Town of Eu has SEO Problems

It speaks to the importance of the internet, specifically search, that it is not only businesses but even small towns that are very concerned about SEO. A town of 8,000 people in Normandy, France has decided to change its name because it doesn’t place well in SERPs. (Believe me they don’t. I’ve searched them in all major search engines and unless you add the word “town” to their name you won’t find them in the first page.) The reason for the town’s problem is not that their name is that their name is actually a highly competitive term – Eu. That’s right. Type in Eu and you’ll get everything related to the European Union. Big SEO problem indeed!

Now the reason why the Mayor of Eu, Marie-Françoise Gaouyer, wants to change the name isn’t that she simply wants to rank well but that they’re small town is missing out on the tourist boom in northern Normandy. This is a result of the tourists visiting the region mostly depends on the internet to find more information and perform bookings. What’s worse is that the website of France’s national railway, SNCF, doesn’t even list the town! I guess a small town called Eu can easily get lost in a country where “eu” is defined as the past particple of the verb avoir.

Currently some of the names being considered include “Mairie de la Ville d’Eu”, “Eu-le-Château” and “Eu-en-Normandie”. Whatever name they end up with in the meantime they’ll need to drum up some PR the old-fashioned way since it will take about 4 years before the name can be changed.

By Sparky in General, Google Rank

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