Copywriting for Hyperlocal Blogs
Miriam Ellis has wrapped up her 5-part series on copywriting for local blogs, with a series of posts focused on different areas of Northern California. It’s good reading, and dovetails nicely with the 5-part series I hope to begin in this space on Monday.
Where’s the Hyperlocal Content?
Chris Tolles, CEO of local news aggregator Topix.com, wrote about local advertising and local content last week on iMedia Connection. It’s an interesting piece. He lays out the stats about how local advertising dollars are shifting to the web, but wonders where the local content is:
Well, nature abhors a vacuum. Thus, amateur, user-generated content and commentaries are taking off in local markets. The internet’s solution to the dearth of local news coverage is the same as it has been with other problems of scale: let the people build it themselves. Similar to Wikipedia, the Open Directory and Usenet, truly local content is going to be provided by the people who live there.
In looking at sites like MetroBlogs, Gothamist publications, Outside.in, NowPublic, Baristanet and Topix (the site that I run), it becomes apparent that a massive amount of attention and investment has been paid to giving people a platform for engagement with the places they live. And while social networks (based on who you know) like Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace have generated a lot of usage, and even more buzz, none of them has really provided a locally contextual venue. You are unlikely to meet the neighbors who live two blocks away via Facebook or LinkedIn. However, when that same family starts blogging about your neighborhood or commenting on something another neighbor wrote, it’s a compelling discussion — one that you’re likely to read and possibly even join.
(emphasis mine)
Three cheers for Chris Tolles! That’s exactly what hyperlocal blogging is about, and why I started this blog. I don’t know if local content will ever fully catch up with local advertising, but that’s okay. There will eventually be enough local places (blogs, etc.) for advertisers to spend their dollars so they can reach a hyperlocal audience.
YOUR TURN: Do you agree or disagree?
8 Wordpress Plugins for Hyperlocal Bloggers
UPDATE, MAY 2009: I’m now using the MapPress plugin to insert maps into WordPress. You can read my MapPress review here.
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As a hyperlocal blogger, chances are you’re writing about specific locations pretty consistently on your local blog. But are you also showing where these places are? That extra visual element might be what separates a good post from a great one.
If you’re using Wordpress, there are several plugins that make it easier to add map data to your hyperlocal blog. Here are eight for your consideration, with more details on the one I’ve been using:
- Google Maps for Wordpress – see below for more on this plugin
- Google Maps in Posts – I’ve tried this one but am having trouble getting the map to display
- thydzikGoogleMap
- GeoPress
- Umapper – this is the next one I’m going to check out
- XML Google Maps
- WP Geo
- GoogleMapper
As I said above, I’ve been using Google Maps for Wordpress on a couple of our local blogs. The functionality is pretty simple: Into any post, you can insert a map from Google Maps showing the exact location you’re talking about in the post. Let me show it in action…
How It Looks
A couple months ago on our Kennewick blog, I wrote about the local 7-11 store and its goal of becoming the Slurpee capital of the world. You can click the link, or have a look at this screenshot showing how the map displays at the end of the post:
How It Works
I could’ve put the map anywhere in the post, but it made sense at the end. I can also control the size of the map, and I can include those “Directions To/From” links in the info bubble. The plugin controls are available on the same admin page where you write the blog post. Here’s a screenshot:
If you look closely at the small text near the bottom, you do need a Google Maps API code to make this plugin work (and you probably need it for all of the above plugins). But don’t start shaking at the mere mention of API codes — this part is brain-dead simple. Just go to Google, enter your URL in the form and hit the submit button. One second later you’ll have the code you need to input into your Wordpress admin.
Pros and Cons
I like the simplicity of this plugin because I’m the furthest thing from an expert on latitude, longitude, KML, XML, and all that other stuff. But the reason I’m going to look at other plugins is that this one only allows one address to be marked on the map. So, if you have two different restaurants that you’re writing about, you can’t show both locations with this plugin.
Your Turn
A few questions for you: What other mapping tools have you used on your hyperlocal blog? Are there similar map plugins/tools that can be used on other blogging platforms?
Sunday Night Maintenance…
This is almost embarrassing: This blog is only two weeks old and I’m already changing the blog theme/design. This isn’t me being indecisive; what’s happened is that only after a couple weeks of active posting and your excellent comments did I discover a handful of serious flaws in the current theme design.
So I’m going to be playing around for a little while tonight and hope to have a new theme up and running shortly. Pardon the mess. 
UPDATE: Still have some things to add and tweak, but this should work for now.
Speaking of Local Blogging Competition…
… Peter Krasilovsky points out that the uber-popular Huffington Post blog has launched the first of 10-20 local blogs: Huffington Post Chicago.
Says creator/founder Arianna Huffington:
HuffPost Chicago is part local news source, part resource guide, and part virtual soap box — featuring a collection of bloggers who know and love Chicago, and are looking to share their takes on everything from the Cubs to City Hall to the hot new local band to the best place for Greek food.
My feelings are similar to what I said in the last post: This kind of thing is good because it shines a brighter light on local blogging. But when the Big Players come marching into your hometown like this, you can’t help but wonder what it means for traffic, readership, and so forth.
Mainstream Media Jumping on Local Blogging Bandwagon
I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Check out this story:
After a Late Start, MSM Blogs are Everywhere (MSM = mainstream media)
The article is mostly about political blogs, but let’s agree with that timeworn phrase, “all politics is local.” And that’s certainly the case when it comes to local newspapers blogging about local politics, local races, local candidates, etc.
How much are papers blogging these days? From the article:
The New York Times currently hosts more than 70 blogs, while the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has more than 29 staff-written blogs and dozens of reader blogs. The Tri-City Herald has 12, the Everett Herald has 17, The Seattle Times has 20, and The Oregonian has more than 50 blogs.
The Tri-City Herald mentioned in there is my local paper. I have a love/hate relationship with the fact that they have so many blogs: On the one hand, I view their blogs as a sort of competition for our local blogs. On the other hand, I’m glad they’re doing it because we end up getting a fair amount of news and article ideas from their blogs.
I’m curious what you think: Is it good news for a local blogger when the local newspaper is doing essentially the same thing you want to do?
Comments are open.
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