The metric is formulated from a number of different components – the most prolific of these is backlinks, however others include content quality, loading times, web traffic and domain age. Backlinks are the number and quality of links that point towards your site from other sources.

Although you can’t directly change the Domain Authority of your website, certain actions can help to improve it. And considering that the overwhelming majority of websites have a score of 0, you stand to gain exponentially if you can make your domain stand out from the crowd.

First and foremost, optimising your backlinks is a vital step to boost your domain authority. What many website operators or business owners don’t realise is that you specifically need to have backlinks from high quality sources. Sources who themselves have a high domain authority. On the contrary, if you end up with links from poor quality sources, that is only going to weigh your website’s score down.

What some people choose to do is engage in collaborative partnerships with other websites, offering blog postings or related services to their viewers in exchange for a backlink that will also likely help generate additional traffic flow.

Alternatively, some elect to employ a content marketing strategy. There is no substitute for writing ‘quality’ content. After all, as more people visit the site to view it, or experience engagements with it (like it, share it), you will naturally start to contribute towards boosting your domain authority. Alternatively, some will design a secondary website with high value content for the purpose of linking it to their other one – in effect, one ‘piggybacks’ off the other.

Optimising internal links will also play a role in improving your domain authority. This is because of the SEO implications. Make sure you are engaging in correct SEO practices. Be sure to mix up the anchor texts which are used as the basis of your links. Optimise tags and coding. Utilise the right keywords. Respect word counts. Don’t go overboard with the internal links and neglect external backlinks.

Regardless of how you link to your content, it helps to utilise social media to maximise your reach. Promoting your quality content through social media channels will help drive web traffic, while the more engagement you can encourage, the better your prospects of improving your score.

Lastly, ensure the site is efficient for the end user. Keep loading times as short as possible, which may mean cutting back on the unnecessary visuals and ads. Ensure that mobile users are not neglected from consideration either. If you do neglect the mobile design of your site, you may find users’ frustration is reflected in bouncing traffic, which will inhibit your domain authority.

That’s it for this occasion, stay tuned for our next educational article. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Best wishes,
The Netfleet Team

http://www.netfleet.com.au

How then, can individuals establish if they are eligible to use a particular name? Well, this has been established by the .au Domain Administration (auDA), the “policy authority and industry self-regulatory body for the .au domain space”. To avoid the potential prospects of having your purchase revoked, you should pay particular attention to auDA’s guidelines, which we’ll now detail below.

  .com.au and .net.au

As the demand for Australian domain names continues to grow, the eligibility for popular TLDs such as .com.au and .net.au are the most accessible – both providing coverage for commercial activity. For either TLD, registrants are required to be any of the following:

– an Australian registered company; or

– trading under a registered business name in any Australian State or Territory; or

– an Australian partnership or sole trader; or

– a foreign company licensed to trade in Australia; or

– an owner of an Australian Registered Trade Mark; or

– an applicant for an Australian Registered Trade Mark; or

– an association incorporated in any Australian State or Territory; or

– an Australian commercial statutory body.

Furthermore, the domain should correlate with the owner’s name or trademark, or alternatively, be connected “closely and substantially” to them. There is however, an exception for the purpose of “domain monetisation”, which allows domainers to purchase sites where the page’s content reflects its name, providing it doesn’t take advantage of a name for an existing business, brand or person.

  Other Domains

When it comes to other Australian TLDs, usage is generally restricted to certain groups and for particular purposes. Immediately recognisable, .gov.au domains are limited to government bodies. Meanwhile, the .org.au and .asn.au domains are reserved for non-commercial purposes, and are open to: political parties, associations, unions, clubs, charities, non-profit organizations and so forth – provided again, that they align, or are closely connected, with the registrant.

Similarly, .id.au domains prohibit commercial activity, but are instead eligible among Australian citizens or residents (individuals only). In this instance, the domain must be aligned with the owner’s personal name, or closely connected to them. This ‘connection’ includes reference to any personal interest or hobby of theirs, provided it does not incorporate the existing name of a business, brand or individual. For further details on these TLDs, refer to the .au Domain Authority’s full guidelines.

That’s it for this occasion, stay tuned for our next article, where we’ll cover the restrictions on second level domain names (2LDs).

Best wishes,
The Netfleet Team

http://www.netfleet.com.au