When Matt suggested I write a guest post about “What Great Hyperlocal Bloggers Have in Common,” I was psyched: it’s always a pleasure to introduce a new audience to the amazing hyperlocal bloggers I get to interview each week for Outside.in’s ‘Bloggers We Love,’ series.

I was also stumped: I’ve interviewed bloggers from big cities and smaller towns and everywhere in between. They blog about everything from fashion to photography to politics, and each of them has a singular personality that shines through their online presence. To me, every single one of the ‘Bloggers We Love’ is unique: what could they have in common (beyond the obvious: they’re bloggers who’d love to have more hours in the day)? I began poring over my interview archives for commonalities, and I realized that it’s not all about what they do or where they come from, but rather it’s about who they are as people and how they choose to conduct themselves. They may be unique, but each of these dynamic characters share important character traits—and, while there are surely great hyperlocal bloggers who don’t exhibit one or more of these qualities, I’ve yet to meet one.

This one’s for all the hyperlocal bloggers out there who’ve demonstrated their greatness by showing us that…

10. They’re passionate. Tremendously passionate — they care deeply about their town, their subject matter and their readership. They value their community and respect it. They channel their passion into their blog, their personal relationships and all of their other, varied interests. Take Tasha Ball, for example, who’s fervent — evangelical, even — in her love for her hometown of Tulsa, OK. You can’t fake that kind of passion.

9. They’re dedicated. The hyperlocal bloggers I’ve come to know and love log some serious hours in the name of blogging — like Steve Sherron of the Monroe Scoop, who’ll spend hours editing video footage to get it just right. They’re hustlers: whether they’re blogging, organizing, hosting and attending events, Tweeting, posting updates to Facebook, adding photos to Flickr, you name it — they blog HARD.

8. They’re generous. They make a practice out of living generously, both online and off. They share the wealth when it comes to utilizing the social capital or publicity that their blog generates (like Jill Harrison of For the Love of Brooklyn who invites readers to contribute their photography to her site). They also share of themselves and their time, and they support and promote other bloggers by commenting on their blog posts, inviting them to guest post on their own blogs and tweeting about them.

7. They’re innovative. They’re always willing to try new things and step outside of their comfort zones. They like to pioneer new ways of doing things. Take Tessa Horehled of Atlanta’s Drive a Faster Car: for her, hyperlocal blogging meant skipping college and putting her career on the fast track. Creating your own possibilities in life? That’s innovative.

6. They’re omnipresent. They know how important it is to step away from the computer and get out from behind the keyboard. They don’t hide behind the anonymity that the Internet offers — rather, they use their blog and their online presence to build community and foster connections between people and things that matter to them. They understand the importance of networking and work to forge meaningful partnerships, both online and off. Like Christy Frink and Morgan Levy of Nashvillest, they’re accessible to their community, responding actively to their readers’ comments and interacting with them at local events.

5. They’re students. Top-notch hyperlocal bloggers —- like Liz Stambaugh of What’s to Eat, Baltimore? —- know that there’s always something else to learn, and they embrace this fact by constantly seeking out knowledge from their peers and mentors. They also don’t take themselves too seriously, and they ask for help when they need it.

4. They’re do-ers. They make things happen, get stuff done, execute -— like Jay Sears of My Rye, who rallied his community to secure a 4-way stop sign for his neighborhood. No matter what you call it, the fact is that great hyperlocal bloggers are the kinds of people you want on your team.

3. They’re fearless. They aren’t afraid to make a splash or write something that might raise a few eyebrows. Take Steve Shanafelt and the team at Spartanburg Spark: they ignited controversy by coming out against allowing concealed weapons on school property in their South Carolina city. Shanafelt and his team show us that hyperlocal bloggers worth their salt are willing to take a stand about the things that matter to them.

2. They’re valuable. Dana Freeman of Find and Go Seek in Burlington, Vermont, started her blog after realizing that there was a real dearth of family-friendly information available to parents in her area. The best hyperlocal bloggers listen to their community, pay attention to what it wants and needs, and provide content that fills the void.

1. They’re resilient. The most impressive hyperlocal bloggers I’ve gotten to know have responded to the challenges that they’ve encountered with ingenuity, bravery and aplomb. Take Corey Jackson of Downtown Lynn, for instance: when a local paper turned down his advertising dollars, he turned things around by getting others to write about the snub — and his traffic went through the roof.

Are there other qualities you think a great hyperlocal blogger should possess? Or, do you have suggestions for someone Outside.in should profile for our ‘Bloggers We Love’ series? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.

This is an article from HyperlocalBlogger, a site about the intersection of local search and blogging by Matt McGee.

10 Qualities Great Hyperlocal Bloggers Have in Common

It all seems so obvious now…

… Friendster? “Like someone can do social networking better than us.”

… WebCrawler? “What’s a Google, anyway?”

… CompuServe. “We can auction off Sony Walkmans online. Who’s gonna top that?”

As crazy at it sounds, there was a time when those brands owned digital verticals that are now billion dollar categories. Then, as you’d expect, competitors followed and the territory that was once theirs… was gone.

The New Competition

Now there’s a new threat out there specifically targeting the neighborhoods our hyperlocal bloggers own: The Big Boys.

You know who I mean: AOL, Google, etc., there’s even a rumor Yahoo! is entering the fray. They’re all coming after your neighborhoods aggressively and from different angles. We’ve seen big corporations try to build “community” before and fail, and personally I think the odds are against them again here.

But you can never sit back and rely on that. Instead, now’s the time to retrench and take ownership of your neighborhoods as much as you can. In this sense, competition is good – it forces you to innovate and maybe even make money in the process. But the goal is to avoid saying one day: “Wow, we had it… and we lost it.”

Yes, it’s easier said than done. Few hyperlocal publishers have multi-million dollar marketing budgets and hundreds of employees at their fingertips (if you do, you’re probably on the wrong site). But I would argue that you have something more valuable – you know your communities better than they do and because of that you have more valuable content.

How Do You Leverage Being Small?

You find ways to take advantage of today’s innovation to further engage and entrench your communities. In the process you will no doubt find way to increase your revenue, a portion of which you can reinvest in your business.

However, theory is one thing… practicality another. So how do you specifically do it?

First off, every hour you spend creating content should be complemented by another hour working on your strategy and business plan. It sounds like a lot, and many of you have other jobs to think about too, but a focus on building the business (community and revenue) is more of a priority now than ever before.

Second, investigate the new digital technologies that come across your desk. It’s often as simple as plugging in a URL or picking up the phone. Every time Matt writes about a tool like Rusty Budget, Fwix or Woo Themes, see if the tools are right for you.

One thing to always keep in mind is that where there is an audience, there are many ways to drive revenue without sacrificing the quality of the experience you provide. The value is in the superior targeting you deliver every day. For example, often a business that’s in your coverage area will pay to sponsor your content, e.g. perhaps a local car insurer would own your Radio Reference feed. It’s targeting for them… and delivering content your advertisers want to put their name on.

What About Mobile?

Many believe that it’s the Holy Grail of hyperlocal, so consider investigating things like the SeattleCrime iPhone app. Could you do the same?

Perhaps the new video capabilities of the iPhone can help you create a video news element to your blog, as an easy way to improve CPM rates.

Here’s the good news: this research won’t take as long as you think. I know that because I’m living it. In interest of full disclosure, I work with a company that’s in the process of rolling out free iPhone, Blackberry and Android apps for more than 20 local blogs in early July (including notables like Baristanet, Maplewood Online, MyRye.com, Brooklynian, and BococaLand). We’re partnering to together figure out innovative and engaging tools for their content, while developing new revenue streams. We’re now in midst of finding our next wave of partners.

We’re excited to see how our collective efforts pan out – all of our partners agree that there’s a larger community to be had and, importantly, money to be made out there. Crazy at it sounds, our success might help them take that long-overdue vacation, but perhaps more importantly, allow them to reinvest in their brand.

The reality is… if not now, then when? The clock is ticking for all of us, before those Big Boys come knocking.

This is an article from HyperlocalBlogger, a site about the intersection of local search and blogging by Matt McGee.

Own Your Neighborhood, Keep the Big Boys Away

Hyperlocal blogs are all about location and are generally run by people who live in the area they seek to serve. But what happens when you’ve built up a local blog and move away from the area?

I don’t think many of us would stay in an area just to keep up a local blog. We have relationships, job opportunities or other reasons for moving to pastures new. Building up a hyperlocal site takes time and dedication; you build a community around your content and, to a certain extent, yourself, but what if you’re not there?

I started up Blog Preston to act as a hub of community news, views and information in January 2009 for Preston, Lancashire, UK. I’d had the idea for a while but finally sat down one cold Sunday afternoon and got it started.

In November of 2009 I was offered a job in a different part of the country, and being 23, ambitious and wanting to further my career, I had to take it. But what about the hyperlocal site I’d created and had decent traffic coming to? It seemed such a shame to let it become tumbleweed in a Google search.

Throughout the time of Blog Preston I’d always been keen on getting guest contributors and giving them the chance to air their views about local issues. So, I turned to the community I’d built up to find someone who could take on the day-to-day running of the site.

Step forward the lovely Lisa who took on the task of filling the blog with content. She brought a whole new perspective to the role as I moved to Cardiff, but I still kept in touch and kept a watchful eye behind the scenes on how the site was doing.

I found myself impressed by the content Lisa was producing and the different angle and direction she was taking. As a parent and living in a different part of Preston she had a different take on things. And this was good. It brought a new direction and energy to the site, not to mention a new audience.

However, after five great months she had a change in circumstances and couldn’t commit the time to continue with the site. I spent a few weeks wondering what to do with Blog Preston. I’d tried with someone else and found myself back again without anyone to manage the site. Should I just give up and accept it wouldn’t be kept going?

Enter Andy Halls and Joseph Stashko, two budding student journalists at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston. I studied there myself and had come into contact with Andy and Jo after they wanted to setup a hyperlocal site called MyPreston. I gambled: I offered them the chance to join forces – using the established name of Blog Preston – and in return they would take over editorial of the site.

It’s been a hit. With more people on board we’re able to produce more content, and their fantastic live blogging of the general and local election results in Preston brought us national praise. Having them running the show frees me up to focus on long-term opportunities and the potential to monetise the site. I’ve always been able to spend time working with my web designer friend to improve the look of the site.

But, I come back to that winter’s day in January 2009 when I set up that site. Often hyperlocal sites are a one-person band, but keep an eye on what you’re going to do in the future. Who would run your site while you went on holiday? What if you had to move away? Once you have a successful site, people start to expect content and you will feel like you have a duty to keep going. Make sure you’ve got a plan for your hyperlocal sites in the future – even if you’re not around.

This is an article from HyperlocalBlogger, a site about the intersection of local search and blogging by Matt McGee.

What Happens To Your Blog If You Move Away?

If you’re starting a hyperlocal news blog, one of your biggest opportunities may seem at first like a big problem: you don’t have an audience.

Before you laugh, think about the daily newspaper in your town. It has probably been around for decades, and it may be the only reliable source for community news. And like traditional news outlets all over the country, it may be struggling to maintain its subscription and advertising rates. To do that, it needs to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. It needs to be all things to all people.

You don’t.

Matt’s recent post on the Pew Research Center’s “State of the Media” report cited some revealing statistics: only 35% have a favorite place to get news, and news consumers are frequently searching for local topics. Like Matt, I see this as a huge opportunity for new news outlets.

To take advantage of that opportunity, you need to first develop a community of devoted readers. You need quality over quantity. And that means that you need to define your target audience. With an eye towards the overarching goals for your blog, here are a few questions to help:

• What are 3 words you would use to describe your ideal readers?
• Are they active in civic or community affairs?
• Where do they typically shop or dine out?
• What national news and culture websites do they frequent?
• What do they think is missing from local news coverage?

Answering these questions should help you understand who you’re writing for and what you can offer that is distinct from other local news sources–key components for building a brand that inspires loyalty. This understanding should inform everything from what topics you cover to how and where you promote your site.

At Chattarati, our initial target audience looked a lot like our initial group of contributing writers: young, curious, tech- and design-savvy, with a host of influences ranging from Gothamist to GOOD to The New York Times. We’re passionate about politics and education; arts and culture; and creating lively, thoughtful discussions around the issues that affect our region.

Seth Godin recently wrote about “driveby culture,” asking whether he should write posts to increase traffic or help change the way people think:

In the race between ‘who’ and ‘how many’, who usually wins–if action is your goal. Find the right people, those that are willing to listen to what you have to say, and ignore the masses that are just going to race on, unchanged.

Because of his focus on the latter, Godin has actually done both.

You’ll have to make that choice on your own site, but choose wisely. How you define your audience early on will ultimately decide how they define you.

This is an article from HyperlocalBlogger, a site about the intersection of local search and blogging by Matt McGee.

Defining Your Audience

About six months ago, I decided to start a new hobby. I’ve always been a sports fan. I used to do a little sportscasting on a small radio station. And my Friday nights were free.

So I started a Wordpress website, RepublicTigerSports.com, to keep track of the local high school football team. I hoped to stream some play-by-play of the football games, get a few friends to listen, and maybe snag a sponsor or two.

But coaches and parents for every sport — football, softball, volleyball, etc. — jumped on the idea. They started sending me scores and stats and photos, even when I wasn’t at their games. They spread the word among their friends and relatives. Soon, people knew they could get up-to-the minute scores and in-depth game summaries from the website, instead of waiting until the next day or the next week.

I used my iPhone to record video, and uploaded highlights while the game was still happening. I posted quick status updates to Twitter. I over-delivered for what a community this size expects for its local sports media coverage. And the community embraced it.

I should say that there are lots of places to find information on high school sports in this area. The Springfield News-Leader covers all of southwest Missouri. The Republic Monitor has excellent weekly coverage (and their sports reporter has been great to work with). A recently launched website covers high school sports for al of southwest Missouri. And yet another sports reporter has started a site that is focused on the Central Ozark Conference, the league in which Republic competes.

But I think a few key ingredients differentiate RepublicTigerSports.com from those outlets.

1. Over-kill
Six months ago, the Republic Tigers got occasional coverage in the Springfield News-Leader, weekly coverage in the Republic Monitor, and sporadic mention on one of the local TV stations. Now, local fans can get real-time scores, video highlights, audio play-by-play, mobile phone updates, high-quality photos, and more. It seems ridiculous, really — but it’s not that hard to do, if you get creative with some free online tools.

2. Hyper-hyperlocal
Even the weekly Republic Monitor must cover sports in some nearby smaller towns. It’s the nature of the newspaper business that they need to sell copies in those other communities. I had the luxury of building an audience from scratch. If it doesn’t happen in Republic, I don’t cover it. If it’s not sports, I don’t cover it. Focusing so narrowly has helped me tap into the passion of the community in a way that a regional site can’t. And it opens the door for a great fit with local business sponsors, some of whom have already signed up.

3. Free stuff
I wanted to give something to the community, because this is my hometown. And because this is a hobby, I haven’t felt like I need to monetize every single thing. If I snap a good action shot, I post it to Flickr and tell the player’s parents how to download the full-size photo, put it on a thumb drive, and take it to Wal-Mart to print it. If I get a video or play-by-play highlight, I email it around. I’ve given stuff away at every opportunity.

4. Social media
On a lark, I started a Facebook fan page for the site and emailed a few friends. Within a few weeks, it had several hundred fans. Now, that number is around 1,000. In a town of 14,000, that’s not too shabby.

In fact, the Facebook page is now the primary place where people see and interact with the content. Interaction with my audience on Facebook is off the charts. I get way more feedback on the Facebook page than on the website itself. And Facebook allows me to deliver updates right into the news feeds of fans, instead of waiting for them to come to the website.

I don’t know where this site is headed. But less than a year in, it’s far more popular than I expected. And I built it with a Wordpress theme, an iPhone, a Facebook fan page, and a few free social media tools. I have a few generous sponsors who helped me buy a nice camera and pay for some bandwidth. And I’ll have enough left over for a gadget or two. All without really putting much effort into selling the site.

But the most important ingredient has been the passion of the community for local sports. Tapping into that community passion makes hyper-local sports a major opportunity for people who are willing to put in a little work and be creative.

If you have questions about how it’s worked in Republic, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at david@republictigersports.com.

This is an article from HyperlocalBlogger, a site about the intersection of local search and blogging by Matt McGee.

Hyperlocal Sports: Tapping Into Hometown Passion

My name is Mike Ramsey and I started GoBurley.com, a hyperlocal news site for the small town of Burley, Idaho. The site was started back in October 2009, and has actually seen a fair amount of success considering that my hometown has more cows than computers. I started the site because our county only has one local news source (name not mentioned to protect the not-so-innocent) that has caused a lot of issues and contention within our community. So, my goals are to directly compete against this once-a-week print newspaper, give our town an alternate news source, and save it from utter destruction (mellow-drama emphasis added).

Since starting the site, and competing directly against a staffed news company. I have come across six areas that I am having a hard time being consistent in. GoBurley.com is not my full-time job (my guess is most other hyperlocal sites are in the same boat), so I am looking for creative ideas from the hyperlocal community on how to best handle these six issues:

1. Topics, Ideas, and Series to Write On…
Breaking, Sports, City Government are the basics, but what are people doing that is fun, and tends to draw comments and crowds. Has anyone ran a successful series, has a weekly post that people look forward to?

2. How to Get Contributors?
Outside of asking on your blog for people to send in original content, how have you been able to gain contributors who are bringing quality content on a regular basis?

3. Planning Your Content
I have a feeling that many hyperlocal bloggers are not professional editors, journalists, or any other title that deals with news. Is there a “best practice” for when to publish at certain times, and how to plan out a week of content?

4. Advertising Your Site
I am interested to know if anyone has run an advertising campaign that has proved successful at bringing awareness and subscribers to their site?

5. Basic “best practices” for reporting
Considering my non-journalistic background, I am wondering if there are certain key things that you need to do when reporting.

6. How to Monetize your Hyperlocal Site
Are there creative ways that people are able to bring in revenue? Anything from taking donations to charging for subscription?

I know that there are a lot of questions listed here to think about, but I am sure that I am not the only person running into these issues, and hope that we can all benefit by sharing with each other.

[Note from Matt: If you have some thoughts, no matter how big or small, that might help Mike and other readers with the same questions, let me suggest the following ways to reply:

1. Leave a comment on this post.

2. Write a blog post about one or more of these questions, publish it on your own blog, and then drop the link in the comments below.

3. Write a blog post about one or more of these questions and have me publish it here on HyperlocalBlogger.com as a Guest Post.

Any of the above will work, so if you have something helpful to say, we're looking forward to it.]

This is an article from HyperlocalBlogger, a site about the intersection of local search and blogging by Matt McGee.

6 Things I’m Struggling With as a Hyperlocal Blogger

—————

(This is a guest post by Andrew Moore, a hyperlocal blogger from the Kansas City, Missouri area. In addition to being the editor of TheKCGuy.com for over a year, he has been a software engineer for most of the last decade.)

I have made what appears to be a rather foolish decision. People often ask me why I built my blog out of a wiki. I didn’t mean for it to happen this way, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I like it, and you might like it, too.

When I first set out to build TheKCGuy.com, I didn’t realize that I was making a blog. I was shooting for something more like a regular web site that could serve as a guide to the things to do in Kansas City. I thought I was building an encyclopedia about my town. So, timely posts like you’d find on a blog were less important to me than articles about restaurants or attractions that might be periodically updated. Using a wiki as my content management system didn’t seem that extraordinary.

As time has progressed, I’ve seen the benefits of posting regular articles as is typically done on a blog. Not only does the constant stream of updates on the front page help build recurring traffic, but the other bloggers are more likely to recognize my site as a blog and include it on their blogrolls and RSS feeders in addition to sending me regular links. The daily posts aren’t as important as the actual articles about attractions in my town, but they fill an important void that used to exist in the site. Through a series of small changes to my site, I’ve essentially built a blog off out of my wiki. I’m glad I have, and I’d do it again if I were going to build a similar site.

Pros of Using a Wiki

I already alluded to one of the greatest benefits I have seen in using a wiki tool instead of a blogging tool to build my local web site. Many of my pages, such as those about restaurants like Blue Grotto or d’Bronx are rather timeless. They may see many updates over time, but no notable publication date. Most blogging tools seem to focus a lot on the date that an article was published, but that’s not really useful to a reader who stumbles across one of my restaurant pages. In fact, seeing a publication date from last year may make them less likely to be interested in the article, even if the information is still valid. Using a wiki does not emphasize the publication date, but just how this article relates to others.

That’s not the only advantage I have seen, though. There are many others. The MediaWiki software that I use has a pretty good search tool built into it. It allows me to group articles into categories, much like some blogging tools use categories and tags, but these categories each get a page that allows me to describe them a bit and give supplemental information. MediaWiki pages do pretty well in search engines for a few reasons: The article titles appear in the URL, they make reasonable uses of HTML tags, and interlinking of articles is encouraged. I also like using the wiki syntax a bit better than using the markup for many blogging tools. It makes it quicker for me to include features like bold, headers, images, and links in articles.

Perhaps the feature that I’ve made most use of, though, is being able to include templates into articles. A good example of this is how I build the “infobox” for restaurant pages. I have a template that makes a box that includes useful information about a restaurant. On the page for a particular restaurant, I’ll include that template and populate it with the particular details for this restaurant, such as the phone number and location. This makes all of my restaurant pages look similar and makes it easy for me to edit them in the future. Being able to include articles and templates into other pages is also what helps me build the front page and have it change every day on its own.

Cons of Using a Wiki

Buiding the web site out of a wiki was not all rainbows and ponies, though. There are some real downsides that I fight against. For instance, I can’t use most of the fancy plugins for Wordpress or other blog tools that many bloggers use. There are many extensions for MediaWiki that help me, though, such as those that help make Google Maps, embed YouTube videos, and use Google AdSense. There’s also not a very good commenting system built into it. I’ve chosen to use a third party blog commenting system, IntenseDebate, which is satisfactory, but not perfect. I also had to do a bit of work to build in calendaring logic, such as displaying this month’s calendar and all of the posts for the last seven days. These types of features are never missing from a modern blogging tool.

Perhaps the biggest drawback, though, is that some people just don’t understand what kind of site it is. For instance, bloggers aren’t sure they can add it to their blogrolls. Although I built an RSS feed on the site, people don’t typically think to add a wiki to their feed readers. I think that working to make the front page look either more like a blog or more like a traditional newspaper would mitigate this downside. I have already done a lot of work to make it look less like a wiki, such as removing the “edit” links and the default toolbox in the sidebar. This is one area that I need to continue working on in order to make my web site more accepted.

Final Thoughts & Resources

Having a site that doesn’t look exactly like every other blog out there and the other drawbacks aren’t enough to make me wish I had a regular blog. I truly think that using a wiki as a content management system to build a site that acts very much like a blog but has some additional benefits is well worth it. I encourage you to consider it, and if you’re interested to try it out. I even welcome you to contact me to let me know about your successes and difficulties in such an experiment.

MediaWiki is available at http://www.mediawiki.org. A useful page of MediWiki extensions can be found at http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension_Matrix. IntenseDebate is at intensedebate.com.

This is an article from HyperlocalBlogger, a site about the intersection of local search and blogging by Matt McGee.

Pros & Cons of Using a Wiki for Local Blogging

I have been blogging for a long time and about six months ago was struck with the HyperLocal Blog bug. I wanted to use my talent to write about the news and events in my area that seemed to be missing from mainstream news. Traditional media like newspapers have so many restrictions placed on them by management that many stories that should be published never see the light of day. A local blog helps fill that gap and I am happy to share some of my tips on promoting and growing a local blog.

1. Using Twitter To Spread the Word

After the initial launch of the site, I set up a special Twitter account just for the blog. I use this Twitter account to announce new posts on my site as well as feed news from around my immediate area to my followers. At first I had one follower (thanks, Dad) but after a few weeks I saw my numbers growing in mass and this is how I helped kickstart that growth.

Follow the people in your area

I used a Twitter application called Monitter to see anyone in my area that was using Twitter. Depending on where you have a local blog there may be 20 people or 2000, but whatever the number, start following them. Get to know the people in your area and ask them for story ideas. It was surprising to me how many of the people I initially followed had something they wanted to say through my local blog.

I then turned to another Twitter application called Twollo. This service auto-follows people based on keywords you specify. For some people this may seem excessive, but I used it to track keywords like my city’s name, surrounding cities’ names and other keywords that were specific to my area — for example, “oakland riot” or “BART Police”. I found that many of the people I started following also started following me in turn and then started re-tweeting my stories to their friends. All of this created a snowball effect and my exposure to people in the area grew quickly.

The key to using Twitter is to stay connected to your followers. Take the time to thank people for following your local updates. Ask them for input and let them know if there is something they want attention called to, that you are available. All of this will help you connect with your followers on a deeper level and push more readers to your local blog.

2. Using Craigslist for Traffic

I wasn’t sure how this was going to work out for me but it turned out to be great. I went to the local section of Craigslist and posted a couple snippets in the “rants and raves” section talking about a local blog post I had just written. Within an hour I saw that people were visiting my site from the rant and people were leaving comments. I did this for a couple weeks when I wrote a post that I wanted to draw some new readers to and it hasn’t seemed to fail me yet. You can get even more creative and write a long story in the rants and raves section as a standalone post and leave the last sentence as, “If you want to know more about what’s happening in your city check out www.yourlocalblog.com.”

3. Let Your Readers Know You Care

Not always but more often than not, when people leave a comment on my site, I will either comment after them in response answering a question or just saying thanks for the comment. I have also emailed the people directly if they leave an email address, letting them know how much I appreciate their readership. People want to know that they are heard, and by connecting with your local blog readers, they are more likely to return regularly and turn your site into a community.

4. Local Content is King

You should write about things going on in your community. Some of these stories will come from your readers. (Make sure you have an easy way for them to contact you.) I know a local blogger that has a police scanner in their house and they post on police and fire activity in the area almostin real time. All of these are things that a local reader community wants. Some stories I pull from the newspapers and give my thoughts and opinions in ways traditional reporters are not allowed. The idea is to start a discussion about your city or neighborhood and let those discussions carry the post to a new level.

If there is a new mall being built or the streets are flooding in an area, grab a picture and put something up about it. These are things most news agencies could care less about, but your readers will be thankful. You will see the comments come in and your local blog will take on a life of its own.

5. Local Advertising

Currently I do not charge for an ad on my site. I have taken a donation or two but nothing I would consider advertising dollars. Start with the places you frequent most. What’s your favorite restaurant? Write something up about them and next time you go in, let them know about it. They will appreciate it and, in the times I’ve done it, they have told their family friends and other businesses about your website. All of which could get other businesses interested in exposure through your local blog.

Final Thoughts

I have enjoyed getting to know the other local blogs in my area and have talked with the local newspaper about my site, as well. The best thing you can do if there are other local blogs in the area is start a dialog with them and see if there are things you could do together. Sometimes this doesn’t work and they see you as a threat, but don’t let that discourage you. Blog on and keep writing about your area.

(Here’s more information about guest blogging for Hyperlocal Blogger.)

This is an article from HyperlocalBlogger, a site about the intersection of local search and blogging by Matt McGee.

5 Ways to Grow a Local Blog

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.

This is an article from HyperlocalBlogger, a site about the intersection of local search and blogging by Matt McGee.

Hello, My Name Is Steve And I Have Hyperlocalbloggeritus