How to bounce back from a DA drop (and why it’s really not the end of the world)

I did have another post planned for today but given everybody is talking about it, I thought I’d tackle the DA drop instead. If you weren’t aware, MOZ has recently revamped the way they calculate Domain Authority. If you don’t know what DA is, then I am not sure why you clicked on this blog post I have a video that might be worth a watch which explains how DA works along with follow links and no follow links etc.

DA is only one measure of a blog’s value-but for some bloggers, it is an incredibly valuable one as they might make money from writing posts that include links to other sites. As the video sums up, the higher the DA= the higher the payment a blogger can usually expect to receive for this. So, therefore, a decline in this score can leave bloggers feeling disheartened. It’s also a general measure of how much ‘authority’ or importance a blog has; so it’s easy to feel disheartened. However, here’s why I think you really shouldn’t be worried (and what to do if you are!)

Never put all of your eggs in one basket

Look if you’ve read my blog even once, you’ll know I talk about never putting all your eggs in one basket when it comes to earning from your blog. YOU CAN’T RELY ON THIS!

Instagram, MOZ, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube-they are all large platforms that are essentially out of our control. They could close down tomorrow and where would you be? What would happen to your blog is MOZ decided DA was worthless and therefore no one cared about links? Or if Instagram deleted your account?

It’s tough but that is the risks we take as bloggers-the only things we really own are our words and our images. That’s why it is really important to continually keep thinking about diversifying your income strategy and ways to reach people. I talk about this in my seven blogging income streams  blog post but if you want to make a living from your blog, you constantly need to be thinking of new ideas and not rely on one way of earning. So my first tip would be to go back to the drawing board and brainstorm other potential ways to earn from your blog, e.g.

-Could you create a digital product to sell?

-Could you start pitching for freelance writing jobs?

-Could you pitch to some of your favourite brands to work together on sponsored content?

I’ll say it: I know posting guest posts with follow links can be a nice little earner for lots of bloggers, but some bloggers DO rely on this too much and it affects the quality of their blog. When I do blog outreach, it’s so obvious which bloggers will just post any copied and pasted guest content for the money. And whilst that’s fine, you need to realise it COULD be putting off readers and potentially other types of work. Remember, for brand campaigns; DA really isn’t an important metric. So could this be a chance to refresh, stop relying on this type of work so much and consider other revenues?

But how can you try to improve your DA?

That’s all well and good but we do all want to achieve high metrics, so what can be done about it if you are bothered? I can’t claim to be able to read MOZ’s mind but I can offer some practical suggestions which could help you improve your DA.

–One thing that there could be more of a focus on is the quality of links to your site rather than the quantity. This seems to match my experience as both of my blogs’ DA has gone up and whilst I don’t take part in many roundups/linkies etc; I have had newspapers/high authority sites link to me in the past.

So it might be worth focusing less on things like contributing to any bloggers’ round-up post going (although they can’t hurt) and more on high-DA sites. One way to do this is to pitch as a freelance writer-especially if you are an unpaid contributor. If you are writing for free, be choosy and always focus on sites that have a high DA that could link back to you. Even for paid work, ask the editor if they need a short bio about you (they often do) and then link to your blog that way.

Another idea is to keep your eyes peeled on the #journorequest hashtag. Journalists often post looking for case studies .You could also try a Response Source trial. Use these to get mentions in the media as expert commenters or case studies-and ask for your blog to be mentioned (I use these a lot and am always happy to link to bloggers).

Finally, it could be worth upping your guest posting efforts. Don’t just write for anyone but get strategic. Make a list of high quality bloggers in your niche and focus on writing one guest post a week for them. Make guest posting a consistent part of your blogging routine-even if it’s just an hour a week.

It’s cheesy but the highest DA blogs are those that are naturally creating good, shareable, high ranking content. It’s not set in stone but posting regularly and consistently can help signal to both MOZ and google that you can be trusted. And of course, more content usually equals more readers and potentially more shares. The best types of links to you are ones that are natural-so another blogger discovered your post via google and naturally linked to it/shared it. So do think about the content your readers are looking for and the type they’ll naturally want to share. I know that sounds obvious but it’s true!

Just a reminder that blogging is always changing and no metric is set in stone. We were all complaining about Instagram last week and then remember how everyone relied on Bloglovin for traffic until they started posting everyone’s content in full, depriving them of views? My point being is us bloggers are a resourceful lot and we’ll always find ways to bounce back, grow and develop!