Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Value of a .edu or .gov link?
-
I am looking to hire a company to start a backlink campaign for me. In my search I have stumbled across one which essentially charges a good amount of money to secure backlinks on .edu and .gov sites ($500 per link). This would be in context links. This company is an SEOMOZ recommended company so I am thinking the links will be well earned and not simple paid for to the university as to prevent future issues.
My question is, how can I put a value on these links for my website? Like lets says I have a DA of 1 right now, and I get one backlink with DA of 70 PA of 70, how will that effect my DA? How can I quantify how many .edu .gov links I will need before I start to place? I realize I will need some more mixed up there so it does not seem unnatural, but my business has a lot to do with universities and government entities.
I am trying to figure out how I can calculate the value of these links to me
-
The value of any one link is tough to measure, and it's often not what we'd hoped for. I think Google tends to look at the entire profile and often depreciates new links, adding in their value over time. The days where a couple of strong .edu or .gov links would make all the difference are in the past, IMO.
I don't know the company or offering, but this focus on .edu and .gov links and $500/link just makes me uneasy. You mention the links are contextual and that education/government are relevant to your business, but my gut reaction is that this may not be money well spent. For the price of a few links, you could build content that might attract hundreds of links.
Valuing any given link is an educated guess at best, but Rand had a decent post about it a while back (post is from 2009, but much of it is still relevant):
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/17-ways-search-engines-judge-the-value-of-a-link
-
Hi Demetrios,
It's difficult to say exactly how it'll affect your DA or PA - like PageRank there's a considerable number of factors and contexts that build that ranking.
Domain Authority is in part built up from your MozTrust score. The MozTrust is roughly calculated by measuring how many sites sit between your website and a trusted website. Educational and Government websites tend to be considered trusted websites, so if they link to you directly the MozTrust there is very high indeed.
Be aware though, you shouldn't build your site's success on the back of one or two trusted links. You need diversity and as many trusted relevant sites as possible to "back your credentials up" to Google and other search engines.
I know that's vague, but I hope it helps. Learn about how MozTrust works.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Spammy links
Hi Guys, I have a case which seems to occur more often for our customers. The websites of our customers seem to receive tons of backlinks from websites all over the world (China, Russia, Ukrain, etc). It’s spam we never asked for, we didn’t buy any dodgy linkbuilding packages or anything. Do any of you guys have experience with this matter? We try to disavow the links but it takes too much time and we will never manage to disavow 100% of all links. Examples are www.keukensduitsland.nl and www.m2beveiliging.nl Hope anyone has experience and maybe even solutions for this matter. Thanks!
Link Building | | Happy-SEO1 -
A link with "return false"- OSE sees as a No Followed Link
Hello, I couldn't find a clear answer to the impact on SEO for a link written in this way: [" class="expert_info" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">](w</span>ww.yourwebsite.com<span style=) [Does the "return false" act as a "no follow"? I came across this in our link data in Open Site Explorer which lists these links all as "no follows." However, an engineer I spoke to said that it shouldn't impact search engine behavior. Any ideas? Thank you in advance! -Sarah K.](w</span>ww.yourwebsite.com<span style=)
Link Building | | OneMedical0 -
Link Exchange
Hi everyone, I just started working for a client in a new niche. After reviewing the backlink profiles of his competitors I can see that the top sites are using a ton of link exchanges. They are from really spammy sites too. The kind that will link to anyone that provides a link back. Anyone else seeing much of this?
Link Building | | SixTwoInteractive0 -
Do links behind paywalls pass value?
Hi - we are about to have a product review go live on a site that uses a paywall. Will the link from this still pass SEO value to our site, and should we therefore optimise it? Thanks
Link Building | | GBC0 -
Changing links
Hi guys i wanted you views on changing the anchor text of links. I have quality links coming in but with year terms such as 2012 in there, if i want to change them all to 2013 for example would it be badly seen by Google? I cant say i feel comfortable about doing it but they are my links and are related to our products. Any advice much appreciated.
Link Building | | pauledwards0 -
How important are edu and gov backlinks?
I have heard that edu and gov backlinks are important but how so in a niche area like mine - real estate? Perhaps I am missing the point but I do not see how either type of site would ever backlink to a commercial real estate entity. If these are that important in theory, are they obtainable in practice?
Link Building | | casper4340 -
Does linking to a subdomain give link juice to the main domain?
I have a few domains that I'm going to use for link building, will the link juice from the sub domains transfer to the main domain?
Link Building | | Vsky0 -
Link Frequency
I understand that good link building is all about the quality of the link / the anchor text attached to it. But, what about frequency? Should I build until I can't build anymore? or create a plan to submit links to a certain # of sites per week/month?
Link Building | | pricefutures0