Why European Schools Should Use edu.eu domains (and not .com or .eu)?
What is .edu.eu Domain Extension?
edu.eu domains are those domains ending in “.edu.eu”. Like “.com”, “.net”, “.org” and others, “.edu.eu” is a domain extension. The majority of .edu.eu domains are associated with European educational institutions, such as European universities, colleges, schools, organizations, and associations.
.edu.eu domain registry is a regulated domain space and only educational organizations in Europe are eligible to register a domain according to strict eligibility criteria.
To obtain a .EDU.EU second level domain (2LD) the applicant educational institution must:
a) be an entity that operates in the European Community
b) meet the eligibility criteria contained in Schedule 1 of Registration policy; and
c) meet the domain name allocation criteria contained in Schedule 2 of Registration policy for the domain name for which they have applied.
a) Domain names must refer either to the name of the eligible entity or to a project or program operated by that eligible entity.
Where a domain name refers to the name of the eligible entity, it must either:
i. exactly match the eligible entity’s name, or
ii. be substantially and closely connected to the eligible entity’s name, or be an acronym or abbreviation of the eligible entity’s name.
b) Where a domain name refers to a project or program operated by the eligible entity, there must be a semantic relationship between the name and the name of the project or program.
c) To the extent that many eligible entities include a geographic reference in their domain names, European geographic names must not be excluded.
For more, please visit Eligibility Criteria
Benefits
There are several benefits of switching to a .edu.eu domain.
1-)Prestige: .edu.eu domains are more significant than it’s counterparts and they represent recognition and trust for European Educational Institutions. First impressions can make a huge difference for schools, especially for international student recruitment and having an edu.eu domain is a great first impression!
2-)SEO Benefits: Google and other search engines see edu.eu domains as a quality and relevance signal and we have observed that all schools that switched to a .edu.eu domain from another extension enjoyed a significant improvement in several SEO metrics, such as organic traffic and Domain Rating
Search engines like Google can instantly recognize that your site is about an educational institution and you have better chances of ranking above your .com counter-part for school-related search keywords. edu.eu domains are not associated with any country by default in Google Search Console, .edu.eu domains will appear in general search results in every country in Europe and the rest of the world, This is the ideal setting for the organizations with Pan European or International audience as compared to domains ending with country codes like .es or .ro which virtually never appear in search results outside of that country. But If your organization targets only a local audience, You have the option in Google search console to associate your domain with any specific country like ccTLD. This means more options and better Search Engine Optimization with more organic traffic to your website.
3-) Scarcity: Scarcity is the limited availability of a commodity, which may be in demand in the market or by the commons. In modern economics, if a commodity is scarce, it is more valuable. Just like that, .edu.eu domains are usually reserved for European academic institutions, of course. If you can get one there are often ranking benefits on search engines. Anyone can buy a .com or .net domain but not everyone is eligible for a .edu.eu domain, hence makes having one more valuable.
4-)Hosting .edu.eu Emails: Edu.eu domains gives schools the ability to host all their emails on it. Like [email protected]. It doesn’t just stop here. Hundreds of companies around the world provide their products and services free of cost or at a heavily discounted price to students and teachers. You would require a .edu.eu email ID to enjoy those benefits.
Github has put together a very useful list of tools and services under student pack and giving it away for free – https://education.github.com/pack
How to get a .edu.eu domain for your school?
Unlike other commercially available domain names, .edu.eu domains require some bit of paperwork, since the registrar authority requires to verify whether the applying entity is a registered educational institute or not.
European EDU Domain Registry Ltd is the official registrar of .edu.eu domains. For more information, please visit; Register .edu.eu Domain
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