Search Engine Optimization & Domain Names

January 21, 2008

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There is a huge article on webmaster world (All copyrights to the author there) and will like to share it with you and add some points that may be can help you on understanding the “How domains can impact your search engine optimization, and is there any more benefits to have an .edu or .gov backlink from there?”

Trusted TLDs - What are Trusted Top Level Domains?

Do .edu and .gov links have, in general, a higher value and weighting factor in the overall scheme of things?

I was recently involved in a very exciting and lengthy discussion centered around a simple question from someone who asked…

Is there any evidence that having inbound .edu and .gov links are better links and count more than other links?

An immediate two character reply of “No” was presented as the answer to the question.

I, on the other hand, had something more to say on the subject. And it sort of went like this…

If someone gave me the choice of having a .com, .edu or .gov inbound link and all things were equal, I’d take the .edu and .gov over the .com any day. From my understanding, they do have a different value in the overall scheme of things. They are trusted TLDs and not everyone can get one like the .com, .net, .org TLDs. A link from a .edu or .gov site is going to have more weight than one from a .com site in general. Now, if the .com is an authority site, then things get a little tricky in determining which would be better. But don’t worry about it. If you can get legitimate .edu and .gov links, definitely get them.

After that reply, I came under heavy artillery fire. I was surrounded. Trapped and nowhere to go. Just the type of environment I really excel in. So, I ended up putting together a synopsis detailing my personal experience and that of others when working within a Trusted TLD space such as .edu.

Much of the information I responded with is based on a few years of experience in working with an authority .edu TLD. I also have experience in other TLD sectors that are of a Trusted nature. I’ve read and have assimilated various patents that have been applied for and approved by the U.S. Government in regards to search.

The specific patent I used for my supporting documentation was filed by Google on 2003 December 31. It is referred to as United States Patent Application 20050071741 and is titled . . .

Information Retrieval Based on Historical Data
http://www.google.com/search?&q=20050071741

What Makes a TLD (Top Level Domain) Trusted

I’m going to focus on the two TLDs that were referenced which are the .edu and .gov extensions. Let’s take a close look at the restrictions that govern the .edu and .gov TLDs. First we need to establish what makes these TLDs Trusted in the sense that they are legitimate and quality TLDs “out of the box” and provide a little more value in the overall picture.

The .GOV TLD

I’m going to save you the time of researching the .gov restrictions and tell you that the .gov TLD is an authority and is Trusted out of the box. You are welcome to perform the hours of research that I did to effectively determine that. You can start here…

.GOV Registration
http://www.dotgov.gov/

The .EDU TLD

On July 25, 2003, Amendment 6 to the Cooperative Agreement clarified and changed several important policies applicable to the .edu top-level domain:

* Names in the .edu top-level domain, regardless of when issued, may not be transferred in any way by the Registrant to any other entity.

* Transferring” includes selling, trading, leasing, assigning, or any other means of transferring.

* Names in the .edu top-level domain that are not grandfathered must reasonably represent the name of the Registrant, may not be deployed to identify any organization other than the Registrant, and may not be “generic names.”

* Registrants in violation of these policies will be notified by EDUCAUSE in writing. Violations not corrected in 45 days will result in removal of the registration of the .edu name.

* EDUCAUSE will conduct a six-month study of .edu names not in compliance with current policies and will make recommendations to the Department of Commerce with respect to bringing such registrations into compliance.

Amendment 9

* On October 21, 2004, EDUCAUSE and the Department of Commerce signed Amendment 9 to the Cooperative Agreement, updating the .edu eligibility requirements as follows:

* Modify the .EDU eligibility requirements to comprise two categories of organizations. Category 1 would be labeled “Accredited Institutions”; Category 2 would be labeled “System/District Offices”.

* Category 1 would contain the current eligibility criteria (postsecondary institutions accredited by one of the agencies on the Department of Education list of National Recognized Accrediting Agencies).

* Category 2 would contain this text: “University system offices, state coordinating offices or boards, community college district offices, or equivalent entities located within the United States which have as their principal activity the management and governance of a collection of ‘Accredited Institutions’ that themselves meet the eligibility criteria for .EDU.

* Each entity, in order to qualify under this category, must be commissioned, established, or recognized by a state, local or national government to perform this management and governance activity.”

Amendment 11

On February 2, 2006, EDUCAUSE and the Department of Commerce signed Amendment 11 to the Cooperative Agreement. Amendment 11 authorizes EDUCAUSE to:

* Continue administration of the .edu Internet domain through September 30, 2011.

* Implement a procedure addressing violations of the prohibition against transferring .edu domains from one entity to another.

* Assess an annual $40.00 administration fee to recoup the expenses of managing the domain. Administrative contacts for each .edu domain will receive a series of communications about the fee starting in early May.

If you have any doubt at this point that the above restrictions do not indicate a sign of legitimacy, quality and trust, please refer to the below links for more detailed information.

EDUCAUSE
http://www.educause.edu/

.EDU Policy Information
http://www.educause.edu/edudomain/policy.asp

.EDU Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.educause.edu/edudomain/faq.asp

Extracting Information from the Patent

Patents are revealing. In this particular instance, we have Google filing for a patent that covers just about every thing you could think of related to the quality of search. If you are really interested in how the search engines review documents, reading one or more of the patents filed will give you a level of knowledge that few in this industry are willing to pursue. Too many SEOs are focused on “what they see” in their browsers while severely neglecting the foundation that supports what they see.

Okay, from this point forward it is going to get somewhat technical. I’m going to be pulling quotes from the patent and also from the guidelines of the .edu TLD. I will not focus on the .gov TLD as they are both (.edu and .gov) classified as Trusted TLDs. All official documentation will be quoted. My notes will not be quoted and appear directly below each reference from the patent itself.

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