5 Types of Hyperlocal Bloggers
As I’ve been exploring the world of hyperlocal blogging — which, I have to confess, is a lot bigger and wider than I expected — I’ve come upon several different types of local blogs and bloggers. I think many local blogs can be classified into five categories. Each category is essentially an answer to the question, Why are you running a local blog?
Here are my five categories, and I’ll invite you to add ones I’ve missed in the comments.
Five Types of Hyperlocal Bloggers
The Business Blogger
I’ll list this one first because it’s the type of local blogger I am, and the one I’m most familiar with. The hyperlocal business blogger is using his/her blog to attract leads and/or customers. This is why my wife and I started four local blogs earlier this year. I suspect many local bloggers in this category are in the real estate industry, like my wife is. (She’s an agent.) But other types of business owners could be local bloggers, too — plumbers, store owners, you name it.
The hyperlocal business blogger may have to be careful in how s/he blogs. Since the underlying goal is to attract customers, this type of blogger may want to avoid the types of posts that might offend or turn away some segment of the blog’s readership. Hyperlocal business blogging can be a delicate balancing act.
The News Blogger
The local news blogger is someone who keeps current on what’s happening in his/her area, and uses the blog to keep readers informed, too. This type of local blogger probably attends a lot of governmental and other organizational meetings in the evenings to report on important decisions being made. S/He may also own a police scanner and listen to it throughout the day, ready to grab a camera and head out to shoot photos or video of any noteworthy incidents in the neighborhood.
A successful hyperlocal news blog may be a group effort. It makes sense to have several people contributing to the blog, either as formal writers or at least as “stringers” who share news tips with the blog owner.
The Social/Activist Blogger
This is an off-shoot of the News Blogger. The social/activist blogger is also interested in current news and events in his/her coverage area, but really focuses mostly on a single cause, single group of people, or single issue. Examples would be a local education blogger who writes exclusively about what the local school district(s) are doing, or maybe an animal rights blogger who writes about what’s happening with local veterinarians, pet stores, animal-related groups, and even local parks (and the rights that pets have in them).
Passion is a must for this type of blogger. If done well, this type of hyperlocal blog can attract a loyal following thanks to strong word-of-mouth.
The Community/Connector Blogger
This type of blogger is all about using his/her blog to create connections locally. This often happens by promoting neighborhood events and attending/blogging about them. But it also involves some of the same types of content that other types of local blogs employ, such as reporting important community news (road closures, business closings, etc.) that you might also see a News Blogger doing.
Think of this type of blogger as someone who takes everything on the bulletin board at your local grocery store and turns it into great, local blog content. If you need to know when the next swap meet is happening at the local school gym, this blogger will be the kind to tell you.
The Casual/Personal Blogger
This is my catch-all category for hyperlocal blogs that don’t seem to fit any of the other categories. This blogger uses his/her local blog in the way that blogs were originally used — as a place to share personal thoughts and experiences in an informal setting. Blog posts here might be about favorite classes or teachers at the local community college, or random recaps of local shopping experiences. Some of the content doesn’t even count as “local” on these blogs. Off-topic? This type of local blogger doesn’t really care.
—-
Those are the types of local bloggers I’ve come across so far. Now it’s your turn to make this post better by telling me what I’ve left out. Comments are open.
Hyperlocal Blogging Hits Search Engine Land
Nice to see a big, juicy article about hyperlocal blogging on Search Engine Land last week:
A Business Idea For Joe The Plumber: HyperLocal Blogging
David Mihm is the author, and you may recognize him from his occasional appearances in the comments here on Hyperlocal Blogger. In his article, David suggests local blogging as a good marketing strategy for the (literal and figurative) “Joe the Plumber.” Why hyperlocal blogging? Here’s David’s bullet list:
- More content.
- More incoming links from other bloggers.
- More links and citations from other local websites.
- Name recognition among key members of your community.
- Name recognition among key members of your industry.
I think that about sums it up. Good article, David.
Signs of Blogging Life in the Tri-Cities
I spent all day Friday attending (and speaking at) a small business web marketing conference called Learn About Web. There were many things that stand out for me now, 24 hours later, but one is that small/local business owners appeared to be interested in learning about local blogging.
The attendees were mostly small business owners/employees, and in terms of online marketing knowledge/experience, they would mostly have to be considered novices — that’s who the conference was for, and that’s why they were there.
There were sessions on everything ranging from link building to local search, social media to web security, and more.
Mack Collier did a talk on business blogging that had everyone’s attention. Then, during the Q&A session at the end, there were a few more questions from local business owners asking about starting a blog, finding blog topics, and so forth.
As it stands now, my wife and I are a rare breed — there aren’t many other Richland bloggers, Kennewick bloggers, and so forth in the Tri-Cities area.
It would be nice to see a few more local bloggers join us, and maybe after yesterday’s seminar, they will.
Learning From Other Local Bloggers
Quick post here: I’m a big believer in learning from the successes (and failures) of others, so Eric Blackwell’s recent post on the Bloodhound (Real Estate) Blog caught my eye. It’s about some creative things he and some friends/associates are doing to develop their local blogs. I’ll let you read the blog post for the specific examples, but here’s the conclusion:
The more of these creative blog projects I do, the more I am finding that there are infinite ways to connect within a community. You can build your online authority faster as well as your bank account, by using a blog to connect.
Well said, Eric.
Reader Poll: How Do You Blog?
Hi Hyperlocal Blogger readers,
I’m curious to know: How do you blog?
More often than not, I use a text editor to write my blog posts and then cut and paste it into WordPress for publishing.
Do you use Microsoft Word to write your blog posts? Do you go straight to your WordPress “new post” screen and start writing? (or whatever blogging platform you’re on)
Just curious,
Matt
What Makes a Great Local Blogger
As hyperlocal blogging grows, we can expect more people to wonder … Can I do this? Am I cut out to be a good local blogger? While I don’t think there’s a formula or recipe for local blogging success, I do think there are some personality traits that will make you more likely to succeed. I’ll share those below, along with a couple traits I think are unnecessary. And, please, add to my list in the comments — I value your wisdom and contributions.
Things You Need to Succeed in Local Blogging
1. Passion
I’m choosing my words carefully here. I don’t think you need to love your hometown, but I do think you have to care about it … a lot. Passion can be expressed in different ways, including being critical of the things you see happening in your hometown. You don’t have to love all the decisions your city council makes, for example, but you’ll be a better local blogger if you’re passionate about those decisions and what they mean to you and your neighbors. You should have a passion for where you live, and the people that live there.
2. Interestingness
This can be expressed in different ways:
- Being an interesting blogger. We connect with people who are interesting, who have personality. We’re drawn to people with opinions, even if those opinions aren’t the same as ours.
- Having interesting content. If you’re not Joe Personality or Jane Opinion, interesting local content can still attract readers and make a great local blog. How do we define “interesting local content?” That sounds like a post for another day but, in short, I’d include things like local business reviews, interviews with local politicians or newsmakers, local photo tours/galleries, etc.
3. Good Writer
You don’t have to be Hemingway, but I’ve always believed that better writers attract larger crowds. I can easily name several exceptions to this rule in the marketing blogosphere, and I’m sure you could name exceptions, too. But if you’re one of several local bloggers in your area, I believe … all other things being equal … that the better writers will be the most successful.
4. Outgoing
You need to connect with people to grow your blog. This is true whether you’re a local blogger or not. Blogging is a conversation, and if you’re not the type to want to connect with others, you’ll probably find it much harder to succeed. Outgoing people are typically more interested in what others believe, and that curiosity will be very helpful as you grow your hyperlocal blog.
5. Newshound
Not every hyperlocal blog is going to be about local news. You don’t have to attend city council meetings to run a good local blog. But no matter what your local focus is, I think it’s important to want to know about your community and be able to sort out what matters to other local people/readers. Even if you’re blogging about the best shopping deals in your city, or doing posts on local stay-at-home dads, or families that home school … there’s still an element of being a newshound in all of that.
6. Honesty
The old saying tells us that everyone can be anonymous on the Internet, and that anonymity often allows bloggers/commenters/web users the freedom to stretch the truth. I don’t think you have that luxury with a local blog. Your readers will be your neighbors. They’ll often be as familiar with what you’re writing about as you are. You don’t have the luxury of pretending to be something you’re not, or making up content that tells a good local story … but isn’t quite true.
7. Patience
Hyperlocalblogging is still in its infancy. Blogging itself took years to go mainstream, and in most cases it’ll take local blogs a while to gain widespread respect and trust. You’ll need to promote your hyperlocal blog, and you’ll need to be patient as it grows.
Things You Don’t Need to Succeed in Local Blogging
1. Longevity
There’s a common perception (that I’ve probably perpetuated on HyperlocalBlogger.com) that a successful local blogger is someone who’s an authority, someone who’s been living in the area a long time and knows the local people, places, and stories that are worth telling. But I think a good writer could easily create a compelling local blog even if s/he is new to the area. In fact, in some ways, reading the local blog of a newcomer could be a lot more fun and interesting than reading the blog of someone who’s been around the block a few times (as they say).
If you’re new to your area, don’t let that stop from you starting a local blog.
2. Technical Skills and/or Money
This applies to any of type of blog: There are almost no barriers to starting a local blog. Blogger and Wordpress.com are free; just choose a name, a blog design, and start writing. Digital cameras are brain-dead simple these days, not to mention unbelievably inexpensive. Blogging used to be the realm of geeks and early adopters, but today anyone can do it. If you think you’re not techie enough to start blogging about your neighborhood, I’d encourage you to give it a try anyway.
Your Turn: What did I miss? What do you agree or disagree with?
-
-
Featured Video
