Which Link Strategy is Better: .edus or Blogs?

[ProjectLabs]

Suppose you only have enough resources to execute a strategy that will earn links from 100 .edu sites or a strategy will earn 100 blogs on your industry. Which would you choose?

[KeriMorgret]

Quality edu links may be harder to get. But there are a ton of blogs on .edu sites with unmonitored comments. I don't think http://ask.buffalostate.edu/index.php?showuser=13006 will hold much weight in the engines, yet it's on an .edu domain.

[totalvac]

I would say .edus. They are much harder to get.

[stevewiideman]

The politically correct response is that your strategy should be around relevancy, traffic potential and with a brand-focus rather than a keyword focus. Matt Cutts has shoved this at us many times, stating that Google treats .edu links the same as any other domain (though you and I know they carry more authority):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxTmZulcQZ0&hd=1&t=56s

That being said, I think the power of your campaign is going to come from the quality of it. Many of my clients have created a 2012 College Appreciation or University Recognition or other program that involves outreach, product use/attrition, and heavy content. Done well, not only will a site create 100 or more links from colleges and universities, but the brand exposure through that outreach program will resonate within the walls of those schools for years to come - because they were the important part of the campaign, not the link.

Go for the edu campaign if you have the financial resources to do so, otherwise, a simple outreach program to bloggers to build your brand, get product reviews and reach blogger subscribers can still be an excellent way to drive traffic and sticky links.

Stay away from blog ads and blog link buying. These networks are being identified and flagged daily. Stick to blogs that do not have a link list in the sidebar or footer, and focus on those in your niche with a reasonable subscriber base. Try this site for blogger insights by industry: http://www.invesp.com/blog-rank

Good luck!

[kcodik]

Yes, like everyone else says. Go for a diversity of edu and blog sites. The more diverse your link portfolio is the more authority you seem to have. Also if you are doing this through a service, be careful how they get these links and make sure they are FOLLOW links.

[wojkwasi]

Go for quality & diversity Consider what sort of links will last the test of time & also create kick-ass content that will attract natural links

[DavidKonigsberg]

Keri Raises a good point - I was under the assumption you would be going out and building these yourself , But like keri said if a service is doing this for you be careful how they are doing it and make sure it is quality and not a network or something that leaves a footprint.

[KeriMorgret]

The one that doesn't promise me an exact number of links on a particular type of blog. I want the strategy that doesn't involve someone having easy control over all 100 links.

[DavidKonigsberg]

It all depends on the strength of the sites not if its a blog or edu -If you can get on 100 blogs in your industry that people actually read not just seo sites and they have strong DA You should go with the real marketing (blogs in this case).