[Sharkey]

How much does google weigh .edu links by comparison to other links? is there a ratio or anything significant that anyone else has noticed?

[neoprajjwol]

it's awesome question

[raven]

since its a link on an education site google and the searches look at it as a link coming from an authority site and an education one at that.

Since they are owned by universities and such they are considered hard to get due to them being regulated, so it i said.

[Rainmak3r]

How much does google weigh .edu links by comparison to other links? is there a ratio or anything significant that anyone else has noticed?

Interesting question.

I will say this from personal observation.
There's a single page domain that's been ranking for a VERY competitive term for over 6 months.
From all the reverse engineering I could cook, seems all this site has to boast for backlinks are a massive amount of .edu backlinks, to such an extent that it's outranked an authority website with a double listing...

Hard to say, but I'd stake my bet on them .edus.,.. suffering succotash!

[Fishingman1]

I Have noticed recently they do not work so well ?

[RideToHell]

No, there is no ratio for the effectiveness of .edu's, or any other kind of links for that matter. It seems to be a trend among SEO communities to see .edu and .gov links to be of higher authority than any other links.

[SimpleLeveraging]

The reason they are deemed to be so powerful lies from the nature of the sites themselves. Because they are essentially non commercial sites i.e sites driven by no commercial imperative it is deemed that any link coming from them will be fairly impartial. Also the number of authority back link these sites themselves have coming into them also adds weight to their position. The very fact that links coming form these sites are harder to acquire also adds weight to their cause.

The key thing here is that it is not the domain suffix that is powerful but the nature of the sites themselves for example Universities in the UK use the .ac.uk domain suffix but that does not lessen their power and influence.

So to sum up, look at the site and the content not necessarily the domain suffix. Some educational establishments allied to Universities are just as powerful but they use different suffixes.

[Maverick 2.0]

It gives your site the trust and authority it needs. Though, don't blast your site with bunch of links. It's best to drip feed 5/10 links per day.

[SEOHelpz]

As a thumb rule, Any links which are difficult to get are considered valuable.

I know it is debatable and its not 100% true. Logically getting a EDU links especially a contextual link is not very easy (forum links and blog comments are easy) so there is a high chance that google might have added an extra relevency for these links (who knows .. ).



EDU links got such a big importance is because in many of the popular forums there are many who sells those kind of links alone and they might have made a hype for it. Even I have noticed a good response from clients when I include .edu links in my packages.


So to know whether these links really works you have to try it.

SEO is a gambling, so just try out what seems to be resonable and if it works , well continue with it..

I know this is not an answer to the OPs question, but that is the fact and that is the reason why you don't have answer for this questions (along with many other SEO questions) in all the forums in this universe.

[boydie]

.edu sites are important to get into your linking mix, look at what seomoz and majesticseo are counting, they got that info from somewhere

[boydie]

.edu sites are important to get into your linking mix, look at what seomoz and majesticseo are counting, they got that info from somewhere

Another point I should make, getting a blog comment on a .edu is worth nothing, the links need to be good

[RideToHell]

Ya it is awesome question. But I really don't know about it so sorry I cant help u....

You seem to know quite a lot about Management engineering. So much that you are spamming now..

Edited by RideToHell, 04 April 2012 - 05:29.

[JSP]

Ya it is awesome question. But I really don't know about it so sorry I cant help u....



..........................

Management engineering

Thank you for your wonderful input.

My opinion? I think they're overrated. People hype up .edu backlinks like they're the second coming. Do they help a bit? Maybe. But I haven't run any studies myself.

[jimmyn]

Depends what type they are as boydie says.

And also, whether they are actual .edu sites. You get so many .edu sellers who only sell .edu.xx links.

[macker2298]

it really depends, i don't think you get the same juice from a .edu forum..i'm sure edu links are still very strong just on actual websites with pr and not on a forum profile page

[ttt2012]

Forum profile and blog comments edu links are probably good for diversity, but they don't carry "extra weight" IMO. Contextual, in-content edu backlinks could be good, but, again, it depends on the site. With that said, I would take a contextual, in-content, do-follow, backlink from a PR6+ .edu site any time of the day

[Fixer]

It totally depends on the link itself. If it is just a profile type link then it will not carry much weight. IMO a link is a link but as what has been said on this thread already, a lot of the power can come from the domain and it's overall authority. If your link is on a page that is interlinked well then a lot of juice can be channeled through your link to your site and make it a powerful link.

I guess this is like anywhere you get links really, I have never seen a real difference in these links, but you will find with a lot of things in seo the field will be split, so best to test and make your own mind up.

[nj42]

Just having .edu does not give a link any additional value. Generally, they are more trusted and harder to obtain but the TLD itself does not add anything.

[Will]

Yes....Wiki edu links do very little. They don't give you any juice. I suggest you join your local university small business accelerator program and get real, high PR edu links that way. Usually it's free and if you shmooze their webmaster you can get your sites edu links. Plus you get local recognition for starting a business in your community and usually access to free or cheap interns.

Just a suggestion...may not work for everyone.