How important are .gov and .edu links with Google

[EnhanceSEO]

I am aware google loves .gov and .edu backlinks - but just how much, could it be the differance between position 3 and position 1 in the serps?

Does anyone have a list of .gov and .edu links to get back links from, Ive done a search on this site but cant find anything!

[Bohol]

You can get .edu back links but they are nofollow. In google.com, search ".edu blogs" or ".gov blogs"

[KC TAN]

They have no additional boosting effects on SERP. Matt Cutts (http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/) from Google has mentioned about this before :)

[Small Fry]

Yes , you are mistaken. Each links value is based on it's other merits. The TDL is only a factor for search where the tdl indicates a country of origin. for example a .info link can be the same value as a .gov with all things being equal. A .gov.au will help you rank on Australian Google a little more than on generic google, but no more than a .com.au with all things being equal. That is for Google anyway, and who cares about the rest :)

[enous]

I think its not so important as someone says.

[redspace]

I don't bother to get or buy any link from edu or gov site. as long the link will receive PR juice that is enough for me.

[tokyojoe66]

dont take everything that matt says as gospel, google are well known for misdirection and misinformation.

[angilina]

I think it more depends on the quality of the Link rather then the extension. For example, PR9 Link, whether it is a .com or .gov, is important.

[Kassi]

You shouldn’t overvalue links from .gov and .edu for the moment. Formerly they did have more value than other links but after black seo webmasters started to set doorways on .edu and .gov sites, Google penalized those and started to value those links as all others. And this is why links from .edu and .gov are the same as from any other sites.

[corlock]

.gov and .edu sites are sites that are very informative and has a high quality. no doubt that google gives special attention to certain sites with this domain extensions...

[seo ranter]

Google doesn't give special "juice" to .edu or .gov links. Its just that these sites are really careful about who they link to so their link "juice" is a lot less watered down.

[dansgalaxy]

It seems people are far too obsessed with link exchange, it is very simple. GET GOOD CONTENT!

All you need is GOOD high quality coding, both back and front end to provide a fast quick good looked site.
GOOD content which users can read, and keep it updated for repeat visitors.

try to find something unique you can offer.

when linking to external websites use rel="nofollow" as Google may penalize you for linking to "bad sites"

Keep a good clean site, and they will come all by them selves.

Dan