Subdomains: State Name or State Abbreviation?

[Zona]

Here's a question for all of you domainers on NP tonight.

We are developing sports related site for a client which will use subdomains for each state - a total of 50 subdomains.

Here's the question ... Would you suggest using the actual state name in the domain or the post office appreviation?

For example should it be:

az.sportsxyz.com or arizona.sportsxyz.com
ca.sportsxyz.com or california.sportsxyz.com
ny.sportsxyz.com or newyork.sportsxyz.com

As an added bonus we will give 5NP$ for each response received in the next 4 hours.

Thanks!

 

[weblord]

the abbreviated one since they can understand it, very obvious.

 

[Zona]

What about SEO? Would it be better to have the entire state name in the subdomain from an SEO perspective?

 

[weblord]

you never mentioned seo in your first post, if you are promoting by way of seo then the spelled out ones are much more needed than the abbreviated ones.

What about SEO? Would it be better to have the entire state name in the subdomain from an SEO perspective?

 

[uber]

um... both? az.sportsxyz.com & arizona.sportsxyz.com can point to the same page surely.... not as if GD doesn't give 99 free subs.... take about 30 minutes to do...why the big deal?

 

[cdboard]

I'd use the abbreviations. easier for end users to type, and makes a more compact URL.

 

[cobainer]

abbreviations all the way.....the shorter the url, the better it is....

 

[Domagon]

If for SEO purposes, full state names definitely.

If intended mostly for type-in use, don't use sub-domains.

Likely not the answer you want, but, in my view, if branding is what your client is seeking, then it's best to keep it simple.

If your client has concerns about repeat visitors having to navigate extra steps, that's easily solved with a cookie - ask the visitor about their desired location / teams and save that in a browser cookie.

Another thing to consider is that state names may not be best depending on the type of sports site it is ...

ie. a person residing in southern New Jersey is likely more interested in the Eagles in Pennsylvania than the Giants ... another example, a person in Pennsylvania depending on the part of the state could be interested in different teams - Eagles in the eastern part, Steelers to the west ... folks who like one are often hostile to the other.

Rambling on, but point is that states may not be ideal depending on the type of site; many sports fans are more focused on team names as opposed to where the team is physically located - which to digress, isn't always clear, as many New Jersey folks complain about - major teams there often promote themselves as being in New York.

Hope this helps.

Ron

 

[theuniverse]

Direct State Abbreviation to State Name.