Peaking at BayHawks Web Trends

*NOTE* This post was re-written May 30, 2009, to correct an error in reporting. Google's auto-complete feature had caused many of the search terms to drop the quotes around the team name, making for a broadened search, and thus exaggerated results that I originally reported. I've recalculated all the search results, and re-written the post accordingly. Thanks to Scott Schroeder from Ridiculous Upside for the catch.

I did a quick Google search of each of the current D-League teams to get a feel for where the BayHawks stand in terms of their Web presence. Using each teams name in quotes as a single search term, I searched the 15 D-League franchises, exempting Springfield since they do not yet have a team nickname. I also did a second search without putting the team name in quotes. (For example, searching "Erie BayHawks" and Erie BayHawks.

The teams yielded somewhere between 19,000-62,000 results, a pretty close range. The BayHawks were, however, on the low end. The search term "Erie BayHawks" yielded just 25,900 results, sixth fewest in the league. And when the quotation marks were dropped, the BayHawks had the fewest results in the league. Some of that can be attributed to the fact that BayHawks is a unique name not encompassing much other than the team whereas something like Red Claws, 14ers, Flash, and Energy all have additional connotations beyond basketball. Still, Erie's search results could be better, and it's a sign that the team needs to beef up its Web presence.

The two highest totals belonged to the Dakota Wizards and Iowa Energy. Of course, the term, "Iowa energy" is also a generic term that may contribute to their numbers, and there's no way to know exactly how many of those links are for the D-League team rather than energy in the state of Iowa. Still, there's no doubt that there is some separation among D-League teams and their online presence.

For Erie, there's some work to be done. Hopefully the number will continue to grow as the team enters its second season next year.

Below is a look at the results from a Google search of each of the teams (as of 5/30/09). The first number listed is from the term in quotation marks, and the second reflects the broader search of the team name without quotation marks. I've listed the teams in order of most hits with the team name in quotation marks:

1. Dakota Wizards: 61,100/163,000
2. Iowa Energy: 59,200/17,500,000
3. Idaho Stampede: 53,000/85,800
4. Colorado 14ers: 51,700/63,000
5. Austin Toros: 42,700/63,000
6. Utah Flash: 39,700/6,630,000
7. Tulsa 66ers: 33,000/41,600
8. Sioux Falls Skyforce: 30,600/31,300
9. Albuquerque Thunderbirds: 26,300/34,000
10. Erie BayHawks: 25,900/29,500
11. Rio Grande Valley Vipers: 24,400/47,200
12. Reno Bighorns: 19,600/399,000
13. Los Angeles D-Fenders: 19,300/124,000
14. Fort Wayne Mad Ants: 18,600/66,800
15. Maine Red Claws: 12,900/63,400