Are .gov Backlinks Worth It? How to Earn One

A real .gov backlink is worth having, but the .gov suffix isn't the reason. Google gives government domains no ranking bonus. An editorial link from a city, state or federal agency page is strong because people trust and link to that page. A .gov link you can buy or create yourself is usually worth nothing.

Does Google give .gov links extra weight?

No. Google's John Mueller was asked in January 2020 whether .gov links get ranking preference and answered with one word: "No." In 2018 he said the belief that .edu links are more valuable has led to so much link spam on those sites that Google ignores "a ton of the links" on them. Search Engine Journal collected both statements.

Government sites tend to be strong for ordinary reasons. They're old, they publish primary information, and news sites, universities and businesses link to them all the time. That gives many .gov pages real authority. The page's own links and readers are what your link benefits from. Does the domain extension affect SEO? covers the same point for .com, .io and other endings.

Why .gov links are rare

Only government bodies can register a .gov domain. The registry is run by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and its eligibility rules say that "only verified U.S. government organizations can register and operate a .gov domain." That covers federal agencies, states, territories, tribes, counties, cities, special districts and school districts.

Two things follow from that:

You can't set one up yourself. Nobody can register a .gov domain to host links, unlike a blog on a free platform.
Government staff link carefully. Many agencies have written linking policies, and a link to a business can look like an endorsement. Most outbound links go to other agencies, nonprofits and official resources.

Other countries have their own versions with similar restrictions, such as .gov.uk in the United Kingdom, .gov.au in Australia and .gc.ca in Canada. Everything in this guide applies to those as well.

The .gov links that are worth nothing

Search for "buy .gov backlinks" and you'll find packages for a few dollars a link. Genuine government links can't be produced at that price. These packages contain:

Profile and forum pages on old government community portals. They're orphan pages with no readers, and the links are usually nofollow.
Comment spam on agency blogs that left comments open.
Redirect URLs. Some government sites have exit scripts shaped like agency.gov/redirect?url=yoursite.com. A URL like that is a redirect and not a link on a page. No page on the .gov site links to you.
Hacked pages. Spam injected into a compromised local government site. It gets removed when the site is cleaned up, and you don't want your domain listed in that incident.

Buying any of these also breaks Google's link spam policies, whatever the domain. What makes a backlink bad explains the warning signs.

The .gov links that count

Useful government links come from a page where staff decided to list an outside resource. The common types:

Type of .gov page	Who gets linked	How hard
City or county business directory	Local businesses that are licensed or registered	Easy
Economic development and tourism pages	Local employers, venues, attractions	Easy to moderate
Approved vendor or contractor lists	Companies that hold a government contract	Moderate
Event and sponsorship pages	Sponsors and partners of public events	Moderate
Resource pages for residents or businesses	Free tools, guides, datasets	Hard
Agency reports and blog posts	Sources of data or expertise	Hard

Local pages are the realistic starting point for most businesses. A link from your own city's site is also relevant to where you operate, which helps local search. See do backlinks help local SEO.

How to earn a .gov backlink

Check local listings first. Search site:yourcity.gov "business directory" and the same for your county and state. Many towns list licensed businesses, and some let you submit or correct your entry. Check that the entry has a link and that the URL is right.
Look at economic development and tourism offices. They exist to promote local employers and attractions. If you fit, ask to be added.
Do business with government. Registered vendors, grant recipients and program partners are often listed publicly. If you already hold a contract, ask whether the vendor page links out.
Publish something a public servant would send residents to. For example, a plain-language guide to a local permit process, a calculator, or a dataset nobody else has compiled. What is a linkable asset? explains how to build one.
Fix broken links. Government resource pages are often out of date. If a page links to a dead resource and you have a working equivalent, tell the page owner. This is broken link building, and outdated government pages are a good place to use it.
Take part in public programs. Sponsoring a city event, hosting a workshop with a small-business office or joining a recycling or apprenticeship scheme often comes with a listing.

When you contact someone, write to the person named on the page, keep it short, and explain how the link helps residents. A government webmaster can't act on a request that looks like marketing.

How much effort are they worth?

One or two genuine .gov links are a good addition to a link profile, especially for a local business. A campaign aimed only at collecting them is poor use of time. They're slow to earn, there aren't many available, and a link from a relevant site in your industry can do as much for your rankings.

Chase links from pages that are relevant, have readers and were chosen by a person. For followed, in-content links from sites in your niche, Backlinkster matches you one-for-one with other site owners. Both links go inside real articles, and a real person checks each swap.

Frequently asked questions

Are .gov backlinks dofollow? It depends on the page. Links on government resource pages and directories are often ordinary followed links, while comment areas and profile fields are usually nofollow. Check the rel attribute on the specific link. Dofollow vs nofollow links shows how.

Can I buy .gov backlinks? You can pay for things sold under that name, but they're profile pages, comment spam, redirect URLs or hacked pages. None of them passes real value, and buying links violates Google's spam policies.

Are .gov links better than .edu links? Neither suffix carries extra weight with Google. Both are judged by the linking page's own authority, relevance and whether a person chose to place the link. Are .edu backlinks worth it? covers the university side.

How does a small business get a .gov backlink? Start locally. Check your city, county and state websites for business directories, tourism listings and vendor lists, and ask to be included where you qualify. Sponsoring public events and partnering with small-business programs can add more.

Do .gov backlinks help local SEO? A link from your own city or county site is a relevant local link, and relevant local links are one of the signals Google uses for local rankings. It helps the same way a link from a local newspaper or chamber of commerce does.

The bottom line

A .gov backlink is worth what its page is worth. Skip anything sold in bulk, because genuine government links can't be manufactured. Start with your own city and county, where a legitimate business can often get listed by asking, and treat any national-level link as a bonus that comes from publishing something useful to the public.