Links matter. Anybody who has even heard of SEO is probably well aware of this. But simply having a large number of links pointing toward your site isn't enough. The quality of the link matters too.

While there are many aspects of a link that improve its quality, one of the most powerful is whether or not the link comes from a .edu domain. Links from a .edu source count for more than many other types of links.

The reason for this is fairly obvious. Educational organizations have a much higher standard of citation than a typical blog or website. A link from an educational institution is a vote of confidence for your site. It tells the search engines that you are a trusted source.

How much popularity do you have with educational institutions? You can find out using the .edu backlink checker. It scans the web to determine how many educational institutions are linking to you.

Of course, the tool has other uses as well. If you have been monitoring your link building efforts, you probably already know how many .edu links are pointing toward your site. But the backlink checker is useful for any page on the web.

Knowing whether or not your competitors have .edu backlinks helps you get an idea of what you're going up against. If you aren't capable of obtaining your own .edu links, it might be difficult to surpass them. The good news is it can also help you spot potential allies to trade links with.