Domain Rating (DR)
Ahrefs' 0–100 score measuring a website's backlink authority.
Definition
Domain Rating (DR) is a metric developed by Ahrefs that measures the strength of a website's backlink profile on a logarithmic scale from 0 to 100. A DR of 0 indicates very few or no quality backlinks; a DR of 90+ indicates an exceptionally authoritative domain. DR is calculated based on the number of unique domains linking to a site and the authority of those linking domains — so a single link from a DR 90 site contributes more than 100 links from DR 10 sites.
DR is the primary metric used by backlinks.fyi to rank startup directory value. A directory with DR 85 will pass significantly more link equity to your domain than a DR 25 directory, making it a higher-priority submission target. DR is logarithmic: moving from DR 10 to DR 20 is much easier than moving from DR 60 to DR 70.
Example
Product Hunt has a Domain Rating of 91. A dofollow backlink from Product Hunt carries substantially more SEO weight than ten links from DR 20 directories.
Frequently Asked Questions
Any directory with DR 70+ is considered high-authority. DR 80–90+ directories are exceptional and should be your first submission targets. For early-stage startups starting at DR 0–10, even 5–10 high-DR backlinks can produce a meaningful jump in domain authority.
No. Domain Rating is Ahrefs' metric; Domain Authority (DA) is Moz's equivalent. They measure the same underlying concept — backlink profile strength — but use different algorithms and scales. Both are useful proxies, but neither is directly used by Google. DR is more commonly referenced in the startup/indie hacker community because Ahrefs is the more widely used tool.
Ahrefs updates DR as its crawler discovers new links, typically within 2–4 weeks. The rate of change depends on the authority of new links relative to your existing profile. A DR 90 backlink moves a DR 5 site much more than it moves a DR 70 site — this is the logarithmic nature of the scale at work.
Put it into practice
Browse startup directories with DR scores, dofollow status, and submission tips — everything you need to build your backlink profile.
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