Page Authority (PA) is a proprietary Moz metric (0-100 logarithmic scale) predicting how well a specific URL will rank in search engine results, based primarily on the quantity and quality of backlinks pointing to that URL, used as a relative competitive benchmark rather than an absolute ranking predictor.
Quick Answer
Page Authority (PA) is a proprietary Moz metric (0-100 logarithmic scale) predicting how well a specific URL will rank in search engine results, based primarily on the quantity and quality of backlinks pointing to that URL, used as a relative competitive benchmark rather than an absolute ranking predictor.
Page Authority is a relative competitive benchmark, not an absolute ranking predictor, use it to compare your page against SERP competitors, not as a goal in isolation.
PA is a link-based metric, content quality, user engagement, and topical relevance improvements don't directly move PA, though they influence the signals that earn links.
Ahrefs URL Rating (UR) is a comparable alternative metric with a typically larger, more frequently updated link index than Moz's PA calculation.
Key Takeaways
Page Authority is a relative competitive benchmark, not an absolute ranking predictor, use it to compare your page against SERP competitors, not as a goal in isolation.
PA is a link-based metric, content quality, user engagement, and topical relevance improvements don't directly move PA, though they influence the signals that earn links.
Ahrefs URL Rating (UR) is a comparable alternative metric with a typically larger, more frequently updated link index than Moz's PA calculation.
How Page Authority Works
Page Authority is Moz's proprietary score that attempts to predict the ranking potential of a specific page in search results. The metric uses a logarithmic scale from 0 to 100: doubling a site's PA from 20 to 40 requires far more effort than doubling from 5 to 10. PA is calculated from Moz's link graph data, primarily the number of linking root domains and the quality of those domains. Unlike Domain Authority (which measures the entire domain's authority), Page Authority is page-specific: the homepage typically has the highest PA on a domain because it accumulates the most inbound links, while interior pages usually have lower PA.
Why Page Authority Matters for B2B Marketing
Page Authority is most useful as a relative benchmark in competitive analysis rather than an absolute ranking predictor. When evaluating whether you can rank for a keyword, compare the PA of your target page against the PA scores of pages currently ranking in the top 10. A significant PA gap (your page PA 15 vs. average top-10 PA of 45) indicates you need substantial link building before competing effectively for that term. However, PA is imperfect: Google does not use Moz's proprietary link graph, so PA only approximates the actual authority signals Google uses. Pages occasionally rank above higher-PA competitors through superior content quality, topical relevance, or user engagement signals that PA doesn't measure.
Page Authority: Best Practices & Strategic Application
Page Authority can be influenced but not quickly manipulated. The fastest legitimate PA improvement strategies are: building high-quality backlinks to the specific target page (not just the domain), improving internal linking to pass more domain authority to the target page, and earning editorial citations from authoritative sources that link to the specific page. Common misconceptions: buying links produces temporary PA spikes followed by manual action risk; redirecting a high-PA deleted page to a new page transfers some but not all equity; updating content on a page doesn't change PA because PA is a link-based metric.
Agency Perspective: Page Authority in Practice
For B2B SEO practitioners, the more actionable Moz metrics alongside PA are: Spam Score (identifies low-quality linking domains that may trigger Google quality reviews), Domain Authority of linking domains (quality of the link profile), and the MozBar browser extension for quick competitive SERP analysis. Ahrefs's URL Rating (UR) is a directly comparable metric to Moz's PA, and many SEO professionals prefer it because Ahrefs typically has a larger and more frequently updated link index. As with all third-party SEO metrics, PA should inform decisions rather than dictate them, Google's algorithms incorporate hundreds of signals that no single third-party metric captures.
Frequently Asked Questions: Page Authority
Page Authority (PA) is a proprietary Moz metric (0-100 logarithmic scale) predicting how well a specific URL will rank in search engine results, based primarily on the quantity and quality of backlinks pointing to that URL, used as a relative competitive benchmark rather than an absolute ranking predictor.
Domain Authority (DA) measures the predicted ranking strength of an entire domain based on the total backlink profile pointing at the root domain. Page Authority (PA) measures the predicted ranking strength of a specific URL based on backlinks pointing to that specific page. A domain with DA 60 might have individual pages ranging from PA 15 to PA 65 depending on how many external links point to each specific page. Improving DA lifts all pages collectively; building links to a specific page improves that page's PA without changing DA.
Page Authority is only meaningful in competitive context. For low-competition keywords, PA 20-30 may be sufficient to rank. For competitive keywords, top-10 pages commonly have PA 40-60. For highly competitive commercial queries dominated by high-authority brands, PA 60-80+ is common in the top results. Rather than targeting a specific PA number, compare your page's PA against the average PA of current top-10 pages for your target keyword to assess the gap you need to close.
On-page SEO improvements (better content, faster page speed, improved user experience) do not directly increase Page Authority because PA is calculated from backlink data, not on-page factors. However, higher-quality content earns more backlinks over time, which does increase PA. The mechanism is indirect: better content → more links earned → higher PA. On-page optimization improves ranking potential through signals Google weighs that PA doesn't measure, treat PA and on-page optimization as complementary, not alternative, ranking strategies.
MV3 Marketing helps B2B companies apply these strategies to drive measurable pipeline growth. Our team executes our services for technology, SaaS, and professional services companies.
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