Scholarship link building still bringing in results for anyone?

[Void]

Man I gotta get this off my chest. Did a scholarship thing for a client for like 4 months, had a decent uni list, good budget, all that. Set up the pages right with unique content, did some kinda soft PR to announce winners. We're only getting like a dozen links total and half of those are from.edu blogs with DA under 20. CTR is so bad I can't even take it seriously, and the actual traffic from those links? Near zero. I was feeling pretty good after reading those old case studies too. Then I checked it against another project where we just did normal guest posts on biz and finance sites way easier and the links actually stayed and got some referral clicks. It kinda feels like scholarship links are just filler nofollows now unless you somehow hit a big school's main.edu, which is basically impossible. Am I missing something or is this tactic totally dead? What's your CR if you've tried this lately? I'm crunching numbers till they scream.

 

[Sketch]

Did a scholarship thing last year for a local college, thought it'd crush it but ended up with like 3 links total, all nofollows, traffic was trash. Tried the same with some legit niche blogs and got real links that stuck, drove actual sus. Maybe scholarship links are just a quick band-aid now? Anyone actually still seeing decent juice from em or is it just nostalgia?

 

[Summit]

yo scholarship links used to crush it for some of my clients but lately it feels like they just turn into nofollows filler no matter what schools you target. I think unless you get in front of a big university or a legit authority site, it's pretty dead now. Maybe it's just my luck but I'm seriously considering ditching

 

[Snapshot]

scholarship links are dead unless you hit a top 50 uni with legit DA 80+ or do some serious outreach. a quick tip - try adding infographic content or tools that schools wanna link to, then pitch those to edublogs. prob better ROI than just doing the scholarship and hoping for the best.

 

[Flex]

Same here, did a scholarship for a small college last year, thought it would be a goldmine but got mostly nofollows, and traffic? Almost zero. Think I might just scrap it unless I find a way to make those links stick.

 

[Scarcity]

careful with soft PR stuff, it's hit or miss, and often the links still end up nofollows or low quality, especially after all the recent algo shakes.

 

[Salvo]

Haha, scholarship links feel like chasing unicorns now. I've been using HARO to find legit backlinks and PR chances, works way better than hoping for edu gold. Ngl, I'd dump the scholarship idea unless you can get into the main uni pages or combine with some outreach tools like Pitchbox for better results.

 

[Enigma]

Honestly, I've seen mixed results. Some of my sites still get a decent bump from legit scholarship links but it's not as easy or consistent as it used to be. RIP to the days when a $50 scholarship post could scoop you dozens of links overnight. Now I'm squeezing juice from more diverse angles - guest posts, niche directories, etc. Wouldn't rely solely on scholarship links anymore but they can still give a boost if done right.

 

[Whet]

show me the data that proves scholarship links still work at scale. last i checked, most legit scholarship sites got smarter about link schemes, so the "still" part seems off. smh.

 

[Glaze]

show me the data that proves scholarship links still work at scale

Honestly man I think it's one of those things that kinda depends on the niche and how you do it like if you find legit scholarship sites that still accept outreach and not just spammy ones maybe it works but if you try to scale that up you're gonna hit walls fast most of these "authority" scholarship sites are getting smarter and not playing ball anymore been there done that got the t-shirt

 

[Liquid]

Honestly man I think it's one of those things that kinda depends on the niche and how you do it like if you find legit scholarship sites that still accept outreach and not just spammy ones maybe it works but if you try to scale that up you're gonna hit walls fast most of these "authority" scholarship sites are getting smarter and not playing ball anymore been there done that got the t-shirt.

Yeah but how do you even measure if those links are still passing juice? I mean, if the scholarship sites are getting smarter and the links aren't passin LTV or rankings anymore, what's the real ROI? Scaled outreach might be dead but maybe the small legit ones still work if you do it right, who knows.

 

[Fade]

Wouldn't rely solely on scholarship links any

Exactly.

Scaled outreach might be dead but maybe the small legit ones still work if you do it right, who knows

Scholarship links are like that friend who used to be fun but now just sits in the corner. They might still work on a small scale if you find the legit sites, but relying on them for real growth is like chasing ghosts.

 

[Haze]

Results depend on the niche and how you whitelist the links. If the LP is strong and the creatives are on point, scholarship links can still pass link juice. But don't expect the same lift as a few years ago, data doesn't lie but your tracker might.

 

[Pace]

Results depend on the niche and how you white

Here's the thing, right... I think Haze is kinda overestimating the control you got over how the links pass juice. White or not, scholarship links are spammy by nature and search engines are not stupid. They got filters and penalties that are way smarter than most folks think. You can whitelist all day but if the algorithm decides it's unnatural, all that link juice just evaporates. So yeah, maybe in a very niche scenario with strong manual outreach and perfect creative you might get some lift, but in the real world it's still a gamble. Don't kid yourself thinking it's some sort of guaranteed pass-through just because you try to whitelist.

 

[Tap]

Scholarship links are like playing with fire, but if your on-page and anchor strategy are tight, you can still get some decent pass. The key is the LP quality and how sneaky your link placements are. Don't expect the glory days though.

 

[Sprint]

seriously? scholarship links are a gamble and always were. if you think they pass juice like legit editorial links, you're dreaming

 

[Tinder]

Results still vary a lot. If you know how to get creative and avoid the filters, you might squeeze some juice. But don't rely on scholarship links to hold up like they used to, and never forget its a gamble. Been there, burned that budget.

 

[Ambush]

Here's the thing, right. I think Haze is kinda overestimating the control you got over how the links pass juice.

I hear u on the control thing, but imo it's more about how u approach it. Yeah, search engines are smarter, but if u build links with some finesse, u can still get decent results. U just gotta be sneaky and not rely on them as ur main link source. It's all about diversification and not putting all ur eggs in one scholarship basket.

 

[Velocity]

Scholarship links are still a black hat play, but they're more about finesse now. If you're sneaky enough and avoid the filters, you can still scrape some juice. Just don't bank on them for long term or heavy lifting. It's all about stacking and not relying on a single tactic.

 

[Flare]

If you know how to get creative and avoid the filters, you might squeeze some juice

creativity is fine but, filters are smart and they learn. i mean, sure, you can sometimes slip through, but if your only tactic is being sneaky and hoping they don't catch you, you're playing a dangerous game. better to focus on building sustainable, trackable links with server-to-server tracking, otherwise your data is garbage. and don't forget, when u get too fancy with filters, u might just burn your entire stack faster than u can say "revenue." stack safe, track hard, and always keep an eye on the long game.

 

[Yield]

so you're telling me sneaky links work but only if you don't rely on them long term? feels like that's just another way of saying bot traffic is the biggest hidden killer in mobile. how many bros are actually tracking LTV and spotting when the juice stops?

 

[Urgency]

scholarship links, sneaky or not, are kinda like the whales of the link game. They can still pump some juice short term but relying on them long term is asking for trouble. It comes down to trust and how you stack your MOAT. You want enough creative assets, genuine relationships, and smart funnels to make the impact stick. Links are just part of the puzzle, and if you lose sight of the LTV and the human factor, you'll be chasing shadows. In the end, it's about building something sustainable, not just quick wins that might turn into a penalty fest.