Local Blogs & Seattle Journalism
Whether you’re in the Seattle area or not, if your local blog is news-based, this should be of interest.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, one of two daily newspapers in the city, is on the selling block. And if it doesn’t sell, it may switch to an online-only operation or shut down altogether. The city council had a meeting earlier this week to talk about what’s going on, and several Seattle bloggers were invited to speak, too. (Seattle is thriving with lots of neighborhood blogs.)
It sounds like some of the council members were in the dark about what local blogs are all about. Says Cory Bergman:
WestSeattleBlog and many other neighborhood news sites in Seattle, like the site run by my wife and me, MyBallard.com, feature straightforward, issue-driven original coverage. But we also cover new restaurants, quirky neighborhood events and the occasional lost pet. We have a lower threshold of news, covering the small stuff in a couple lines. That’s why people come to us: for down-the-street content they can’t get anywhere else, because the newspapers and TV stations aren’t covering it.
That paragraph right there is pretty much a mission statement for any news-based hyperlocal blog, isn’t it?
What’s surprising to me about the general ignorance from city officials about local blogging is that, barely a month ago, Seattle’s own web site promoted neighborhood blogs as a primary information source ahead of the newspapers and TV stations. Someone should’ve mentioned that during the meeting this week.
Interesting times we live in, especially those of you running news-based local blogs.
Pros & Cons: Big City Blogging vs. Small Town Blogging
Does it matter where you live? Or, is hyperlocal blogging the same in Portland as it is in Paducah?
I believe hyperlocal bloggers in big cities have a vastly different experience than those of us in smaller cities. Better in some ways, worse in others … but different for sure. I think there are pros and cons to both, and would love to hear your experiences based on where you live now as a local blogger. First, my pros and cons, and then you take over in the comments.
Blogging in a Big City
Pros:
- Content Options. As a big city blogger, you have lots to write about: pro sports teams, diverse arts & entertainment options, lots of restaurants and businesses to write about, etc. There’s also police activity happening at all hours of the day, which equates to good content for news-type blogs (see below).
- Blogger Networking. A basic element of blog marketing is reaching out to similar blogs and creating conversations and relationships. This is easier in bigger cities where there are likely several other local blogs you can connect with.
Cons:
- Blogger Competition. The flip side of the “Blogger Networking” item listed above is that you’re competing for traffic. If your hyperlocal blog is just a hobby, you probably don’t care. But many hyperlocal bloggers have specific goals in mind, and too much competition can hamper your chances for success.
- SEO Competition. My gut tells me that big city local bloggers get less traffic from natural search/SEO than small town bloggers do, because there are more web sites in larger cities — many of which have had SEO work done. Plus, government web sites in bigger cities are usually much stronger, more trusted, more optimized, etc., than small town government web sites. So, it may harder for local blogs to get search visibility on local topics. See below for more on this idea.
Blogging in a Small Town
Pros:
- Slower Pace. I suppose this could be a “con” to a big city blogger, but I’m glad there’s not as much going on in our area as there is in Seattle, for example. I might feel differently of local blogging was our career, but it’s not; it’s something we do when we can to help with my wife’s real estate business. It’s good that there’s not a constant stream of news, events, activities, etc., for us to be blogging about. The slower pace is good for what we’re doing, so I consider it a “pro” of being in a small town.
- SEO/Visibility. One thing we’ve learned with our four local blogs, is that we can almost pick any term we want to rank for, write about it, and get search traffic from the major search engines. In smaller towns, there are fewer web sites competing for local search terms, which opens up a traffic source for a small-town blogger. Our government web sites are, for the most part, terrible. Many local businesses don’t have web sites, or have poorly optimized web sites.
Cons:
- Blogging Vacuum. Where big city bloggers usually have several other blogs to connect with, that’s not always the case in small towns. Where we live, for example, there are other bloggers … but they’re not necessarily writing about stuff that offers a logical connection to our blogs. Some are other real estate agents, and it’s not exactly smart business from an SEO perspective to be promoting and linking to their blogs. Others are just not “linkable” for a variety of reasons.
- Community Closeness. In smaller towns they say that everybody knows each other. It’s an exaggeration, but you get the point. I’ve found myself not wanting to say certain things on our local blogs because of personal connections to the people who are directly or indirectly involved in what I’d be writing about. I feel like big city bloggers probably don’t have that concern, at least not as often as those of us in smaller towns.
You tell me… Did I miss the boat on big city vs. small town local blogging? How do your experiences differ, or are they similar? What would you add to my lists?
Hyperlocal News Roundup
Working on a post about Big City blogging vs. Small Town blogging, but until that’s ready, here are a few hyperlocal things I’ve bookmarked in the last week or two:
The folks at outside.in have created and released a StoryMap WordPress.org Plugin. This is for bloggers who have a self-hosted Wordpress blog, not for folks using Wordpress.com hosting. I haven’t gotten around to trying it out on our blogs, but would like to do so. Need to sort out some issues with my outside.in account first (namely, need the ability to list all four of our blogs in my account).
I’ve written a couple times about EveryBlock, and notice that they just celebrated their one year birthday. That blog post I’m linking talks about how the site has grown, from covering three cities at launch up to 11 now, plus the growth in the types of data in the EveryBlock system. Very interesting site, and here’s to many more birthday celebrations in the future!
Speaking of EveryBlock, Peter Krasilovsky just wrote last week about the site’s impending switch to a “for profit strategy.” EB has been operating on grant money since its inception, but that funding will dry up this summer. If you’re not familiar with EveryBlock, the article also offers a quick overview of what it’s all about. (And you may also want to read my post about how to submit your local blog to EveryBlock.)
Another article from Peter K. last week offers a brief update on what PlaceBlogger.com has been up to recently. If you’ve visited the site lately, you know there’s an entirely new interface and user experience. I’ve been in touch recently with founder Lisa Williams, and (cough, cough) she said she’d like to write a guest post for us here on HLB. (Oh, Lisa?)
And finally, here’s an interesting bit from Mike Boland about a project called The Printed Blog. It’s a free newspaper that just launched in Chicago and San Francisco with content coming from local blogs. If that sounds intriguing to you, and you want to submit your blog for consideration, here are the details.
Cool Vid about CapitolHillSeattle.com (and local blogging, in general)
Sometime soon I hope to begin a series of profiles about hyperlocal bloggers across the country (and the world, if possible), and one of the first people I want to profile is a guy named Justin Carder. Justin does the Capitol Hill Seattle blog, and we briefly worked together at Marchex.
Until I get around to starting that series, check out this awesome video profile of Justin and the CHS blog, which ultimately ends up being a great introductory video about hyperlocal blogging in general. It was done by David Albright, a freelance videographer in Seattle who also contributes to the CHS blog. It’s only about 4 minutes long, so no excuse to not watch:
Of the five types of local bloggers, Justin’s CHS is probably most closely aligned with the News blog. But I really think any local blogger can get some ideas and inspiration from that video.
Your turn: What are your takeaways from that video?
Hello, My Name Is Steve And I Have Hyperlocalbloggeritus
This is a guest post by Steve Sherron, a hyperlocal blogger in Monroe, NC. Steve recently launched Monroe Scoop and shares ideas and tips that he’s learned in a little more than a month of hyperlocal blogging.
My name is Steve Sherron and I have a confession: I’m sick. I’ve been struck with Hyperlocalbloggeritus.
According to Google research and other experts, Hyperlocalbloggeritus is a disease that has the possibility of becoming a full-blown national epidemic. It’s an affliction that will only get worse. It starts out innocently enough by infecting your city. From there it spreads through the internet into your local community. Unfortunately, the disease continues and attacks your local neighborhood meetings and restaurants in the form of news reports and reviews. Once Hyperlocalbloggeritus reaches your local community, I understand there is no cure.
The carriers of this disease appear to be local bloggers. For years and years, the only defense against this horrible disease was an antibiotic known as your local newspaper. Ever since paper media started declining, this infectious virus has been rearing it’s ugly head. Some cyberdoctors are directly accusing video cameras and YouTube for the massive spread of this disease. Currently, there is no known cure.
My situation is bleak. I’m a hyperlocal blogger in Monroe, NC. I originally found HyperlocalBlogger.com on a Google Alert I had set up for myself for local niche blogs. I discovered that Matt was already infected. I was newly diagnosed and needed information. I devoured his blog for information. After a few comments that I made on here, he extended an offer for those suffering from the same affliction to write a guest post. I would like to thank Matt for the invitation to share with you a little of my story and what I have learned in the short time that I have been struck with hyperlocal blogging.
Over the last 3 years, I made career decisions that have turned out to be somewhat disastrous.
In 2006, I became a real estate developer in Coastal North Carolina where I owned property along with my best friend and business partner. Long story short … bad move. Who knew what was coming? In 2007, we noticed the sky seemed to be falling on real estate a little, but we persevered. I went out and earned my real estate license and joined a local firm. As a real estate agent, your lifeblood and ability to survive depends on your marketing efforts. I became very interested in learning how to build web sites and shoot video. The sky continued to fall and in 2008 it completely fell on top of this nation’s head. Chicken Little was not lying. The ending is yet to be written on my real estate ventures. I’m praying for a good outcome.
My local real estate market has been announced officially dead. While enduring this slow death, I had managed to learn a few marketing and video skills. I discovered a few things about myself over the last couple of years:
- I do not particularly like being a real estate agent in a bad market. It’s hard, thankless work if there are no buyers.
- I discovered that I am happiest when I am working online or making videos.
As I began trying to determine where I might find my future online, the fog slowly began to lift. The word that kept popping up was local … local … local. In my personal circumstances, I am convinced that my best chance for success is going to be in my local market. I have discovered since I began this journey that local folks are starving for attention and publicity for their business or organization. Most do not understand SEO. Few have web sites. There is a gap and a need just waiting to be filled. I became a perfect candidate for Hyperlocalbloggeritus.
My prescription to anyone considering a hyperlocal blog is to quit thinking about it and just do it.
Seriously people, avoid paralysis by analysis and get off your keester. I started without a detailed plan of action. I still do not have this venture totally mapped out yet. My main concern from day one has been to research and select a few keywords and keyword phrases and start building content. Google found my site immediately and now I’m slowly ranking for my selected keywords. I’ve managed to rank #1 for a few longtail keywords.
My hometown paper does not do such a hot job covering local news and events. This lack of coverage creates an opportunity for a hyperlocal blogger: Who is covering your local Crime Stoppers BBQ? Who is covering your local weather events? Look at what Matt just did during the flood event. He grabbed his video camera and immediately posted flood videos. He experienced a surge in traffic. Exactly as the experts warned. Video cameras and YouTube. Matt is obviously a carrier of Hyperlocalbloggeritus. We can all do the same in our own community.
I published my first local article on December 4, 2008. By January 11, 2009, I had published my 30th article. On January 12th, I find my web site on three locations on page two of Google for my targeted keywords. I’m not an SEO Doctor by any stretch of the imagination. If I can do this, so can you.
In this short amount of time, I have received great support from my community. I’ve had three separate inquiries about advertising on my site. I recently received an e-mail from our mayor thanking me for my National Guard article and video. One of our city councilmen contacted me and is interested in involving me in some work for the city. I’m happy with my progress in such a short time. I must confess though, I still do not have an actual plan mapped out yet. However, my direction is becoming a little more focused. Having Hyperlocalbloggeritus is starting to be cool.
Matt knows the importance of going local. He and his wife started four hyperlocal blogs recently. My advice to you is to go local. Believe me, your community is starving for coverage. Doors will open for you. Just start posting, using your local community keywords and phrases. Tell your friends, family and neighbors that you have been struck with the disease. The word will get out. Print up some business cards and hand them out everywhere you go. Come out of the closet.
What Would You Say About Hyperlocal Blogging?
This is cool: In addition to coordinating and moderating three sessions at next month’s SMX West conference, I’m going to present on the Local Search Marketing Tactics panel … about hyperlocal blogging.
To my knowledge, this will be the first time anyone’s given a presentation on local blogging at a major search marketing conference. (I’ve certainly never heard it talked about at the ones I’ve been to since 2006.)
That panel is listed as an expert-level session, but I suspect that hyperlocal blogging as a concept will be new to most of the attendees, maybe all of them. So, my question to you is this:
What would you say about hyperlocal blogging in an educational setting like that?
The comments are open, and your ideas will be appreciated. 
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