Google Warns Against Relying on DA for Long-Term SEO Success

In a Reddit post, a user raised concerns about a dramatic drop in their website’s Domain Authority (DA) following a surge in spammy backlinks and spam comments. Google Search Advocate John Mueller responded, offering insight into the relationship between third-party metrics like DA and SEO best practices. This interaction provides valuable lessons for website owners who might be tempted to rely heavily on SEO tool metrics instead of focusing on long-term strategies.

Key Takeaways:

Domain Authority (DA) is a third-party metric not used by Google.
Disavowing spammy links won’t affect your DA, but might still be useful for SEO purposes.
True long-term SEO success comes from building unique, valuable content.
Chasing after metrics like DA often results in short-term gains with little long-term value.

Understanding the Concerns

A Reddit user posted about his website’s DA dropping more than 50% after attracting a large number of spammy backlinks. His questions reflected common SEO worries:

Can spammy backlinks cause a DA drop?
Is having 150 spammy backlinks compared to 70 good links a serious issue?
Should he disavow these spammy links?
Is there a link between the surge in spammy comments and backlinks?

He pointed out that his DA, as measured by Moz, had plummeted. While he still had authoritative links, the majority of new links to his site were spammy, which led him to suspect this was the cause of the decline. He also noted an alarming rise in spam comments, though they were auto-deleted.

Mueller’s Initial Response: Disavow Won’t Affect DA

John Mueller’s first response was clear about the role of the disavow file:

"Just to be absolutely clear: no disallow file will affect your DA (or any SEO-tool metrics) at all, because Moz (etc) does not have access to your disavow file."

DA, as Mueller explained, is not a Google metric, and disavowing spammy links won’t influence it since tools like Moz do not have access to the disavow file. In other words, focusing on DA won’t necessarily help improve your site's performance in Google’s search results.

Disavowing Links and Its Role in SEO

The OP(Original Poster) later reflected that while DA is a third-party metric, it does indicate elements that Google might value, such as a website’s backlink profile. He argued that DA reflects the quality signals Google is likely looking at, even if Google doesn't directly use it.

Mueller’s response to this was subtle but important. He reiterated that Moz's DA is calculated based on their own methodology, and emphasized that optimizing for third-party metrics like DA can be misleading:

"Many SEO tools have their own metrics that are tempting to optimize for (because you see a number), but ultimately, there's no shortcut. This is (I think) partially what makes SEO so interesting, it feels like there's a quick trick just around the corner, but when you get there, it's different than expected."

Mueller pointed out that these metrics can lead SEO professionals off course, especially when focusing on short-term boosts.

Long-Term SEO: Building Real Value

Mueller encouraged the OP to focus on long-term goals instead of chasing quick fixes like optimizing for DA or trying to game third-party SEO tools. His advice was centered on creating something unique and valuable for the web:

"If you want to think about the long term, finding ways to add real value that's unique and wanted by people on the web (together with all the usual SEO best practices as a foundation) is a good target."

He continued:

"Unique doesn't mean a unique combination of words, but really something that nobody else is providing, and ideally, that others can't easily provide themselves."

Mueller's point is clear: rather than worrying about DA fluctuations or spammy links, website owners should invest in creating content that delivers genuine value to users. This kind of unique, high-quality content is what will truly drive long-term success in search rankings.

Conclusion: Focus on Real, Long-Term SEO

John Mueller’s responses in this Reddit thread highlight a crucial point for website owners: don’t obsess over third-party metrics like DA. While tools like Moz can provide helpful insights, they do not dictate Google’s ranking algorithms. Instead, SEO success comes from building unique, valuable content that cannot easily be replicated by competitors.

The key is to invest in long-term strategies that deliver real value to your audience. Spammy links, DA fluctuations, and SEO tools should be secondary to the main goal: creating a site that truly stands out in terms of quality and user experience. As Mueller notes, there are no shortcuts in SEO—just a lot of hard work and consistent effort toward building a better web presence.

References:

DA dropped 50% after huge spam backlink surge.

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