If you’re seeing no domain rating (DR) in Ahrefs for your website, you’re not alone—and you’re not out of luck. A DR of zero or blank simply means your site’s backlink profile hasn’t yet met the thresholds
Ahrefs uses to calculate the score. In this article, you’ll learn what DR is, why yours may be missing or stuck at zero, and practical steps to build your backlink profile—and the DR value—in a meaningful way.
What Is “Domain Rating” in Ahrefs?
From my three decades of SEO experience, let’s start with the definition so you know exactly what you’re dealing with. Ahrefs’ Domain Rating is a proprietary metric designed to measure the strength of a website’s backlink profile on a scale from 0 to 100.
The score is calculated by three major factors:
- How many unique domains link to your site (referring domains)
- The Domain Rating of those linking domains (higher quality domains pass more value)
- How many other domains each of those linking domains link out to (if they link widely, they pass less “link juice”)
It’s key to understand: DR is relative. One site increasing DR might push your DR down, even if your backlink profile remained static. Also, DR is not a direct Google ranking factor. It correlates with ranking ability sometimes, but it isn’t what Google itself uses.
So Why Do I Have No Domain Rating in Ahrefs?
If you log into Ahrefs and your site shows “0” or “–” instead of a populated DR, here are common reasons, sorted by how often I’ve encountered them in real-world SEO audits.
- Your website is brand-new or hardly linked
A site launched recently will have limited backlinks and hardly any referring domains. Because DR relies on external links from other domains, the score may remain “no data” or zero until enough link activity occurs. - You have backlinks, but they’re super low quality or useless to Ahrefs
If your links come from domains with very low DR, no traffic, or that link out to hundreds of other domains, they may pass near-zero value in the DR calculation. A site may still have many links and low DR because those links offer little “link juice.” - You’re viewing the wrong version of your domain
Sometimes the non-www version vs the www version (or http vs https) has the backlinks, and Ahrefs shows “no data” for the version you’re checking. The system might attribute those links to a different version. - Ahrefs hasn’t crawled or indexed your domain properly
While rare, this can occur when the domain is brand new, prohibits bots, or your site structure hides links (e.g., JavaScript-only links). If Ahrefs can’t read the inbound links, it cannot compute a DR. - Algorithm or dataset changes at Ahrefs
Ahrefs occasionally updates how it calculates DR. Many sites have seen low DR scores after an update—not because links vanished, but because the scoring mechanism changed. - You lost high-quality referring domains
Even if you had a DR before, losing linking domains or having previously strong referrers drop in DR or change their linking structure can send your score to zero or near-zero.
Why the “Missing” DR Might Be More of a Signal Than a Problem
While it feels alarming to see no DR, it’s actually a useful diagnostic signal. A DR of zero isn’t penalized; it simply reflects a weak (or not yet built) backlink profile. So instead of panicking, view the zero DR as a starting line: you haven’t yet won the backlinks game, but you can start building.
What You Should Do to Get and Improve Your Domain Rating
Here’s a step-by-step plan, backed by SEO best practices, to move from “no DR” to a meaningful score.
Step 1: Audit your existing backlink profile
Use Ahrefs or comparable tools to check: how many referring domains you have, what DR those domains have, how many links they point to, and whether they are dofollow links. Remove or disavow poor-quality spammy links that may hinder your profile.
Tip: check that you’re analyzing the correct domain variant (www/non-www) so you won’t miss data.
Step 2: Build a foundation of strong referrals
- Target guest posts, niche outreach, and content partnerships with domains that have moderate to high DR (ideally 30+). Even one link from a strong domain can move the needle.
- Use “broken link building” or “resource page link building” tactics to earn links.
- Aim for diversity: the more referring domains you have, the better. The number of unique linking domains is the strongest correlating backlink factor for traffic.
Step 3: Ensure those links are dofollow and not heavily diluted
Remember: nofollow links generally do not pass DR value. Also, if a linking domain links out to hundreds of domains, the share of link-juice for your site is diluted.
Step 4: Focus on content that attracts links naturally
Create high-quality content pieces—studies, guides, resources—that naturally draw backlinks. If you rely solely on outreach, you’ll eventually hit a plateau. A strong content + link mix sparks higher DR.
Step 5: Maintain consistent monitoring
Check your referring domain count, lost links, and linking domains’ DR every month. If you lose many quality links, your DR may stagnate or fall. Loss can be because linking sites closed, changed structure, or removed your link.
Step 6: Don’t obsess over DR—track real rankings and traffic
As I’ve learned over 30 years, DR is a useful indicator but not the finish line. A low DR site can rank very well; a high DR site may rank poorly. Focus on organic traffic, keywords ranking, and conversions. DR “correlates” but does not guarantee ranking.
Bonus: Common mistakes that keep DR at zero
- Buying large volumes of cheap links from low-DR or spammy networks (Ahrefs or Google may ignore these).
- Using the wrong domain variant (leading to “no data”).
- Having backlinks only from your own network (little real external linking).
- Not generating content or marketing your site beyond basic pages.
- Relying on internal links instead of external referring domains (DR measures external domains linking in).
- Ignoring lost links—referring domains disappear or lose authority over time.
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Realistic Timeline to See a DR Score and Growth
If you start from zero: getting to DR 10-20 usually takes several months of consistent link building and content traction. Because DR is logarithmic, each increment becomes harder as you rise—moving from DR 20 to DR 30 is easier than from DR 60 to DR 70. Also, since DR is comparative, your score may rise slowly even if you’re improving—while others improve faster, your relative position might not shift dramatically. Patience and consistent work win in the long run.
Final Thoughts
Having “no domain rating” in Ahrefs simply means your backlink profile hasn’t yet built sufficient authority in Ahrefs’ eyes. It’s not a penalty or a sign your site is doomed—it’s a clear signal of where to focus: external linking.
By auditing your links, building high-quality referring domains, ensuring dofollow, producing link-worthy content, and monitoring progress, you’ll move your site from zero towards a meaningful DR. Remember: DR is a gauge—not the goal. Focus first on real ranking, traffic, and conversions, and let DR reflect your progress rather than define it.