.GOV LINKS

Getting .gov Links



There are probably as many different government organizations as there are stars in the sky. It is also important to realize that there are even more .gov sites than there are government sites because not all .gov sites actually belong to government organizations and some government organizations have more than one site. Additionally, out of the many .gov sites out there, not all link out to non-.gov sites. For example, in preparation for this article I wanted to do the impossible to try to get a link from WhiteHouse.gov but after browsing through nearly every page of that site, I just did not see the opportunity. That site simply does not link out.

These are the two important lessons to consider:

    1) Not all .gov are real government organizations and
    2) Not all .gov sites link out to commercial or non-government sites so it is important to be barking up a wisely chosen tree.
There are some ways to get .gov links. The simplest and least time-consuming way is to find .gov sites which have a blog. Some of them let you drop a link in their comment or your signature. That is an awesome freebee that requires very little effort. The next thing to do is to identify the .gov sites in your site’s niche, and go through their sites to see what they are trying to accomplish. Many government sites have some purpose for existence  and tend to have event calendars for local communities or particular causes. If your organization can create, host or run some event that helps that government site achieve what they need to achieve, they tend to be happy to add appropriate events to their existing calendars. And guess what -- events have a tendency to be recurring so you get a recurring link. That means that over time, if you get this right, you will accumulate tens or hundreds of such .gov (and .org) links.

I understand that not all companies or sites create events. This is where it pays to do something a little extra. Your office is probably empty in the evening and on weekends. Try to host events or groups that are championed by the .gov organization. If you provide office space to government organizations for some events for their groups, they may link to you in the sections where they thank sponsors and where they provide directions to the event. So if the stars align the right way  that is 3 potential links for every event which will recur. Plus, the people who come to the event will learn about your organization in a positive way, and have a small chance of becoming clients in the future, or tell their friends.

There are other ways to get the coverted .gov and .org links. If your company donates money to charity for tax write-offs, it can donate to an organization which will list it as a sponsor with a link back. That way you get the tax write-off and a link that would have been very expensive to get otherwise. That link alone may help you get enough advantage in the search engine rankings to make you your donated money back.

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