In this week’s video, I share 10 ideas for local blog posts to help you write better localized content. Adding more localized content to your blog helps cast a wider net and get your brand more exposure, so use these ideas, or springboard off of them and come up with your own. You’ll show up in more local searches and outpace your competitors, which means more leads when local customers are ready to buy!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Welcome back to another episode of Local Search Tuesdays. This week, I’m building off of last week’s video about the importance of having a blog, so I’m sharing ideas for localized blog content.

Last week I talked about the importance of sharing localized content on your blog. If you haven’t watched that one yet, check it out. I’ll wait…

So to recap, your blog shouldn’t be all about you – that would be boring, and no one would really want to read it. When you share localized content, you toss out a wider net and can expose your business to more potential customers in the local area.

You need to make your blog a local destination – a spot that shares awesome, helpful information about the local area. Mike Ramsey said it best, way back at the LocalUp conference in 2015:
“Local content is not about being unique, it’s about being local and useful”

You know your local area – what’s fun, interesting, or helpful for other people in the area, or for someone who’s visiting from out of town?

Here are 10 ideas for local blog content that you can use as a springboard for your own ideas:

Number one: Top 5 lists. People love to read “top 5” or “top 10” lists. Share a list of your favorite burger restaurants, or steak joints, or parks. You can even go seasonal and talk about haunted houses or neighborhood Christmas lights. This is one of the easiest ways to crank out awesome localized content.

Number two: Community or local news. Even small towns have news. Share important news, or your opinion on something important that happened recently.

Number three: Local events. Every city has local events. Could be a concert at the park, or a parade, or a 5k race… You should have plenty to blog about here.

Number four: Sponsorships or charities. If you’re sponsoring a local event like a 5k or a golf tournament, write about that event on your blog. Support a local charity? Share info about it.

Number five: Event guides. If there’s a big local event, share a helpful guide. For example, let’s say there’s a big 5k race and parade for Saint Patrick’s Day. You could share a list of the best places on the race route to watch, the best bars to go to, the best restaurants near the parade, hotels to stay at instead of driving, and so on.

Number six: Create a local resource directory. Instead of creating a guide based around an event, create a helpful list of local businesses. The “buy local” trend has accelerated, especially thanks to COVID, so share a list of the local businesses that the community should support.

Number seven: Review local businesses. You live in the community and buy from local businesses, so why not write up reviews of your great experiences?

Number eight: Interview local figures. You probably know someone interesting in the local community. Maybe it’s the mayor, or the high school football coach, or a popular pastor. Take advantage of your friendships and professional relationships and write up an interview with someone in the area.

Number nine: FAQs. You know all those questions you hear over and over again from customers? There are always common questions about the local area as well. Write up a post that answers those frequently asked questions about the local area and you’ll have a killer post that shows up in a ton of search results.

And number ten: Aggregate content. If you’re just starting out and you’re not sure what to write, sometimes simply aggregating and sharing other people’s content can work well. Write a post that briefly summarizes stories from local news sites and posts from other blogs in the area.

So now you know some of the easiest ideas for creating localized content. These ideas all sync nicely with your link acquisition strategy too, since most will give you opportunities to naturally acquire links – or they’ll give you new opportunities to go after.

That’s all the time I’ve got for today’s video though, so you know what that means.
Put your hand on the screen right here:
We totally just high-fived ‘cause you learned something awesome.
Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you again next week for another episode of Local Search Tuesdays.