Domains - Does anyone have opinion on State Name or Abbreviation?

by Jill Carpenter

Posted: 13 years ago 11 replies

OFFLINE MARKETING

Ok, I am looking at incitynamestatename.com

Which could be inwhovillekentucky.com or inwhovilleky.com

Which would you go with?

This is going to be a main directory site which I'm going to sub-domain out pages on so I add addresses like:

dentist.inwhovillekentucky.com

To abbreviate or not - that is the question.

#abbreviation #domains #opinion #state

Summertime Dress 13 years ago

would depend if more search queries for kentucky or ky? I would go with whichever gets more searches.
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- Jill Carpenter 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Summertime Dress
  
  would depend if more search queries for kentucky or ky? I would go with whichever gets more searches.
  
  And what would be the easiest way to find out which gets more searches? Do you think the G is going to tell me?
  
  The state I'm dealing with is obviously not the one in the example above, but I guess the other question is wouldn't both kentucky and ky be seen as equals in the wonderwheel?
  
  Hmm, maybe that can show me.
  
  Thanks
  
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Digital Traffic 13 years ago

I would grab both.

Lots of people with the exact same idea.

Lock them out.
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- Jill Carpenter 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Digital Traffic
  
  I would grab both.
  
  Lots of people with the exact same idea.
  
  Lock them out.
  
  They could have the same idea, but will they implement?
  
  I hate buying more than I need. I have gone nuts in the past with buying a ton of domains so I have limits.
  
  It only takes one domain.
  
  I already know the second one I get will be a waste to me.
  
  So, if you had to choose, which one would you get?
  
  Thanks
  
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  Jill Carpenter 13 years ago
  
  Ok, from what I'm seeing on the Wonderwheel, I think full state name is more effective than abbreviation.
  
  The only site that would be impossible to beat would be the chamber of commerce for that particular area.
  
  Kentucky is a funny result, but you can see how just the initials are treated:
  
  I had similar results with the state initials - things did not really gel. (lol)
  
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Digital Traffic 13 years ago

I always watch the auto fill in the google tool bar.

It seems to default to the state abbreviation.

Then I do a search with keyword tool to confirm.

90% of the time the state abbreviation has more searches than the full name.

It's usually City and State abbreviation, then City, then City and State.

Example using exact local searches

Hotels in Tempe (590)
Hotels in Tempe AZ (880)
Hotels in Tempe Arizona (480)
Apartments in Tempe (590)
Apartments in Tempe AZ (1600)
Apartments in Tempe Arizona (210)

Then I will do the same search for a few more top niches to confirm the results.

This will give you a good indication of future search patterns.

As more and more people upgrade their computers and search devices, which are becoming mostly geo specific, and a larger percentage of people catch on to the auto fill in the tool bars, I would guess that the abbreviation will win out in the long run.

So, my first choice would be.

In City State Abbreviation

In City

In City State

In larger cities, the city, will come before the city state abbreviation, in most searches.

In that order.
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- Summertime Dress 13 years ago
  
  I did a Market Samurai search for broad match kentucky colleges or ky colleges...
  
  kentucky had SEOT of 204 (winner)
  ky had SEOT of 91
  
  Hope that helps!
  
  Thanks
  
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redlegrich 13 years ago

Also try Google trends to compare two to four keyword sets. It does not give actual numbers just a comparison. It works great for just a quick sanity check.
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redlegrich 13 years ago

Oh, and as far as my search habits I never spell out the name of a state. I'm lazy, and I don't think I'm alone on that one!
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Peter Olson 13 years ago

I've never needed the state in the domain name to rank good. I suppose if "Louisville ky plumber" is searched more than "louisville plumber" then get the ky domain. Otherwise get the shorter domain.
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- anmatt 13 years ago
  
  Interesting information. I'm getting into local SEO myself so had to check on this. In my case, even my city could be abbreviated, but it seems to work better to spell it out.
  
  Thanks
  
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