you are a beginner to all of this or you just want a quick test, you can always use a DA checker for free online to begin assessing your site and your competitors today.