SEO School: .edu Backlinks, Yes or No?
The subject we’re tackling today is one of the hot topics in the world of SEO currently – the importance (or otherwise) of ‘.edu’ links and whether or not they’re necessary or desirable part of the optimisation process. If you’re an SEO or webmaster, you may have already been approached by someone attempting to sell you ‘.edu’ backlinks for a not insubstantial monthly fee, claiming that they’re a shortcut to better rankings and pass substantially more authority than normal co.uk or .com URLs.
So, do they?
Okay, big question. I’ll start by explaining exactly what .edu domains are; they’re essentially educational web pages of one sort or another, the numbers of which are limited and the distribution of which is tightly controlled.
The argument goes that because these domains are non commercial and available only to people who have met certain criteria, they are more trusted and will pass that trust on when they link out to your site, as if they are vouching for you. It basically boils down to the idea of TrustRank – the notion that somewhere in Google towers is a list of criteria for ascertaining trust exists and that has some bearing on the authority given to sites. This theory has been around for ages and would seem to make some logical sense.
Am I recommending that you close this window now and head straight to your nearest .edu emporium. Well, not quite. Unfortunately, like everything involving the internet, it isn’t that simple, especially considering the fact that Google staffers often post on webmaster help threads about how there’s no reason to expect an .edu to be more trusted simply by virtue of its URL.
I think the best thing to keep in mind is that whilst much of the time .edu links end up as trusted sites in the eyes of Google, this is not a birthright. These sites have to work for their rankings, just like everyone else. The .edu side of things is just another thing to take into account when working that out.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t look to get links from .edu domains, I’d just go into it with your eyes open and not simply assume a .edu has some sort of inherent value. If you can get an equivalent PageRank from a more related page then that may be a better bet.
And another thing, in most cases there really is no need to be paying yearly, any more than there’s a need to pay yearly for a regular link. Be very wart of anyone who tries that old chestnut.
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December 30th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
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