The French Town of Eu is pondering a name change. The stated reason, to increase it’s Search Engine Optimization.
Apparently a search for “Eu” will return results referencing the European Union or the French verb Avoir, and not the historic little town. The cost of this invisibility, a whopping $20,000 a year in hotel revenues.
Of course, I find the idea completely ridiculous.
While it’s important to think logically about Search Engine Optimization, the idea of relying on it, and changing a name that’s hundreds of years old, makes me shake my head.
What They Want
People want relevant and interesting content. They want to read/hear/see shared experiences, and stories of love, romance and fine french food. They need Eu to help their friends tell stories of their amazing experience, provide a reason and a way to share all that is unique, amazing and remarkable.
The ironic part is that now, a search for “The French Town of Eu”, turns up these results, all pointing to stories relating to the towns proposed name change, mentioning little about the why a visitor would like to spend time in the Town.
Traffic Are People
It’s important to remember that behind website traffic , are people. People who want to be treated like a real person, not a statistic. Don’t let SEO tell the story. It will end up being lame and completely unremarkable.
Just make sure that you have something worth talking about.
PS – Should the people in EU be more worried about ranking for words like “Amazing French Gettaway” or “Historic French Town” and not Eu? *shaking my head*
Photo Cred: Eugene Teo