Difference between .ie, .co.uk and .eu for SEO?

[Zascar]

Can anyone tell me if there is any difference in using a .co.uk, a .ie and a .eu in google?

Currently I have a site for a business under .ie as it predominantly operates in Ireland, however they are doing more business in the uk and europe. We already have the .co.uk and we are thinking about using the .eu

Personally I rarely see .eu sites - does google not like them as much?

I have a site which was .com and I moved it to a .dj domain - dropped like a stone in google.

I think the .co.uk is best, however the domain we have is ever so slighly different to .ie one in its name, not quite as good...

Comments/thoughts?
Thanks

 

[mneylon]

.eu domains tend to be used by a lot of people for brand protection, but some companies are using them for their EU portal ie. main EMEA site where you can choose which national site you want to use.

Before we got our .com we had started using the .eu to push the brand across Europe (the .ie wouldn't work too well in the UK and the co.uk wouldn't work here either )

 

[glengara]

IMO there's a "bias" against ccTLDs outside their particular regional Google, not sure I'd use a .eu though....

 

[nevf]

.ie domains have been known to be very good in Google. I was talking to an SEO dude before who told me that a content filled .eu domain ranks brilliantly in Google, but if it's not filled to the brim with content, then forget it. As an example, Said he spent two months on one particular site just adding in all sorts of pages about everything, and eventually it worked in Google. This was when I was considering registering a .eu domain.

He gave me the URL of the site on a business card, but I lost it.
But i do know it was a greeting card site...

 

[Zascar]

Thanks guys. The majority of business is in Ireland, so I think its best to stick with .ie. But If I wanted to try to maximise targeting both .ie and co.uk - should I have two sites? Or is google clever like that - I heard they will punish your ratings if you duplicate sites on different domains.

Maybe same site with some changes etc? Is this doable?

 

[Hafsoh]

The combination of domain extension and the geographic location of your hosting server do have an influence on your SE Positioning unless you are using a Country Specific domain.

 

[aathuls]

The .ie extension is growing in popularity in Ireland.