Since September 1, websites have been eligible for nomination for the 2026 .eu Web Awards. For agencies, the competition is more than just a nice award: It offers a simple opportunity to reach out to clients, showcase successful web projects, and develop joint marketing content based on them. The winners will also receive a 5,000-euro budget for an online campaign.

A website is finished, the client is satisfied, and the next project is already waiting. That’s why, especially at agencies, good client projects sometimes disappear from the portfolio faster than they’d like.

The .eu Web Awards 2026 provide a great opportunity to highlight selected projects once again. That’s because, for the EURid competition, it’s not just website operators who can submit their own sites—other people can also nominate a suitable website.

This allows agencies, for example, to suggest suitable websites to their clients.

And there’s more to it than just an award submission.

What are the .eu Web Awards?

The .eu Web Awards are organized by EURid, the registry behind .eu. The awards have been presented since 2014 and are intended to recognize particularly outstanding websites using the European domain extensions .eu, .ею, and .ευ.

In 2026, winners will be selected in five categories:

• European Excellence: for public agencies, EU institutions, and established companies, among others
• Sustainability Champion: for websites and projects with an environmental or social focus
• SME Star: for small and medium-sized enterprises that have been in business for no more than three years
• Cultural Ambassador: for websites focused on European culture, art, and cultural heritage
• People’s Choice: for projects with broad community relevance that don’t fit into the other categories

The nomination period runs from September 1 to September 30, 2026.

The five finalists in each category are scheduled to be announced on October 6. This will be followed by public voting and jury evaluation. The winners will be announced on November 4, 2026.

Why this is particularly interesting for agencies

At first glance, the Web Awards seem primarily to be a competition for website operators. From an agency’s perspective, however, they offer an interesting marketing opportunity.

Imagine you developed a new .eu website for a startup last year. Instead of waiting until the next redesign or support ticket to get in touch, you can reach out to the client with a positive message:

“We think your website might be a good fit for the .eu Web Awards and would like to nominate the project.”

This isn’t a typical sales pitch. You’re clearly focused on your client’s success, while at the same time giving them an opportunity to expand their reach.

Even the nomination itself can serve as a good hook for social media or an agency newsletter. If the project makes it to the finals, things get even more interesting: Then the agency and the client can work together to generate buzz around the project and rally the community to vote.

An award can become a joint marketing project

For agencies, it is therefore worthwhile to look beyond just the actual submission.

Several communication strategies can be developed around a nomination:

Before submitting: Identify suitable customers and contact them personally.

After the nomination: Present the project on your own channels and explain why the agency considers it particularly successful.

If you make it to the finals: Use newsletters, LinkedIn, your blog, and other channels to build awareness for the vote.

If you win: Publish a case study and highlight the role that the agency’s strategy, design, development, or content played in the project.

In the best-case scenario, a free award contest can turn into a small joint campaign.

It’s important to remember that the website and the customer should be the focus. Anyone who uses a customer nomination primarily for self-promotion loses some of the positive impact it could have.

Which customers should you nominate?

Of course, if you manage a lot of websites, you don’t have to submit your entire client portfolio indiscriminately.

A look at the judging criteria for past .eu Web Awards reveals what EURid values. Among the factors considered for the 2025 finalists were content, structure, and functionality; visual design; and accessibility. EURid also cites intuitive user navigation and clear, relevant content as key characteristics of successful projects.

This provides agencies with a practical checklist.

Websites where you can answer “yes” to several questions are particularly interesting:

• Does the website have a clear purpose and an easy-to-understand message?
• Is the design professional and consistent with the brand?
• Is the site intuitive and technically sound?
• Is there compelling content instead of just placeholder text?
• Is accessibility taken into account during the design and implementation phases?
• Is there an interesting story behind the company or project?
• Does the website clearly fit into one of the five categories?

Agencies should be able to find candidates quickly, especially in the SME Star category. This category is aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises that have been in business for no more than three years. Anyone who works with startups or young companies should therefore take the time to search their portfolio specifically for candidates in this category.

Sustainability, cultural, and nonprofit projects can also be good candidates.

What can you win?

In 2026, EURid will select one winner per category.

Each winner will receive 5,000 euros for an online marketing campaign designed to promote the website and its mission.

In addition, there is a professionally produced testimonial video and a digital .eu Web Awards Winner icon that can be used in your own communications.

It’s the marketing budget, in particular, that makes this an exciting opportunity for agencies as well.

If a customer wins, this could ultimately lead directly to the next joint project: from paid social to search ads to campaign design. Of course, the specific implementation should be planned in accordance with the terms and conditions and in collaboration with the customer.

An Opportunity for Resellers and Registrars, Too

It’s not just traditional web agencies that can use the awards as a way to connect with clients.

Anyone who sells domains, hosting, or other web services also has natural access to the target audience. Resellers, for example, can specifically draw customers’ attention to the awards by highlighting a .eu domain.

Instead of a generic newsletter along the lines of “The .eu Web Awards are launching,” a personalized message often works better:

“We’ve noticed your .eu website. Have you thought about entering the .eu Web Awards yet?”

This creates significantly more tangible value than yet another generic product email.

However, there is one restriction for registrars: Websites operated by EURid registrars themselves, as well as websites related to their registrar activities or related projects, are excluded from participation. Customer websites, on the other hand, may generally be nominated, provided they meet the conditions for participation.

And what’s in it for domain investors?

For traditional domain investors, competition is less relevant. After all, an attractive .eu domain alone won’t win a web award.

Things get even more exciting for domain investors who don’t just park domains but also develop their own websites and projects.

A successful project on a good domain can demonstrate what can be achieved with a strong name. Reaching the finals or even winning an award further adds to the story surrounding the domain, brand, and website.

This can also be of indirect interest to domain brokers: Successful .eu projects demonstrate that a domain should not be viewed in isolation, but rather as part of the overall brand positioning.

In 2025, the awards generated a fair amount of interest

Last year’s figures show that the awards are not held entirely behind closed doors.

According to EURid, 93 nominations were received in 2025. A total of 25 finalists were selected from among them. During the subsequent voting, the finalists received a combined total of 57,451 votes.

The winners were ultimately determined based on a combination of public voting and the jury’s evaluation.

For an agency with a client that has been nominated, this means that reaching the finals—at the very latest—creates a genuine opportunity for communication.

Our tip: Do a .eu portfolio check

If you’re an agency or web designer who regularly works on client projects, it takes very little time to browse through your portfolio for suitable .eu websites.

It’s better to choose two or three projects that really fit the categories rather than submitting as many websites as possible. Reach out to the respective clients personally and explain to them why you think their project is a good fit.

That alone can lead to a valuable customer connection.

And maybe in the end, it won’t just be a nomination, but a shared award, a new marketing campaign, and a case study that will continue to benefit your agency for a long time to come.

Nominations for the 2026 .eu Web Awards will be accepted from September 1 through September 30.

Sources and Additional Information

You can find official information about categories, participation, the schedule, and prizes on the EURid .eu Web Awards website. EURid will also announce the finalists there, and later, the winners.

For some background, it’s also worth taking a look at the results of the 2025 .eu Web Awards. Among other things, EURid lists the number of nominations, finalists, and votes cast, as well as the evaluation criteria used at the time.