Edu backlinks are somewhat of a myth in the link building community.
This is because of edu domains being a lot more authoritative than your average website.
That, and the fact they’re notoriously difficult to obtain.
But are they actually worth the hassle?
Let’s find out.
Link building cheat sheet
What are EDU Backlinks?
edu backlinks are – you guessed it – links coming from a university or school’s website.
edu domains are considered significantly more authoritative than typical websites.
This perceived authority stems from the fact that these domains are associated with established educational institutions.

Search engines favor older, more established websites – and since edu domains are often upwards of 20 years old, they’re viewed as more authoritative. Even if they’re ripe with broken links.
So, in theory, links from these sites should have more SEO value.
Because edu domains are restricted to educational institutions, obtaining backlinks from them is VERY difficult.
This scarcity contributes to their perceived value.
The logic is that if something is hard to get, it must be valuable.
Essentially, the belief in the “super powers” of EDU backlinks is based on the assumption that they pass on a significant amount of authority and trust from the educational institution to the linked website, more so than links from other types of websites.
Are They Actually More Valuable than “Normal” Backlinks?
On paper, sure.
But in reality, edu backlink value varies wildly on a case-by-case basis.
There is much more that makes a backlink “strong” than just where it’s coming from.
Relevance
The linked content must be relevant to the page it’s linked from.
A link from a university’s engineering department to a recipe blog, for example, would be less valuable than a link to a resource on material science.
That much is obvious.
But in addition to topical relevance, you need to consider the audience of the website.
What good is your edu link if it leads students directly to your pricing page?
Are they going to buy your tool or product?
Probably not.
Anchor Text
The anchor text (the clickable part of the link) should be clear, concise, and provide context about the destination page.
Using descriptive anchor texts helps Google better understand what your page is about.

So for example, if you have a blog post that uses “link building” as its primary keyword but has tons of links with an anchor like “link building strategies”, or “building links”, it might start ranking for the latter as well.
Link Attributes
Dofollow links are generally considered more valuable for SEO as they pass on link juice.
A natural backlink profile still includes a mix of both dofollow and nofollow links.
While nofollow links don’t pass link equity, if the page the link is on receives substantial traffic, it’s still worth getting.

Once again, for a link to be valuable to your overall SEO strategy, you need to consider the KIND of traffic a site generates, not just its AMOUNT.
The majority of traffic of educational websites are high school students looking to enroll, or students who are already in the school.
Once they land on your site, there are two outcomes:
- The good: they stick around and read your content because they found your blog post informative, or they ended up on your career page and there’s an opening right up their alley.
- The bad: they immediately leave never to come back.
So, in conclusion, yes, edu backlinks can be immensely helpful when implemented right.
Keyword here being “right”.
But if your end goal is to try and manipulate Google rankings through college websites, it probably won’t work.
Now, let’s explore some options for obtaining relevant quality edu links.
Get on EDU Resource Pages
This backlink strategy works especially well for careers pages.
After all – how can you be more useful for a college student than offering them a job opportunity?
Other than offering scholarships, of course – but more on that later.
For example, Husson University is one of the many schools that has a “Job opportunities” page for its local area:

If you have an opening, this would make for a prime edu link building opportunity.
Let’s see how you can find these with Respona.
It’s pretty straightforward.
First, log into Respona, go to the “Campaigns” section, and create a new one using their “Resource pages” template.

It’ll ask you for a few things: the link to your careers page or whatever resource you want to promote, some keywords that describe your industry and the jobs you’re offering -like “marketing internships” or “software engineering jobs” – Respona can even help you come up with more keywords if you need.
You’ll also need a short summary of what your job opportunities are about, and if you have anything you can offer in return for the link, like cross-promotion, you can mention that too.
The next step is to get your email sequence ready.
Respona gives you some templates, which is nice, but it’s always better to put your own spin on them.
A cool trick is to use AI to generate icebreakers.
It automatically adds personalized details to each email, like something specific about the website or content they’ve already created.

It makes your outreach feel way more personal.
Next up is actually finding the resource pages.
Respona automates this part too – by using search results operators, like intitle:resources.
You can preview the results and filter them by things like edu domain authority and traffic, so you’re only targeting sites that are valuable to collaborate with.

After that, there are a few more settings you can tweak.
Respona has a built-in email finder that finds the right people to contact for you, like webmasters or career service managers.
Here is also where you can give the AI guidelines on how to personalize the emails so they sound more like you.

And if you turn on “recurring search,” Respona will keep looking for new link opportunities for you automatically.
Finally, before you hit send on everything, you can do a final review.
Double-check that all the information is correct and that AI personalizations look good.

Respona will also do some checks to make sure you’re not sending duplicate emails or contacting people you’ve already been in touch with.
Once you’re happy with everything, launch the campaign, and let Respona take care of sending out the personalized emails on the schedule you set.
Faculty Member Interviews & Blogger Mentions
If you have a blog, podcast, or even a YouTube channel related to their area of expertise, reach out and ask if they’d be willing to participate.
This gives faculty members a platform to share their knowledge and research, and it gives you valuable content for your audience.
In return for their time and expertise, you can offer them a backlink to their faculty page, research publications, or personal website from the interview itself.
Here’s an example: let’s say you run a marketing blog and you want to get a quality backlink from a university’s marketing department website.
You could reach out to a marketing professor who specializes in social media marketing and ask them for an interview about the latest social media trends.
You publish the interview on your blog and, within the interview content, naturally link back to their university profile or a relevant research paper they’ve written.
Like The Marketing Journal did a few years back:

If the professor is active on their department’s blog or their own website, they might also share the interview and link back to your blog, giving you that juicy edu backlink.
This same principle applies to university bloggers.
Many universities have student-run or faculty-managed blogs that cover a wide range of topics.
If your content aligns with their interests, you could offer to write a guest post or provide them with a unique data set or research findings that they can use in their own articles.
The key here is to make it a win-win situation.
You’re not just asking for a link; you’re offering something of value in exchange.
Scholarships and Discounts
Offering scholarships or discounts to students is another powerful way to attract attention from edu sites and potentially earn high authority backlinks.
As long as you have the budget, of course.
Universities and colleges are constantly looking for ways to help their students manage the rising costs of education.
So scholarship and discount opportunities are often featured on their websites, especially in financial aid or student resource sections.

Here’s how this link building strategy works: you create a scholarship or discount program specifically for students enrolled in a particular field of study or at a specific university (or even nationwide).
This could be a monetary award, a discount on your product or service, or even access to exclusive resources or training.
Once you’ve established the program, you reach out to relevant departments, financial aid offices, or student resource centers at universities to inform them about the opportunity.
For example, if you run a web design agency, you could offer a scholarship to students pursuing a degree in web development, graphic design, or a related field.
You would then contact the computer science department or the financial aid office at various universities to let them know about the scholarship.
Similarly, if you sell software or online courses that are beneficial to students, offering a student discount can also attract attention.
Link building cheat sheet
Now Over to You
In conclusion, edu backlinks can be hard to get, but can also more than pay off if you’re looking for an entry-level employee.
For ranking purposes, edu links have faded into a bit of an obscurity.
Especially compared to high quality links from other authority websites within your niche.
Need help growing your link profile?
Don’t hesitate to start your 14-day free trial with Respona to see how we can help.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Are edu backlinks still valuable for SEO?
While edu backlinks can hold some weight, their search engine optimization value depends on its context and relevance.
High-quality links from relevant websites within your niche are generally more valuable for search engine rankings.
How can I get edu backlinks without scholarships or discounts?
Consider faculty member interviews and guest blogging to generate backlink opportunities.
Offer professors or university bloggers valuable content in exchange for a high quality backlink to your website.
What are some red flags when building backlinks?
Unethical link schemes like link buying or automated link exchanges can harm your website’s ranking.
Focus on acquiring natural backlinks through high-quality content and outreach.
Is it okay to ask for backlinks directly?
It’s okay to directly request a backlink in your outreach, but it’s more effective to focus on providing value first.
Offer guest posts, interviews, or other benefits that incentivize the website owner to link back to you naturally.
How many edu backlinks do I need?
There’s no magic number.
Focus on building a diverse backlink profile with high-quality links from relevant sources, regardless of domain extension.