Domain Power: How Strong Is Your Website in Google’s Eyes?

Domain Power is an objective, traffic-based metric that reflects real search performance across the entire Internet. It does not rely on backlink counts, scoring quirks, or niche adjustments-just observable, comparable outcomes at scale.

What Domain Power Measures

Domain Power quantifies the practical strength of a website as seen through Google’s results. Rather than inferring authority from link graphs, it summarizes how much search exposure a domain actually earns and sustains. Every site is evaluated against the same yardstick so scores are comparable across industries, sizes, and regions.

Organic Exposure
Observed search visibility derived from ranking positions and impression modeling.

Traffic Realization
Estimated visits inferred from positions & standard CTR curves.

Keyword Footprint
Breadth and depth of ranking across queries, captured uniformly.

Stability Over Time
Consistency and durability of performance, smoothed to reduce noise.

A Quick Note: Not the Same as Search Atlas’ “Domain Power”

Now, to be clear – this isn’t the same as the Domain Power metric from our friends at Search Atlas, who have their own phenomenal version of the concept backed by their unique data and research logic. Their approach blends similar principles but uses different data sources and weighting. We share a common belief, though: real authority should be earned through performance, not link counts.

Why an Objective, Traffic-Based Metric?

• Direct signal of outcomes: Scores reflect what searchers actually see and click, not proxy popularity.
• Cross-site comparability: One scale for all domains-no special rules for specific categories.
• Resistance to link inflation: Link spikes without corresponding search exposure do not artificially raise scores.
• Actionable tracking: Movement in Domain Power maps to real visibility shifts you can feel in analytics.

How We Compute It (High-Level)

Without revealing proprietary weights, the score blends four pillars captured on a rolling basis and normalized globally:

Pillar	What It Captures
Position-Weighted Visibility	Aggregate “SERP reach” with stronger weight on top positions.
Traffic Realization Index	Expected clicks based on standardized CTR models and volumes.
Footprint Scope	Scale of ranking coverage across queries captured uniformly.
Stability & Persistence	Consistency over time with smoothing to reduce volatility.

All components are gathered and normalized on a global scale so two domains with the same score demonstrate comparable real-world search strength, regardless of category.

How to Use Domain Power

Just sign up for KWHero, and head on to Metrics. Type in your target domains, and get your data.

Along with Domain Power, we’ve also got the following metrics:

• Link Power
• Google Presence
• Bing Presence
• LLM Presence

Backlinks vs. Domain Power

Backlinks still matter, but they are not the score. Domain Power only rises when search exposure and traffic realization rise. This prevents inflated authority from link patterns that do not translate into visibility.

	Backlink-Based Scores	Domain Power
Primary Input	Link graph & referring domains	Observed search exposure & realized traffic
Comparability	Varies by index & manipulation risk	Single objective scale across all sites
Resistance to Inflation	Mixed (susceptible to link spikes)	High (no lift without real visibility)
Actionability	Indirect proxy for outcomes	Direct reflection of what users see

Bottom Line

Domain Power is the simplest honest answer to the complex question: “How strong is this website in Google’s eyes?” It’s objective, traffic-based, and comparable across the entire Internet. When the number moves, you’re not just collecting links-you’re earning visibility.