What This Page Is For
USGovExplained.org has no advertising budget, so it grows one way: readers who find it useful pass it along. This page explains how to do that in a way that actually helps, and gives you the links and text to copy and paste.
Start right here by copying the site's address below, or open one of the other tabs:
How People Find This Site
Most people who land on a page here typed a question into Google or Bing first. Search engines decide which pages to show for a question by weighing two broad things: how well a page answers it, and how much the rest of the web trusts that page. The first part is our job, and the About page explains how every page here is researched and sourced. The second part is where readers come in.
One of the strongest trust signals a search engine has is links from other websites, often called backlinks. Google says in its own explanation of how results are ranked that one of the factors it uses to judge quality is whether other prominent websites link to or refer to the content, which it calls generally a good sign that the information is trustworthy. A link from a school, a library, or a community group works a little like a recommendation from someone who already has a reputation to protect.
Links also help search engines find pages at all. Google's documentation for site owners explains that it discovers new pages when it finds a link to them on a page it already knows. A brand-new page that nothing links to can take a long time to show up in results, while a page that a few real sites point to gets found, crawled, and listed much sooner.
Quality matters far more than quantity. One link from a real class page or a library research guide is worth more than many links from places nobody reads, and Google's spam policies specifically warn that buying links or trading them in schemes can get a site ranked lower. That is why the most useful thing a reader can do is put a link where people they know will actually see it and use it.
What Helps the Most
These are ranked by how much they help. Anything on this list is a real help, but if you can do the first one, it outweighs dozens of shares.
Link to it from a website
This is the single biggest help. A school or district resource page, a class website, a library research guide, a homeschool co-op list, a church or club site, a personal blog, a Substack, or a local newsletter that lives on the web. A link from a real site that people already trust tells search engines this one is worth showing.
Tip: Link to the page that fits your readers best (your state's page for a local group, for example) and use words that describe it, such as "how a bill becomes law," instead of "click here."
Add it to a class or resource list
Teachers, librarians, and tutors can list the site in Google Classroom, Canvas, a syllabus, or a research guide. Students who find it useful once tend to come back for the next assignment. The For Teachers page has reading paths by unit and ready-made announcement text.
Tip: A line in a syllabus or a library guide stays up for years and keeps sending new readers every semester.
Answer someone's question with it
When someone on Reddit, Facebook, Nextdoor, Discord, or a forum asks how something works (how the Electoral College counts votes, what a state senator does, how to contact a member of Congress), reply with a short answer and the page that covers it in full.
Tip: Only post it where it actually answers the question. Communities remove drive-by links, and a helpful reply gets upvoted and seen by far more people.
Send it to someone
A text to a friend who is studying for the citizenship test, an email to a parent helping with homework, a post in the family group chat before an election. Direct shares do not count as links for search engines, but they bring in readers who often share it again.
Tip: The share buttons on the Copy the Link tab fill in the link for you.
Follow along and send corrections
Subscribe to the newsletter to hear about new pages worth passing on. If you spot an error or an outdated fact, send it through the contact page. Accurate pages are the ones other sites are willing to link to.
Tip: Corrections are read and fixed, and the sources behind every change are kept on the page.
Please Skip These
Some tactics look like they would help but actually hurt. Search engines treat them as spam and can push a site down in the results instead of up.
- Paying for links, or accepting payment to place one.
- Link exchanges ("I'll link to you if you link to me") and link networks.
- Posting the same link over and over, or in comment sections where it has nothing to do with the topic.
- Automated tools that post links for you.
Ready-to-Paste Text
Pick the one that fits where you are posting, click Copy, and paste. Edit it however you like; your own words are always better than ours.
Short post
Texts, group chats, Facebook, X, Bluesky, Threads
Found a free site that explains how the U.S. government works: the three branches, the Constitution, elections, all 50 states, and American history. No ads, no paywalls, no sign-up. https://usgovexplained.org
Longer note
Emails, newsletters, community group posts
If you have ever wanted one clear reference for how our government actually works, take a look at USGovExplained.org. It covers the House, the Senate, the President, and the courts, how a bill becomes law, the Constitution and every amendment, and a full guide to each state's government and history. It is free, with no ads and no account to make. https://usgovexplained.org
Resource list entry
Syllabi, library guides, school and club resource pages
USGovExplained.org. Free reference guides to the three branches of the U.S. government, the Constitution, elections, all 50 states and the U.S. territories, and American history. https://usgovexplained.org
Website link (HTML)
Your own website, blog, or school page
<a href="https://usgovexplained.org">USGovExplained.org, a free guide to how the U.S. government works</a>
Markdown link
Reddit, Discord, GitHub, and other sites that use Markdown
[USGovExplained.org, a free guide to how the U.S. government works](https://usgovexplained.org)
Share the Page That Answers the Question
When someone asks a specific question, the page that answers it is a better link than the homepage. Every page on this site has its own address: open the page, copy the address from your browser's address bar, and paste it.
A few pages people share most often:
- Citizenship Test Practice
For anyone studying for the naturalization civics test.
https://usgovexplained.org/civics/citizenship-test
- How a Bill Becomes Law
The question students ask most often.
https://usgovexplained.org/legislative/billstoLaws
- How to Contact Your Elected Officials
For anyone who wants to reach a representative.
https://usgovexplained.org/civics/contact-your-officials
- The Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments, one by one.
https://usgovexplained.org/constitution/bill-of-rights
- Glossary of Government Terms
Quick definitions, each linked to a full page.
https://usgovexplained.org/civics/glossary
- Midterm Elections
What is on the ballot and how midterms work.
https://usgovexplained.org/civics/midterm-elections
About Donations
Donations are not open yet. If that changes, it will be announced in the newsletter. For now, a link or a share is the help that matters most.
Sources & Further Reading
- Google Search: How results are automatically generated (ranking)
- Google Search Central: In-depth guide to how Google Search works
- Google Search Central: Spam policies (link spam)
How search engines rank pages is described here only as far as Google documents it itself. Google does not publish its full ranking formula.
Thank You
Every link, post, and forwarded email helps another student, parent, teacher, or voter find a clear answer about how their government works. Thank you for passing it along.