Also known as: URL Rating (UR), PA Score
Page Authority (PA) is a third-party metric that predicts how well a single, specific web page will rank in search results. Developed by Moz on a 1-to-100 logarithmic scale, it is driven largely by the quantity and quality of backlinks pointing directly at that exact URL.
PA is a page-level score, which is what separates it from Domain Authority (DA). DA estimates the strength of an entire website; PA estimates the strength of one page on it. A brand-new blog might have a DA of 25 but host a single "Best Crypto Brokers" review at a PA of 45 because that page earned fifty strong backlinks while the rest of the site earned few.
Because PA is a modeled prediction, not a Google metric, the exact number matters less than the trend and the relative gap against competitors. Ahrefs publishes an equivalent page-level score called URL Rating (UR), and both move up as a page attracts authoritative, topically relevant links and down as those links decay or competitors overtake it.
For a partner, PA is a scoreboard for individual money pages. If your "Top 10 Forex Brokers" list sits at PA 38 while the site ranking above you sits at PA 52, you have a concrete, quantified gap to close through targeted link building rather than a vague sense that you are losing.
PA is calculated by machine-learning models that Moz trains against actual Google rankings. The model weighs dozens of link-based signals, most importantly the number of unique linking domains and the authority those linking pages themselves carry, then outputs a 1-to-100 score for the target URL.
The scale is logarithmic, so climbing from PA 20 to 30 is far easier than climbing from 60 to 70. Scores are also relative and get recalibrated as Moz updates its link index, which means a page can dip a point or two even without losing links if the wider web grows stronger around it. The practical takeaway is to track the gap between your page and the pages outranking it, not the absolute figure.
Pick the specific URL that earns the most commission, such as a broker-comparison or prop-firm review, and treat it as the link-building target.
Check your page's PA and the PA of the pages ranking above you to quantify how much authority you need to gain.
Pursue guest posts, digital PR, and resource-page links that point at the money page, not just the homepage.
Add internal links from your strongest, highest-PA blog posts to the target page to pass ranking power inward.
Recheck PA and rankings every few weeks and keep building until you overtake the competing pages.
Why it matters for partnership: Your money pages produce most of your commission, so raising each one's Page Authority through targeted backlinks lifts it above rival review sites and protects your best-converting affiliate placements.
An affiliate's blog carries a Domain Authority of 30, but after building fifty high-quality links straight to its "Crypto Brokers" review, that page reaches a PA of 45 and ranks first for its target term. Meanwhile the site's untargeted deposit-guide page stays at PA 18 and languishes on page three, proving the difference came from page-level link building.
| Metric | Scope | Main driver |
|---|---|---|
| Page Authority (PA) | One specific URL | Links to that exact page |
| Domain Authority (DA) | The entire website | Sitewide link profile and age |
Channel authority internally: link your high-traffic, high-PA educational posts directly to your lower-PA broker review pages to transfer ranking power.
Pointing every backlink at the homepage leaves inner money pages stuck at low PA and poor visibility, wasting the very pages that generate commission.
Yes. If a specific page earns excellent backlinks, it can rank well for its target keywords even when the overall website is new or has a modest Domain Authority.
No. PA is a Moz-built prediction of ranking potential. Google does not use it. Treat it as a competitive benchmark, not an official signal.
There is no universal threshold. A good PA is one that meets or exceeds the PA of the pages currently outranking you for your target keyword.
They measure the same idea, page-level link strength, but PA is Moz's metric and URL Rating (UR) is Ahrefs' equivalent, each computed from its own link index.
PA is relative and recalibrated as Moz updates its index. If competing pages gain authority, your score can slip slightly even when your own links are unchanged.
Earn quality backlinks from relevant sites directly to that URL and reinforce it with internal links from your strongest existing pages; results build over weeks.