In checking one of my competitors back links on google, I note that a large number of their backlinks are from .edu and .gov sites. Nothing unusual about that except the competitor is a "sexy clothing site". The link to their website is strewn about references to programming issues, html references, scientific sites at universities, serious university sites and such. It is kind of humorous to see the following: mathematical formulas 2x-value of n - 5y(2z), and discussion of the application to network interface-then the link- www.sexyclothingsite.com(not the real url) - then back to mathematical formulas............, discussion.......... The site where the link is placed could( ? ) be construed as related to the sexy clothing site in that the discussion is occassionally about web site coding, effect of improper coding on a website......, while at other backlinks, the url is just dropped there with no relationship at all. Question: Does this type of backlink help in terms of a quality backlink? I think it does as they are a pr6 site, low supplemental percentage, ranked fairly high on google and yahoo. The .edu and .gov sites are 100% content, so they rank well in google. Does google distinguish this very thinly veiled attempt at link building?, or is this what google views as the way to build a quality internet search function. I don't know whether to think this is a great or a horrible idea? Should I follow this leader? or avoid the impending penalty?
The .edu and .gov links help in ranking but you can get banned, and surely this type of backlink does not help in terms of a quality backlink.
EDU and GOV backlinks are just as same as any other backlinks. they will not give you any more benefit than .com or .net links. its important to focus on building quality related links, not large quantity unrelated links whether it comes from edu or non-edu
links from sites are only as good as the content on the pages doing the linking. .gov & .edu are traditionally better sites containing less spam, duplicate content & link schemes than your traditional .com, .info, etc. This is not saying the link is just better because it's a .edu. an edu splog would be a crappy backlink just like a .info one. However most edu links are from schools who take care of their sites and provide a valuable resource ... unlike it's .info counterparts. Better quality site (regardless of tld) = better quality links
As long as you don't spam then it's fine. Remember one of Google's roles is weeding out the spam sites online. Provide actual useful content and links.
May I also suggest to read my article on why .edu (and for the same reason .gov) links are not per se more worth than any others...
For the most part I agree with what everyone has said here except for the fact that a .edu link is likely to stay around for years or decades because .edu sites rarely go anywhere. Also SE's value websites that are old and established, which most .edu sites are. Most of them were created in the mid 80's - early 90's. I think there's no reason to completely disregard them and you should try to get one or two if you can.
there actually quite to find, i only have 1,500+ .edu links and thats cost me quite a lot. i dont have any .gov links
google used to give special value to edu links. not sure if thats still the case after last PR update. maybe there were some changes.
That's not true. The special value came (and comes) from the fact that real edu links (not student blogs, for example) *have* a special value due to being highly linked...
First, we speak generally about the edu links, not specific blogs or other... And which SE gives/gave the special value to links/backlinks?
The most they'll gain from this is a boost to their PR, but since the content of the .edu and .gov site are completely unrelated to the site they'll see no benefit in their serps. Increasing your PR is fine if you intend to sell links on your site, but if you want traffic to your site then you should worry more about finding links that relate to the content of your site. With any link building strategy moderation is key. Getting a few .edu and .gov links is good, but doing it to the point where you have an unnatural amount is bad and could result in all those links being discredited by Google. Ultimately your time would be better spend building links from sites which match your content.
Of course, Google started to give special value, and others do so now. But the key point is they don't have any special handling for .edu sites. It just happens that many edu pages are linked pretty well, which is what brings their actual weight. I don't like to equation "jump on edu and you will do fine" that is re-iterated that often. A good .us, .cc, .de or whatever site with a high pr and content relevant to your niche does equally well. Don't jump on edu sites just because they typically have high PR. Try to get on CNN's homepage if you can I have written up complete reasoning here: http://www.letspromoteit.com/2007/10/10/is-a-link-from-an-edu-site-more-worth-than-any-other-link-2/ Rainer
In last PR update google came up with trust rank. .edu site are most rusted so .edu is now more important.
I am still skeptic. There is not much on trust rank yet, but I doubt that it will be passed on via links. As far as I understand it, it is manually assigned and thus sticky to the site that got it. If you have any other information, I'd love to hear that. Rainer
You are implying that trust and importance are the same, but that may not be the case. Spiders are dumb