Skip to content
    Moz logo Menu open Menu close
    • Products
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Pro Home
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Home
      • STAT
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Home
      • Compare SEO Products
      • Moz Data
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis
      • Keyword Explorer
      • Link Explorer
      • Competitive Research
      • MozBar
      • More Free SEO Tools
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
      • SEO Learning Center
      • Moz Academy
      • MozCon
      • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers
      • Agency Solutions
      • Enterprise Solutions
      • Small Business Solutions
      • The Moz Story
      • New Releases
    • Log in
    • Log out
    • Products
      • Moz Pro

        Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

      • Moz Local

        Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

      • STAT

        SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

      • Moz API

        Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

      • Compare SEO Products

        See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

      • Moz Data

        Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

      Track AI Overviews in Keyword Research
      Moz Pro

      Track AI Overviews in Keyword Research

      Try it free!
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis

        Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

      • Keyword Explorer

        Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

      • Link Explorer

        Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

      • Competitive Research

        Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

      • MozBar

        See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

      • More Free SEO Tools

        Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO

        The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

      • SEO Learning Center

        Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

      • On-Demand Webinars

        Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

      • How-To Guides

        Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

      • Moz Academy

        Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

      • MozCon

        Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
      Moz API

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

      Find your plan
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers

        Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

      • Small Business Solutions

        Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

      • Agency Solutions

        Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

      • Enterprise Solutions

        Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

      • The Moz Story

        Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

      • New Releases

        Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

      Surface actionable competitive intel
      New Feature

      Surface actionable competitive intel

      Learn More
    • Log in
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Dashboard
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Dashboard
      • Moz Academy
    • Avatar
      • Moz Home
      • Notifications
      • Account & Billing
      • Manage Users
      • Community Profile
      • My Q&A
      • My Videos
      • Log Out

    The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. Home
    2. SEO Tactics
    3. Intermediate & Advanced SEO
    4. Is there a benefit to changing .com domain to .edu?

    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.

    Is there a benefit to changing .com domain to .edu?

    Intermediate & Advanced SEO
    4
    4
    965
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
    • frankandmaven
      frankandmaven Subscriber last edited by

      Hey All!

      I'm wondering if there is any benefit (or if benefit could possibly outweigh the cost) to changing a domain from .com to a new .edu domain.

      The current .com domain has decent credibility already, and the .edu will have never been used before.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • EGOL
        EGOL last edited by

        I can see cases for using the .edu domain.

        If you are in the business of educating people at your facility, at their facility, or on a website  then I would definitely start using the .edu domain.

        If you are a publisher of academic content that is really good content and recommended by professors and used by students then I would use the .edu domain.

        There are many domains that clearly communicate the business of the organization.   They bring "credibility even if undeserved"... and if you really deserve it then the .edu domain could be like throwing gasoline onto a fire in terms of attracting natural links and pulling clicks in the SERPs.

        Which domain would you click (or type in) if you were looking for an educational organization named "wilson"?   Which one would you be more inclined to link to?

        Wilson.com or Wilson.edu

        There are .edu domains being used by organizations that are in the business of education, but most of their activities would be considered to be something other than students and teaching.  Smithsonian.edu, Getty.edu, GIA.edu.

        Have you ever sent a link request to a website suggesting that they link to the most valuable page in the internet for a topic and they write back.... Wow!  That's a fantastic article, but we don't link to commercial websites?

        If you have a website on wilson.com and send a link recommendation to loc.gov or nasa.gov, what are your chances of getting a link?   Does that change if your website is on wilson.edu?

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • Mat_C
          Mat_C Subscriber last edited by

          I presume that this is for an educational institution. However, apart from making clear that your website is about an educational institution, it doesn't have any benefits.

          If you want to redirect the .com version to the .edu version, you have to make sure that you have the right redirect strategy. Redirect pages to the right corresponding pages on the new domain using 301 redirects.

          So to answer your question, I think the effort is bigger than the benefits.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • effectdigital
            effectdigital last edited by

            No, none whatsoever. The old TLD bonus debates drew an accurate correlation but completely inaccurate causality

            People thought:

            1) I see lots of EDU sites

            2) They rank really well

            3) If I make an EDU it will rank well

            ... WRONG! Google aren't that stupid. Otherwise all webmasters would now be using EDU domains and all other domains would be pointless (which would be a weird internet to live on)

            The truth was actually this:

            1) EDU TLDs (Top-Level Domains) tend to be chosen by educational bodies or organisations

            2) Such organisations are usually run by educated people and academics

            3) One thing those people are good at, is creating really strong (in-depth) accurate content

            4) As such many EDU sites naturally became prominent, because of Google's normal ranking rules (not some weird EDU TLD bonus scheme)

            If you're looking for quick and easy answers in SEO, you're gonna have a bad time

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • 1 / 1
            • First post
              Last post

            Got a burning SEO question?

            Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


            Start my free trial


            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.

            • See all categories

            Related Questions

            • Opera-Care

              Is there any significant benefit to creating online directory listings that only provide nofollow links to our domain?

              Is there any significant benefit to creating online directory listings that only provide nofollow links to our domain? For context, whilst doing link gap analysis I've found our competitors are listed on local government directories such as getsurrey.co.uk and miltonkeynes.co.uk. Whilst these aren't seen as spam directories, it's still highly unlikely we'll receive much traffic through them. The links they provide to our domain have the nofollow tag. So I wonder whether there's any other benefit to investing the time in creating these listings? Would be interested to hear your thoughts Many thanks in advance

              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Opera-Care
              1
            • LJHopkins

              Referring domain issues

              Our website (blahblah).org has 32 other domains pointing to it all from the same I.P address. These domains including the one in question, were all purchased by the website owner, who has inadvertently created duplicate content and on most of these domains. Some of these referring domains have 301's, some don't - but it appears they have all been de-indexed by Google. I'm somewhat out of my depth here (most of what I've said above has come from an agency who said we should address this before being slapped by Google). However I need to explain to my line manage the actual issues in more detail and the repercussions - any anyone please offer advice please? I'm happy to use the agency, or another - but would like some second opinions if possible?

              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | LJHopkins
              0
            • JordanBrown

              The benefits from having a dedicated IP

              Is the true? Claim by SiteGround Having a dedicated IP for each website is considered by some experts as an advantage for search engine optimization. There is a common believe that sites with dedicated IP addresses do better in the search engine results than those on shared IPs. Such sites do not share the risk of being banned for sharing the same IP in case another website hosted on the same server gets banned by a search engine.

              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | JordanBrown
              0
            • pnb567

              Is .ME domain is effective in SEO ?

              I am always listening about TLD. com. org .net but what about the .me domain. Can this will be effective in SEO. Can i able to beat down my competitors, if i choose .me . I also have a .com or other TLD option but if i am making my name than .me is for me but i need your suggestion for the seo purpose. Is there really domain affective in term of SEO.

              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | pnb567
              0
            • unibiz

              Domain Alias SEO

              We have 5 domain alias of our existing sites
              All 5 domain alias are domain alias of our main site. It means, all domain alias will have exactly same site and contents
              Like Main domain: www.mywebsite.com
              DomainAlias: www.myproduct.com,  www.myproduct2.com,  www.myproduc3.com
              And if anybody will open our site www.myproduct.com, it will open same website which I have in primary site what can i do to rank all website without any penalty....i s there any way? This is domain alias of in hosting industry Thanks

              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | unibiz
              0
            • SEODinosaur

              Changing a url from .html to .com

              Hello, I have a client that has a site with a .html plugin and I have read that its best to not have this. We currently have pages ranking with this .html plug in. However If we take the plug in out will we lose rankings? would we need a 301 or something?

              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | SEODinosaur
              0
            • RikkiD22

              Exact match domain names

              Hello, Someone approached a client of mine to sell a exact match domain name for a very competitive and high converting keyword. Would this be of any use and what are the best tactics to employ if it is purchased? I was of the opinion that the 'power' of exact match domain names are dying fast but would be interested to hear what people with experience in this think and what they have done with them (i.e. set-up a website on that domain or re-directed it)? Thanks, Rikki

              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | RikkiD22
              0
            • hellemans

              Buying a banned domain

              Hello all, I've found a exact match keyword domain that I'm able to buy. Problem is that I'm under the impression it might have been banned by google, currently it is only showing adsense without content. The site can't be found using the cache: or site: parameters in Google and the PR is 0. What are your experiences on buying a banned domain and how can I double check if the domain is banned? This blogpost suggests I should not buy it, any other opinions? Thanks. Hellemans

              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | hellemans
              0

            Get started with Moz Pro!

            Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

            Start my free trial
            Products
            • Moz Pro
            • Moz Local
            • Moz API
            • Moz Data
            • STAT
            • Product Updates
            Moz Solutions
            • SMB Solutions
            • Agency Solutions
            • Enterprise Solutions
            • Digital Marketers
            Free SEO Tools
            • Domain Authority Checker
            • Link Explorer
            • Keyword Explorer
            • Competitive Research
            • Brand Authority Checker
            • Local Citation Checker
            • MozBar Extension
            • MozCast
            Resources
            • Blog
            • SEO Learning Center
            • Help Hub
            • Beginner's Guide to SEO
            • How-to Guides
            • Moz Academy
            • API Docs
            About Moz
            • About
            • Team
            • Careers
            • Contact
            Why Moz
            • Case Studies
            • Testimonials
            Get Involved
            • Become an Affiliate
            • MozCon
            • Webinars
            • Practical Marketer Series
            • MozPod
            Connect with us

            Contact the Help team

            Join our newsletter
            Moz logo
            © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
            • Accessibility
            • Terms of Use
            • Privacy

            Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.