One of my domains frequently shows up as about #10 or worse in the Google SERPs. Almost all the #1 through 9 positions are held by edu and gov sites which have been there, unchanged, for a loooong time. What is the most effective way to advance under these circumstances?
.gov and .edu has big weight in SERPs because their credibility is high in Search Engines. Just keep on updating and adding contents for your site. Just stop thinking about the .gov and .edu sites because they will just slow you down.