Starting a Hyperlocal Blog: The Series

by Matt on Aug 25, 2008 in Blogging

Blogging and local search are two hot items in online marketing, and that makes perfect sense: Blogging is a natural way for a business owner to introduce him/herself to potential clients while simultaneously showing knowledge and expertise of the local area.

This is especially true in the real estate industry. The Washington Post recently wrote about the growing trend of real estate agents using blogs to connect with potential clients. The article hit home at Casa McGee: My wife is a Tri-Cities real estate agent, and we recently started four new hyperlocal blogs for that exact purpose.

Starting a Hyperlocal Blog

Beginning today, I’ll be publishing a five-part series about our experience. The road we’ve taken may not be right for you, and sometimes I’m not certain it’s been right for us. We’re headed in a new direction, trying to navigate all the twists and turns and bumps in the road. My hope is that you’ll learn from our experience, even if that means learning that you should do things differently. :)

Monday: Planning A Hyperlocal Blog Strategy
Tuesday: Setting Up a Hyperlocal Blog (or Four)
Wednesday: Content Development for Our Hyperlocal Blogs
Thursday: Marketing A Hyperlocal Blog
Friday: Hyperlocal Blogging: Successes and Failures So Far

Enjoy the series, and please share your thoughts at any point along the way!

(photo: Highway 240, near Richland, Washington, by Matt McGee)
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Comments

22 Responses to “Starting a Hyperlocal Blog: The Series”

  1. Joanna on August 25th, 2008 3:06 pm

    Hey Matt… I am def interested to see where this goes. I love any test set up to pursue the power of “The Blog.” Thanks for taking this on, I will def be following the series…

  2. Gregg Towsley on August 25th, 2008 5:48 pm

    Matt,
    I was posting my new page to Twitter and I found this blog. I will bookmark it and check back often. We are interested in local blogging for our clients. I just rolled out a new similiar service called Social Media Marketing targeted for local advertising. The new page is on our website under Website Traffic.

  3. Matt on August 25th, 2008 9:12 pm

    Joanna & Gregg – thanks for stopping by, and thanks for following along this week. I’d welcome any feedback you have on any of the articles. The more conversation, the smarter we all get. :-)

  4. Guide to Hyperlocal Blogging on August 25th, 2008 9:53 pm

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    [...] about upcoming events and products (in a non-salesy way) will lead you to more customers.  Blogging about local happenings, concerts, trade shows, whatever, will get you noticed in your [...]

  6. Content Development for Our Hyperlocal Blogs on August 27th, 2008 5:21 am

    [...] is Part Three of a series on Starting a Hyperlocal Blog. Please visit that page for links to the full series of [...]

  7. Marketing A Hyperlocal Blog on August 28th, 2008 6:00 am

    [...] is Part Four of a series on Starting a Hyperlocal Blog. Please visit that page for links to the full series of [...]

  8. Hyperlocal Blogging: Successes and Failures So Far on August 29th, 2008 5:36 am

    [...] is Part Five of a series on Starting a Hyperlocal Blog. Please visit that page for links to the full series of [...]

  9. outside.in » Noted: A guide on how to start a hyperlocal blog on August 29th, 2008 9:10 am

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  10. Starting a Hyperlocal Blog | BlogMeisters on August 31st, 2008 11:23 am

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  11. Mailbag: Why Not Use a Real Estate Blog Network? on September 3rd, 2008 5:44 am

    [...] good questions, but hit on some issues that I knew would be addressed in last week’s Starting a Hyperlocal Blog series. There was one question I didn’t address last [...]

  12. Hyperlocal Blogging for Small Businesses on September 19th, 2008 12:10 pm

    [...] blogging to help his wife’s real estate business.  Matt has been writing a series called How To Start A Hyperlocal Blog.  His series is targeted primarily at local businesses who are looking for ways to create deeper [...]

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  15. Scott Schaefer on January 16th, 2009 11:05 am

    Thanks for the informative post! I’m a former TV Writer/Director-turned-localblogger (http://www.b-townblog.com) and in just over a year online, we’re the main online source of news for Burien, WA; our unique visitor traffic is between 12k-14k per month, and we now have around 33 Paid Advertisers. I’m not boasting – I’m just showing that this model works! cheers, scott schaefer

  16. Local Search - All 2009 Nominees » SEMMYS.org on January 19th, 2009 9:14 am

    [...] How to Start a Hyperlocal Business Blog Matt McGee, Hyperlocal Blogger | 8/25/08 [...]

  17. Blogging for Your Real Estate Website » Advanced Access Blog on February 4th, 2009 4:09 pm

    [...] you’re looking for more information on where to get started, Matt McGee did a series of posts on how to start a hyperlocal blog. His posts explore everything from your startup strategy to things like domains and content [...]

  18. Best Parking in Davis Square | 60 Rindge | Life in Davis Square on February 12th, 2009 9:05 pm

    [...] Life in Davis Square.  I finally feel like I am starting to incorporate location-aware apps with hyperlocal blogging as I originally set out to [...]

  19. Hyperlocal Blogging Expert In Tri-Cities | Northwest Journal on April 17th, 2009 6:41 am

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  20. Matt Prados on April 25th, 2009 10:46 pm

    I would like more info on marketing side. I have clients that we are having local blogs for and was looking for any proven methods of seo for local blogs ie links that are really good maybe the chamber of commerce, other local businesses, ideas on directories that show other local blogs that you could guest blog for each other etc. Those were my ideas so far any suggestions?

  21. 46 Links on Local Online Marketing: Techniques to Promote Your Local Business « Web 2.0 For Small Biz on April 27th, 2009 8:46 am

    [...] How to Start a Hyperlocal Business Blog – HyperlocalBlogger. A five part series:  planning, setting up, content development, marketing, and successes and failures. [...]

  22. 46 Links on Local Online Marketing: Techniques to Promote Your Local Business — Web 2.0 For Small Business on June 29th, 2009 11:04 am

    [...] How to Start a Hyperlocal Business Blog – HyperlocalBlogger. A five part series:  planning, setting up, content development, marketing, and successes and failures. [...]

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