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Field reference

Every metric we return, and what it actually tells you.

DomDetailer returns around thirty fields from three sources. This page defines each one: where it comes from, what range to expect, what a decent value looks like in practice, and what it will not tell you.

The last part matters most. Almost every metric here can be manipulated on its own. Read together, they are much harder to fake.

Jump to Moz Majestic Pretty Reading them together Common questions

Moz

Licensed

Licensed from Moz, Inc.

Moz models how likely a page or domain is to rank, from its own web index. The scores are logarithmic, so the gap between 20 and 30 is far smaller than the gap between 70 and 80.

Bear in mind. Moz scores are a prediction of ranking ability, not a measurement of it. They move when Moz recrawls or changes their model, not when your site changes.

Domain Authority

mozDA 1-100

Moz's prediction of how well the whole domain should rank, on a logarithmic scale.

In practice

Under 10 on an aged domain usually means the link profile never developed. 20-40 is the normal band for a working niche site. Above 60 is rare outside established brands.

What it won't tell you

DA is trivially inflated by spam links. Always read it next to Spam Score and Trust Flow rather than on its own.

Page Authority

mozPA 1-100

The same prediction applied to one page rather than the whole domain. We return it for the domain's home page.

In practice

Usually tracks a few points either side of DA on a home page. A large gap suggests the domain's strength sits elsewhere on the site.

What it won't tell you

PA for the home page tells you nothing about a deep page you might actually want to link from.

Spam Score

mozSpam 0-17

How many of Moz's spam flags the domain trips. It is a count of risk signals, not a verdict.

In practice

0-4 is unremarkable. 5-7 warrants a manual look. 8 and above, be sure you know why before you buy.

What it won't tell you

Some flags fire on entirely legitimate sites - a small page count, or a top-level domain that happens to be popular with spammers.

MozRank

mozRank 0-10

Link popularity on a PageRank-like scale, weighted by the popularity of the linking pages.

In practice

Most working domains land between 2 and 5. Treat it as a secondary signal behind DA.

What it won't tell you

Quantity-weighted, so it rewards volume more than relevance.

MozTrust

mozTrust 0-10

Link trust measured by distance from a set of trusted seeds.

In practice

Read the gap against MozRank. Popularity well ahead of trust is the classic bought-links pattern.

What it won't tell you

Deprecated in the older v1 API. Available in v2 but not a metric to build a decision on alone.

Moz external links

mozLinks count

External inbound links Moz has recorded for the domain.

In practice

Compare with referring domains. A hundred thousand links from two hundred domains is one relationship repeated, not two hundred endorsements.

What it won't tell you

Moz and Majestic count links differently. Do not expect their totals to agree.

Majestic

Licensed

Licensed from Majestic-12 Ltd.

Majestic runs its own crawl and scores links by how close they sit to a set of trusted seed sites. Trust Flow and Citation Flow are most useful read together rather than separately.

Bear in mind. Majestic sees links, not traffic or content. A domain can carry strong flow metrics and still be worthless if the links are irrelevant to your subject.

Trust Flow

majesticTF 0-100

How close the domain's backlinks sit to Majestic's trusted seed set. Quality rather than quantity.

In practice

Below 10 on an aged domain is weak. 15 and up is workable. 20 and above deserves a proper look, provided the topic matches.

What it won't tell you

Trust Flow can be manufactured by pointing a few trusted links at a domain. Check the Topical Trust Flow categories agree with the domain's actual subject.

Citation Flow

majesticCF 0-100

How many links point at the domain, weighted by the influence of the linking pages. Quantity rather than quality.

In practice

Meaningful only next to Trust Flow. On its own, a high Citation Flow says a lot of links exist and nothing about whether they are any good.

What it won't tell you

This is the number link sellers quote when Trust Flow is unflattering.

Trust to Citation ratio

TF/CF ratio 0-1+

Trust Flow divided by Citation Flow. Derived, not returned by the API - our tools calculate it for you.

In practice

Around 0.5 or better is healthy. Below about 0.3 means plenty of links but little trust behind them, which is the standard shape of a manipulated profile.

What it won't tell you

The ratio is unstable when both numbers are tiny. Ignore it below roughly CF 10.

Referring domains

majesticRefDomains count

Unique domains with at least one link to the target.

In practice

Generally more informative than raw link counts. Fifty genuine referring domains beats fifty thousand links from three.

What it won't tell you

Count referring domains against referring IPs and subnets. If they are close, the links may all sit on one network.

Referring IPs

majesticRefIPs count

Unique IP addresses hosting the referring domains.

In practice

Should be reasonably close to referring domains on a natural profile.

What it won't tell you

Two hundred referring domains on twelve IPs is a private blog network, not two hundred independent sites.

Referring subnets

majesticRefSubnets count

Unique class C subnets among the referring IPs.

In practice

The strongest of the three diversity measures. Wide subnet spread is hard to fake cheaply.

What it won't tell you

Large hosts put thousands of unrelated sites on one subnet, so a low number is not proof of anything on its own.

EDU and GOV links

majesticRefEdu / majesticRefGov count

Inbound links from .edu and .gov domains.

In practice

Nice to see, rarely decisive. A handful on a genuinely useful resource is normal.

What it won't tell you

Often forum profiles or comment links on university subdomains, which carry far less weight than the label suggests.

Topical Trust Flow

majesticTTF0Name / Value category + 0-100

The three subject categories Majestic associates most strongly with the domain, each with its own trust score.

In practice

The most under-used field we return. It is the quickest way to spot a domain whose history does not match the niche you want it for.

What it won't tell you

A domain that has been repurposed keeps its old categories for a long time. That mismatch is a signal, not noise.

Majestic external links

majesticLinks count

Total external inbound links Majestic has recorded.

In practice

Divide by referring domains for links per domain. Anything above roughly fifty deserves an explanation.

What it won't tell you

Site-wide footer and sidebar links inflate this enormously without adding meaningful endorsement.

Pretty

Ours

Built and operated by DomDetailer.

Our own crawl index. Where Moz and Majestic return scores, Pretty returns counts - and the individual links behind them, which is what lets you check the reasoning rather than trust the number.

Bear in mind. Pretty counts what our crawl has observed. Coverage is deep but not total, so treat a Pretty count as a firm lower bound rather than an exact total.

Links in

prettyLinksIn count

External inbound links from other registrable domains that our crawl has observed.

In practice

Use it as an independent check on the licensed figures. Three sources broadly agreeing is worth more than any one of them alone.

What it won't tell you

Our coverage is deep but not exhaustive, so read this as a lower bound.

Links out

prettyLinksOut count

External outbound links from the domain to other registrable domains.

In practice

Compare against page count. Thousands of outbound links across a few hundred pages usually means a link farm or a hacked site.

What it won't tell you

Neither Moz nor Majestic expose outbound counts this directly, which is part of why we crawl.

Pages crawled

prettyPageCount count

How many pages of the domain our crawl has seen.

In practice

A useful reality check on an expired domain: strong authority with a page count in single figures means the site is gone even if the metrics linger.

What it won't tell you

A low count can also mean the site blocks crawlers, so check before concluding it is dead.

Dofollow inbound links

prettyLinksDofollow count

Inbound links without a nofollow attribute.

In practice

Divide by links in for the dofollow share. Natural profiles land broadly between 40% and 90%.

What it won't tell you

A profile that is almost entirely dofollow is as odd as one that is almost entirely nofollow.

EDU and GOV inbound links

prettyLinksEdu / prettyLinksGov count

Inbound links from .edu and .gov domains, from our own crawl.

In practice

Cross-check against the Majestic equivalents. Large disagreement is worth investigating.

What it won't tell you

Same caveat as Majestic's: the domain extension says nothing about the placement.

Referring domains (Pretty)

ref_domains count

Unique external domains linking in, returned by the backlinks endpoint.

In practice

Combined with the backlink rows, this is the only figure here you can audit yourself - the individual links are in the same response.

What it won't tell you

Returned by the backlinks endpoint, not the domain metrics endpoint.

Nofollow ratio

nofollow_ratio 0-100%

The percentage of observed inbound links carrying a nofollow attribute.

In practice

Roughly 10-60% is unremarkable. Very low is as suspicious as very high.

What it won't tell you

Returned by the backlinks endpoint alongside the follow and nofollow counts it is derived from.

Cross-checks

The comparisons that catch problems.

Single metrics are cheap to manipulate. These pairings are not, because faking one usually breaks the other.

Compare Healthy shape What a bad shape means
Trust Flow vs Citation Flow TF at least half of CF Lots of links, little trust behind them. The standard profile of bought or spammed links.
Referring domains vs referring subnets Subnets a good fraction of domains Two hundred domains on twelve subnets is one network wearing two hundred hats.
Links vs referring domains Under roughly 50 links per domain Site-wide footer or sidebar placements repeated across every page, not genuine endorsements.
Domain Authority vs Spam Score High DA with low Spam Score High DA alongside a Spam Score of 8+ usually means the authority was manufactured.
Authority vs pages crawled Authority proportional to a real site Strong metrics on a handful of pages means the site is gone and the numbers are residue.
Topical Trust Flow vs the niche you want Categories match the subject A domain repurposed from another niche keeps its old topical signals for a long time.
Links out vs pages crawled Modest outbound per page Thousands of outbound links across a few hundred pages is a link farm or a compromised site.

Our web tools calculate the derived ratios for you, so you can sort a list on TF/CF or dofollow share without exporting anything. Open the domain stats tool.

Common questions

Asked often.

More on the FAQ page, or see how the fields arrive in the API reference.

What is a good Trust Flow?

On an aged domain, below 10 is weak and 15 or above is workable. 20 and up deserves a proper look, provided the Topical Trust Flow categories match the subject you want the domain for. Trust Flow read without Citation Flow beside it is easy to manipulate.

What is a good TF/CF ratio?

Around 0.5 or better is healthy. Below roughly 0.3 means the domain has plenty of links but little trust behind them, which is the usual shape of a manipulated profile. The ratio is unreliable when both figures are very small.

Is Domain Authority or Trust Flow more reliable?

Neither on its own. DA is easy to inflate with volume; Trust Flow is easy to inflate with a few well-chosen links. Reading them together, with Spam Score and referring subnets, is far harder to fool than any single number.

Why do Moz and Majestic disagree about link counts?

They run separate crawls with different coverage and count links differently - what one treats as one link another may count several times. Expect the totals to differ; the useful signal is whether both point the same way.

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