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Googler, JohnMu, wrote in a Google Groups thread that links from EDU domains are not in itself better links than .com or .net links. John said:
In general, I would like to add that no, backlinks from .EDU domains generally do not get "additional credibility from Google"
I believe this may be one of the first times we have official confirmation in writing from a Google representative that EDU links are not anymore valuable then other types of links.
Here are some of our past articles on EDU links:
- What Would You Do For An .edu Link?
- Finding Some of Your EDU Links with Yahoo Search
- How Do You Obtain Links from .edu Sites?
- Need Help Getting Links from Education (.EDU) Sites?
- Are Links From .edu and .gov Domains Really "Better?"
Forum discussion at Google Groups.
Comments:
imnotadoctor
01/29/2008 03:32 pm
Sweet great find!
Michael Martinez
01/29/2008 06:10 pm
Matt Cutts said there were no "Yahoo-boost" or "EDU-boost" in the Google algorithm in December 2005. http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/seo-article-in-newsweek/
Shawn
01/29/2008 07:33 pm
I don't believe this at all.
Scott Clark
01/29/2008 08:47 pm
There is no boost based on the fact that it's an .edu TLD. What you must think about is WHAT IS ON EDU TLDs. This is often crusty-old, stable, trusted information that gets lots of link juice from other stable, crusty-old trusted sites. It's just a correlation in the same algorithm that clusters around .edu for normal Google reasons.
Anthony a.k.a. OldSchool
01/29/2008 10:22 pm
I think Scott hit the nail on the head.
Simon Dance
01/30/2008 10:02 am
In the end, it all comes down to the inherent quality of the website. .edu and .ac.uk domains are likely to be tied by the 'commercial' organisations they can feature on their site, and thus their sites consist mainly of quality content, and links from other Government and public section organisations. Scott Clark is absolutely right.. Si That's why the links are valued, not because they are a particular domain, but because of the quality of the site.
egorych
01/30/2008 12:39 pm
In general .edu links may have no additional bonus in google's algorithm but they won't loose their "weight" because usually .edu sites have incoming links from other old and high authority (pr7-9) .edu and other sites which are known for years as non-spammers sites. That's why no matter for a webmaster if google has any bonuses for .edu links themselves beause they have a high authority anyway.
Arnie
01/30/2008 05:16 pm
I agree with Scott... it's not just the .edu TDL that matters, it's where the link is actually coming from. Most of us already know that a link from a student blog (even tho it is .edu) has almost no link juice, but to be mentioned on a professor's page as a resource or by the school itself, can be very valuable.
Adam Snider
01/31/2008 06:30 pm
I have to agree with Scott and others. It's not the fact that it has the .edu TLD. It's the fact that probably 99% of the time .edu domains are full of highly trusted information that gets a lot of link juice. They're often old and trusted domains, as well. These factors lead to links from .edu domains being better simply because of all the other algorithmic factors that make .edu's so strong. But, again, I don't think it has anything to do with the mere fact that it's a .edu TLD. So, sure, the algorithm doesn't favour .edu's specifically, but other algorithmic factors natural tend to make .edu's very strong domains.
No Name
02/06/2008 08:36 pm
This is one of the most talked about issues in SEO and there are several others people who are debating about which links are better. IMO It's the link itself that matters, not the particular TLDs.It just happen that most of the .edu and .gov site has authoritative content but all are still treated the same by the search engines
No Name
05/13/2008 12:23 pm
First of all, why would Google tell us, if it did value .edu or .gov links more? How could they not value these links more? They have to, if Google is anything they are logical, logic says; to have a .edu or .gov domain, you must be a registered educational institution or government agency, this must automatically add value. In addition there may be 100K .edu and .gov domains, when there is what 10 Billion .com and .net domains, no matter what anyone says, this has to prove valuable. In addition the mere fact that the average .gov and .edu PR is probably PR7-PR8. How can Google not value these domains more if they all have HUGE PR? 50% of all the PR9 websites on the net are either .gov or .edu sites, this clearly shows Google values these sites heavily.
N
05/23/2008 07:59 pm
I cant belive that .edu links are not good !!! .edu is really reaspected by google.
Alex Peterson
07/03/2008 06:46 am
Yeah seriously how is it possible? Most of the people are literally buying backlinks from .edu domains
No Name
02/12/2009 01:59 pm
Well, I think it's difficult to confirm that, remember that some time ago google was not very friendly with .info domains, so I think that links from .gov and .edu domains could be stronger than other TLDs.
Rick Blackmon
02/20/2009 03:36 am
I have trouble believing this. I feel the same way about .gov links.
James B
06/10/2009 01:24 am
Answer me this question!!! If .edu links are so important. Why does edulinks.com that sells them only have 1 pointing to their own site. Why does their own site rank high for .edu links etc... If they were so important, they would have 1000 pointing to their site, they charge hugh ammounts of cash for them. What a joke.
No Name
06/15/2009 01:26 pm
I think linsk are pretty dead these days, it's good to have a dozen to confirm to google what your about but theyre way less important than other factors unless your competing against an identical site then this would help you
No Name
06/17/2009 07:09 pm
i agree .edu have the only value that the sites have tons of content and have links to them from many other reputable sites
No Name
10/05/2009 01:20 pm
wow this is interesting.. i have to say im a bit gutted
No Name
12/16/2009 05:52 am
That's amazing, i had in my mind that .edu links are very worthwhile.. you know a they have high PR, high trust.. not easy to register these domains.. and american govt. involve in Google policy.?
fb siphon
07/11/2010 09:08 am
Might this is the case. But as for as I think the reason why .edu links are more valuable because the sites have good page rank.
fb siphon
07/11/2010 09:09 am
The reason those are of high quality is those sites have high page rank. There is no other reason.
Collins
07/29/2010 06:44 am
Is The Google is the only search engine you believe, i do not trust on Google rather than yahoo and Bing. The quality of Google is going much under than we think..so frustrating John.
No Name
10/30/2010 03:18 am
Great arguement. It's something we would all like to know in the seo community!
No Name
11/15/2010 12:33 pm
I proved that .edu , .gov , .org links very suitable to our site.
SEO Dude
01/19/2011 05:58 pm
Whether Google values .edu links or not a Google employee is the last person to trust. The point is that Google does not want SEO guys like us generating backlinks from any site because it alters the results that they want to happen naturally. That is why Google is seeking out paid links. I wouldn't expect them to say anything different. If they said in the boards that there was extra value on .edu links they know as well as we do that every SEO out there would do anything to get those links.
Chauffeur
02/26/2011 10:37 am
"a link from a .EDU domain is not in ITSELF a better link than those from .net or .com domains" "In GENERAL, I would like to add that no, backlinks from .EDU domains generally do not get additional credibility from Google". is not in itself... in general... but there is something that sets them apart. What is it?
Paintball Barrel
03/03/2011 02:38 am
.edu is not important. but sites with .edu typically are. case closed.
Eric
05/18/2011 10:22 am
.edu backlinks are still extremely important. The fact that this is the first time someone from Google has said otherwise should be a dead giveaway.
read quran
05/20/2011 01:01 am
i do not think so like edu links are valuable links and it puts difference in rankings as well
programming blog
05/30/2011 07:41 pm
are you joking?? I can't belive
aswk
07/19/2011 06:50 pm
i couldnt believe this. I have been building links from .edu forums and program for a very long time. I have seen successive results.
Elnahas Yasser
08/05/2011 11:02 pm
I totally disagree. EDU links are one of the ways in your link building efforts that will take you to google page one.
student
08/10/2011 05:11 am
this was written in 2008. in 2011 the value of a link is more complicated
Computernetworkdirectory
11/29/2011 03:31 am
If you edu links does not work than submit your website to my website at http://www.computernetworkhostingdomains.com . My website guaranteed one way backlinks. This service free.
Rozoil
12/26/2011 11:05 pm
The reason why they are more credible is because they usually have high PR and not because of the .edu. So this is somewhat true. http://www.rozoil.com
Manuel Da Costa
01/07/2012 06:29 pm
I will believe it when Matt Cutts confirms this. http://www.digital-tonic.co.uk
Joop Kiefte
12/27/2012 07:29 am
Very simple: .edu-domains are often of schools and other educational instances, that are highly accredited by others and FOR THAT REASON they have a high pagerank. For the same reason a lot of .info-domains are not worth so much: a lot of pages there are not highly accredited by others. The domain name itself has nothing to do with it; correlation doesn't imply causation. But for the very proces of acquiring a .edu-domain it is easier for a website to be seen by users as worthwile than a .info-domain. Google has one simple rule: good quality websites that users need should end high, cheaters should end low.
Adam
07/31/2013 10:06 pm
In this dofollow .edu directory you can have one .EDU link for free.
Edwin Dearborn
09/15/2013 06:13 am
Then why do some many companies still engage in procuring them?