Why are .edu and .gov backlinks useful for SEO?

I've read many times that .edu and .gov backlinks are useful for SEO, but why? Must those backlinks be Do-Follow to contribute to SEO? Anybody knows?

 

Hey,

whither its a .edu or .gov or .com wont really matter if it links to you. They may get a bit more repect from search engions because they are ment for schools and goverments.

if the back link is no follow then the search engine dont follow the link, so be careful about buying back links(which you really shouldnt do anyway) as they have a high chance of the no-follow rule applying. They will link back to the website but stop the search engines going there.

 

Because they are considered as high authority sites by search engines

 

Only Government bodies or academic establishments can get those domains so the search engines know that they are going to be valuable websites.

The links have to be dofollow though or else the search engines will not 'follow' the link and register the fact that it links to your site.

 

As an addition to StevieP's comment. Valuable websites are those with "authority," hence why a .gov site or a .edu site would be more valuable than a new, or unrecognized .com

Just to dispell this notion, I was recently at a conference with a google rep who indicated that whether do-follow, or no-follow - these links still count. *They do not need to be do-follow* but it is preferred if they are.

Remember, it is better to have a little of something, than a lot of nothing . Hope you find that helpful.

 

I wanted to know why about it before and now StevieP gave me an idea which they have an authority. In .gov I do understand that it has a high authority because there might be a very important announcement that the government wanted people to know. Or in .edu for education in very important.

 

One of my sites have more than 640 edu backlinks with only a dozen of regular links... the site rank 3rd on keywords with 200K search volume.. gov and edu are powerful... high authority domain extensions.

 

Other than these sites having authority, most search engine specially Google view EDU and GOV sites as "good neighborhood" therefore, a backlink coming from these sites tend to weigh more value.

Are you interested in Web 3? check out my sig.

 

Well, this question was asked to Matt Cutts and he answered it in a video; he basically said that they are not worth any more than any other domain extension link.. however....

the all mighty can bend the truth as he sees fit.. so who do you believe.

 

JamesCF is right, they don't have special authority all of their own, but it's the site's that are attached to them that matter. And more often than not, those sites are considered important by google because they're attached to significant government or education insitutions. Joe Bloggs can't register a domain with .gov or .edu extensions, so having to prove they qualify elminates much of the rubbish associated with other domain extensions.

 

.Edu and .Gov are trusted domains. I don't know what others have the perception about a Nofollow link from .gov or. edu tld. but i think they help a lot for sites Trust factor Improvement.
According to me a site has a much better chance to rank higher when google thinks its relevant and is a trusted one.
Why new site don't rank easily cos they don't have the trust factor associated with it.

People mainly called it "Age" factor but its "Trust" Factor.

So surely if i get one BL from trusted domains then its far more better then 20 Irrelevant sites.

 

This should be a sticky so that the same question stops being asked 10x per day on Digitalpoint.

 

Sorry to ask these newbie questions :S, I just couldn't find the answer in the forum. So maybe, if those .edu and .gov links are so useful, here I leave yo with a list of .edu sites I've found in the internet I hope you enjoy it:
http://www (dot) webcosmoforums (dot) com/link-development/12236-big-list-edu-sites (dot) html
Thanks everyone for your useful answers

 

These Domains are comes under Quality websites. So it is very useful in SEO.

 

I think .gov & .edu link are use when this link give us link backing for our site otherwise use less

 

If a government site is linking back to you then it means what you have to offer is really good. I don't care what Matt Cutts says anyone who has tried this out will tell you they noticed significant gains in there ranking.

 

Thery are regular links as a .com .org

 

.edu and .gov command higher authority because they're more difficult to get linkbacks from.

 

I think this should be right before but might be not so these days since .edu and .gov back links would usually be considered more authority. I think back links from niche relative authority sites would be more useful than .edu and .gov ones.

Have a nice day,

 

All domain extensions are same. The only factor is the domain name and its popularity. If a site has enormous popularity, it is considered a valuable backlink.