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

[frankandmaven]

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.

[EGOL]

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?

[Mat_C]

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.

[effectdigital]

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