.eu domain names

[purpleamp]

Hi and greetings from Oslo, Norway. I've been a lurker for a while and have finally taken the plunge and joined. I have run a number of sports related blogs (and still run one successful one) and am in the planning phase of my first portal site.

It will be very much aimed at the European market, so my question is simple - is an .eu domain worthwhile, or worthless?

Your answer will probably be "it depends", so here's a bit more information.

My desired domain is good for my target keywords (it's not a spammy keyword URL that doesn't "make sense") but is only available in .eu.

The portal is going to have good quality, unique content relevant to the niche, but I need some guidance on whether the .eu ending will harm the ranking.

Any thoughts welcome

[michael1981]

Absolutely. If your website is aimed at the European market, you should take out a .eu domain name. Country specific domains are fantastic, and Google gives them much more weight for ranking in their country code. I took out a .org.in domain name once, thinking it might rank well in general Google (this was a long time ago). Even after a few years, it only ranks well in India, and nowhere else lol Its no surprise I guess, but I thought I'd mention it to demonstrate the power of country extension domains

[purpleamp]

I understand that concept, hence the question. A .co.uk of course has more value in google.co.uk, but there is no google.eu!

My concern is not that .eu will be treated better in Europe, but that it is not penalised as a domain, and I would therefore be better off with a .com or .net that has less valuable keywords.

[ocreditor]

the google effect is obviously major here. no google.eu unfortunately...
there is still something to say for an .eu domain. it's classy and not sep driven.

get it, even if you make limited use of it. for example...:
http://onlinecasinosreports.eu/

[GCG]

I see my site http://www.online-casinos.eu as an investment but the casinos themselves have .eu domains and rank pretty well in the SE. My guess is the work you put in determines the rewards.

[purpleamp]

Thanks for the tips folks

I look forward to sharing my creation with you all real soon!

[FictionNet]

Out of interest, what language will you be writing this euro site in?

[purpleamp]

English