What Is a Good Domain Rating? (And How to Raise Yours)

What is a good Domain Rating? DR is Ahrefs' 0–100 backlink score. Here's what counts as good for your niche and how to raise yours.

What makes a good domain rating? It depends on your niche — there's no universal number. Domain Rating (DR) is Ahrefs' 0–100 score estimating how strong a website's backlink profile is. For most new sites, 30+ is solid, 50+ is strong, and 70+ is authority-level. What actually matters is out-ranking your direct competitors, not hitting a fixed target.

Below is what Domain Rating means, what counts as "good," whether it affects your Google rankings, and exactly how to raise yours.

What is Domain Rating (DR)?

Domain Rating is a metric created by Ahrefs that scores a website from 0 to 100 based on the strength of its backlink profile — specifically the number and quality of other websites linking to it (its referring domains).

Two things are important to understand:

• It's logarithmic. Moving from DR 20 to 30 is far easier than moving from 70 to 80. Early growth is quick; high scores are hard-won.
• It's relative. A DR of 40 might be excellent in a small niche and mediocre in a competitive one. DR only means something compared to the sites you're actually competing against.

A link only helps your DR if it's dofollow — a nofollow link (like those from Product Hunt) passes no authority. That distinction is why makers who care about DR pay attention to which platforms give dofollow links.

What counts as a good Domain Rating?

There's no official cutoff, but here's a rough, general guide to how DR bands tend to read:

For a startup or indie project, landing in the 30–50 range within your first year is a genuinely good outcome. Chasing 80 is the wrong goal — those are decades-old global brands. Beating the DR of the sites currently ranking for your keywords is the goal that matters.

Does Domain Rating affect Google rankings?

Honestly: not directly. DR is a third-party Ahrefs metric — Google doesn't use it and has never confirmed it as a ranking factor. So a higher DR doesn't automatically move you up the results.

But it's a useful proxy. DR measures your backlink strength, and backlinks are one of Google's core ranking signals. So when your DR climbs, it usually means the underlying thing Google cares about — a stronger, more trusted link profile — is improving too. Track DR as a health signal, not as the scoreboard.

How to improve your Domain Rating

Every method comes down to one thing: earn more dofollow links from more real, relevant websites. In rough order of effort:

• Get listed in dofollow directories. Startup and product directories that pass link equity are among the fastest ways to add referring domains. Each quality listing is a new dofollow link.
• Publish linkable content. Original data, guides, and tools that other people want to reference earn links naturally over time — the most durable way to grow DR.
• Guest post and do digital PR. A byline or a mention on an established industry site adds a high-value referring domain.
• Reclaim unlinked mentions. If sites mention your product without linking, ask them to add the link.

One caution: avoid spammy link schemes and paid link farms. Buying hundreds of low-quality links can raise a DR number briefly but risks a Google penalty that undoes far more than it gained. Slow, real links win.

How Launchit fits in

This is the part we can speak to directly. Launchit is a startup launch directory that gives every launch a dofollow backlink — the kind that actually contributes to your Domain Rating, unlike nofollow platforms. It's also the only launch platform that shows each listed product's live Ahrefs Domain Rating right on its page, so you can see the metric in context.

To be clear and honest: one directory link won't transform your DR on its own — DR grows from many quality links over time. But a free, dofollow listing is a legitimate referring domain, and it's an easy first one to add. Submitting your startup takes a couple of minutes, and you can see how live DR is displayed across the directory.

The takeaway

A "good" Domain Rating isn't a fixed number — it's a DR high enough to compete in your niche, built from real dofollow backlinks over time. Track it as a signal, grow it with quality links, and don't obsess over hitting someone else's benchmark. Start by adding a few solid referring domains, and let it compound.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good Domain Rating for a new website? For a brand-new site, a Domain Rating of 20–30 within the first several months is a healthy sign that your backlink profile is growing. DR is logarithmic, so early gains come faster than later ones.

Does Domain Rating affect Google rankings? Not directly. DR is Ahrefs' third-party estimate, not a Google ranking factor. But it reflects the strength of your backlinks, which Google does care about — so a rising DR usually means your SEO is moving in the right direction.

How can I increase my Domain Rating fast? Earn dofollow backlinks from real, relevant sites. Getting listed in dofollow directories, publishing linkable content, and guest posting all add referring domains, which is what DR measures.

What's the difference between DR and DA? Domain Rating (DR) is Ahrefs' metric and Domain Authority (DA) is Moz's. Both estimate backlink strength on a 0–100 scale, but they use different data, so the numbers won't match. Pick one and track it over time.