If you’re new to blogging, one of the best ways to get started is by covering the events happening in your local area. While major cities like New York City and Chicago are well served by the blogosphere, most of the smaller towns and cities across the US are calling out for writers that are willing to provide fresh, focused content to the local population. If this sounds like something that interests you, keep reading for some tips on how to get started. If you are unaware of how to start a blog, then consider checking out 501words to learn more about it.
Think of it Like a Local Business
The first thing to consider is how you are going to meet the needs of the people in your area. If you want to make money from your blog eventually, you need to think about what the people in your local area want and how you can meet those needs. You could even consider partnering up with businesses in your area and publishing their ads in return for a fee. Some of the things you may want to consider blogging about are local events, current news, and restaurant reviews. You could even make use of a weather mapping platform to provide up to date weather information to your readers.
It’s Best Not to Go Too Niche
While bloggers operating from large cities may want to choose a niche to focus on, this isn’t a particularly good idea for those blogging about small areas. Local news and events in small towns tend to be much more slower-paced, and you may not have an array of potential topics to choose from. While you can, if you want, still focus on the ‘small-news’ type stories such as “cat gets stuck in a tree”, think about what your community really needs and the ways to fill that void. A mix of local events, news, reviews, and current happenings is sure to be much more useful than a blog that purely focuses on a local sports team. You’ll have much more to write about too.
Think About Your Goals
Before writing your first blog post, it’s a good idea to know what your goals are for your blog. For some bloggers, this might involve making an income, while for others it may mean just getting to know the local community better. Not only will your goals determine the design of your blog, but they may also reflect upon the style and tone of your content. Whatever your goals are, it’s important to make sure your content is professionally written and properly proofread before publishing.
Visibility
Finally, you need to consider how you will find readers for your blog. The good news is that local SEO tends to be easier than international as the search terms are less competitive. You should also be able to pick up quite a bit of traction from social media websites like Facebook and Twitter, especially if you invite those who you know in the area to follow your page and share it with their friends. It’s also worth asking local businesses to link to you as well.
Local blogging can be incredibly fun, but it’s wise to consider the points above before getting started.
Related read: How to start your first WordPress blog at less than 20$ (write your first post in less than 15 minutes)