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.gov .edu Supremacy Links Debunked
By Barry SEO
Still looking for the edge, many people at the beginning of 2006
swore by the quality and 'special treatment' of .gov and .edu web
sites. It was believed that acquiring a one-way link from one of
these sites would provide disproportionate SERP boosts in
comparison to similar .com web sites.
So what's the verdict? Do US government and education web sites
enjoy special treatment in the eyes of the search engines? Well
luckily Google engineer Matt Cutts debunked the whole speculative
process by stating in one of his webmaster videos:
¡°¡in fact we [Google] don¡¯t really have much in the way to say ¡°Oh
this is a link from the ODP, or .gov, or .edu, so give that some sort
of special boost.¡± Its just those sites tend to have higher
PageRank because more people link to them and reputable people
link to them.¡±
You can¡¯t get any more concrete then this, however, many still
have ¡®gut feelings¡¯ that .edu and .gov have more than meets the
eye. Essentially Matt Cutts is saying, and we should all believe, the
link address has nothing to do with its strength, however, the
content does.
.edu and .gov have high PR because the content is of a different
nature than .com sites, typically trusted and unique. Many people
link to these sources and hence the great PR. Webmasters still
debate that there is a hidden trust factor for .gov and .edu sites.
A trust factor MAY exist, however, again, it has been EARNED
because of the content provided, the volume of the content, the
nature of it, and the number of incoming links. A .com site CAN
have an equal trust factor if its content and incoming links were
the same.
All things being equal, .com and .gov and .edu have zero difference
in terms of link value. It's the nature of the content that is
paramount and the deciding factor in any PR weight.
About the Author
Qualified SEO consultation provided by DistinctSEO. Service includes business strategy and small business SEO tailored to meet your web sites needs. Visit today for a free consultation.
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