Moz

Moz is an SEO software company based in Seattle, best known for creating the Domain Authority metric and for its educational content. Its main product, Moz Pro, offers keyword research, link analysis, site audits and rank tracking, while Moz Local helps businesses manage their local listings.

Written by Paul Hoda, SEO consultant since 2005. Last updated 8 November 2026.

A short history

Moz began in 2004 as SEOmoz, founded by Rand Fishkin and Gillian Muessig. It started as a blog and community before building software. The company rebranded as Moz in 2013 and was acquired by J2 Global, now Ziff Davis, in 2021. Moz is also known for its free resources, including the Beginner’s Guide to SEO and the long-running Whiteboard Friday video series.

Main Moz tools

  • Moz Pro: the core subscription suite, with site audits, rank tracking and research tools.
  • Link Explorer: shows a site’s backlinks, linking domains and anchor text.
  • Keyword Explorer: provides volume estimates, difficulty scores and keyword suggestions.
  • MozBar: a free browser extension that shows Moz metrics on any page or search result.
  • Moz Local: distributes and monitors business details across directories to support NAP consistency.
  • STAT: enterprise rank tracking for very large keyword sets.
  • Moz API: access to Moz’s link and keyword data for custom tools and reports.

Key Moz metrics

Domain Authority (DA) predicts how likely a domain is to rank, on a 0 to 100 scale, based on Moz’s link data and modelling. Page Authority (PA) does the same for a single page.

Spam Score estimates the share of sites with similar features that Moz found to be penalised or banned. A high score is a prompt to look more closely, not proof of spam.

Brand Authority is a newer Moz metric that aims to measure the strength of a brand, partly using branded search demand.

How to use Moz data sensibly

  1. Use DA to compare sites in the same niche, not as an absolute measure of quality.
  2. Track changes in your own DA over months alongside real outcomes such as traffic and rankings.
  3. Check a site’s content and links yourself before relying on its metrics for link building.
  4. Pair Moz data with Google Search Console for your own site’s true performance.

Common misconceptions

  • Google uses Domain Authority. It does not. DA is Moz’s own metric, and Google has said it does not use third-party authority scores.
  • A higher DA always means a better link. Relevance and editorial context often matter more than a number.
  • DA changes mean something happened in Google. DA can move when Moz updates its index or model, even if nothing changed on your site.
  • Moz, Ahrefs and Semrush metrics are interchangeable. DA, Domain Rating and Authority Score use different data and methods, so their numbers are not directly comparable.

Key Takeaways

  • Moz is a Seattle-based SEO software company founded as SEOmoz in 2004.
  • It created Domain Authority, Page Authority and Spam Score.
  • Moz Pro, Moz Local and the MozBar extension are its best-known products.
  • Google does not use Domain Authority or other third-party scores.
  • Use Moz metrics for comparison, alongside your own Search Console data.

Related Terms

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