How to Get .EDU and .GOV Backlinks

Conventional wisdom states that Google gives more weight to sites that have incoming links from .edu (education) and .gov (government) domains when compiling its page ranking.

Finding .edu and .gov websites.
Do a Google search using the term .edu or .gov. Now you need to find the ones that have blogs and then you need to find the blogs that allow comments.

Find .EDU and .GOV backlinks based on the typical URL structure of the most popular blog management software (i.e. Wordpress):

The following queries target .EDU and .GOV domains hosting the main wordpress login file “wp-login.php” or the Wordpress admin path “/wp-admin/”. This simply means that the domain hosts a blog. These queries will take you to the Wordpress login page - don't panic as you just simply click the link that points back to the blog's homepage - you don't have to login to post comments. (some sites will make you login - skip them and search for those that don't)

* site:.edu inurl:wp-login.php +blog
* site:.gov inurl:wp-login.php +blog
* site:.edu inurl:”wp-admin” +login


Search for .EDU and .GOV backlinks based on textual keyword combinations that are typically found on blogs:

These 3 Google search queries take you directly to the main blog pages by searching for .EDU and .GOV domains containing the keyword terms “no comments” and “blogroll” which are keywords commonly found on blogs. You can always mess around with different sets of the keywords for additional search results. The "keywords" are enclosed with the (") quotation symbol.

* site:.edu “no comments” +blogroll -”posting closed” -”you must be logged in” -”comments are closed”
* site:.gov “no comments” +blogroll -”posting closed” -”you must be logged in” -”comments are closed”
* inurl:(edu|gov) “no comments” +blogroll -”posting closed” -”you must be logged in” -”comments are closed”


One more method of querying Google but it does limit the results by requiring the URL to contain the term "blog". It does have an advantage though in that it allows you to filter your searches by using the trailing "keyword" in the query. For example you can put a date like "2007" in the trailing "keyword" location and this will eliminate older inactive blogs from being listed in the SERP's. You can use this trailing keyword for specifying "country" or "city" or "university" etc. Basically you can narrow your searches however you like.

site:.edu inurl:blog “comment” -”you must be logged in” -”posting closed” -”comment closed” “keyword”

Substitute whatever keyword you like between the trailing "keyword" quotation.


The Work

You will have to visit each of these blogs and when comments are accepted you then proceed to leave your words of wisdom.

Comments are moderated so you will have to leave a relevant comment about the subject matter if you want your comment to be posted. If your comment is relevant they will be happy to accept it.

Your Anchor Text.
To post a comment you have to give your name, email address and website URL. This is perfect as your "name" gets hypertexted and points to your website or blog using the URL that you give. If you use your name (or any name) then this becomes your anchor text and Google will index you accordingly. If you use the name "paul" then your backlink will point to your site and Google will rank you high in the SERP's for "Paul".

This is not what you want. The name you use should be one of the keywords you want your site ranked for in the SERP's.

This can be tricky as you don't want to be to obvious, ie using "how to make money online" as your name. Sometimes it is better to target secondary keywords like "SEO Tips" or "backlinks" or "work at home mom" as your "name". Ultimately you want the EDU or GOV backlink first and foremost but it should have an anchor text that will benefit you more than a regular name would.

Some "names" will automatically be flagged as spam and your comment will never reach the moderator. Keywords like "free" "sex" "money" etc should never be used. Black hat methods are time consuming and involve a lot of trial and error. Normally you should stay clear as the rewards are usually not worth all the effort or at best are short lived. Getting a few optimized backlinks from EDU and GOV domains are the exception as I have found that these backlinks can propel your site to the top of the SERP's quickly. If you try this then I caution you to take your time and find the right blogs (relevant to your keyword) and spend some time creating a comment that will get posted. Don't just start spamming every blog you come across - even if successful Google will notice that you suddenly have a ton of new backlinks from all sorts of unrelated sites and most likely penalize you. Always remember that backlinks should appear natural - one or two EDU or GOV backlinks a week is plenty but be sure they are from relevant blogs.