As you know, we are champions of all things local at outside.in and we prize the hyperlocal bloggers and publishers we link to from our site.
We get asked a lot of “how to” questions, so we thought we’d share a summary of our top user tips to help you get the most out of outside.in. Here goes:
1. Go where big media doesn’t. Nothing is too local. People in your neighborhood care about parking issues, little league games, annoying construction, new restaurants — everything happening right nearby. Be as specific as possible when talking about places. Give them accurate names so they are more easily detected by our system and added to the right pages (i.e. “Madison Square Garden” vs. “the Garden”). More about this in #5 below.
2. Connect with your neighbors and other local bloggers. Share ideas with other bloggers and leave comments on their site. If someone else has the scoop, link to them. If you write a post inspired by another blogger, give them a shout out and thanks. People tend to link back, and the more links you receive, the more credible you’ll be as a source. Talk about local places and issues in our discussion boards. Remember, you are part of a larger community — the hyperlocal blogging community — so make friends out there!
3. Post early and often, or at least regularly. Readers like consistency. Give them content to come back for regularly. Come up with a schedule you can stick to, whether it be 5 posts a day or 5 posts a month (but of course, the more the better!). Come up with regular features (like restaurant reviews on Thursdays, or fun facts about your neighborhood on Fridays) so your readers have something to look forward to. You can always schedule posts (on your blogging software’s timestamp) to be published at a later time if you plan to be away from your computer.
4. Be timely. Break stories. You can cover news way before local media sources pick up on stories. In this wave of citizen journalism, larger newspapers and TV stations often look to local bloggers as sources. The sooner you post a story, the more likely you are to get a surge in traffic when word spreads. If you tend to break stories or write about local issues when they are fresh, you’ll be seen as more of an expert and other local blogs and news outlets will start linking to you. Which leads us to…
5. Tag your posts. Use relevant subject, place and (most importantly!) location tags so that your content is easily searchable and identifiable. Subject tagging will allow your posts to show up on outside.in topic pages (like http://outside.in/Brooklyn_NY/tags/events). When you write about local issues, places or people, tag with the most specific geographic information (address is best, but use a zip code or neighborhood name if your post is about a more general area). Remember, tag with the location information that your post is about (not where you are located). For example, hyperlink to the place page like this: White House OR add outside.in “where tags” like this: [where:1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C.]. Please refer here to see our supported forms of geotagging content.
6. Use your stats to your advantage. Discover your Stats page in your GeoToolkit, where you can view your neighborhood rankings, see which posts generate the most links, and compare yourself to other bloggers in your area. Knowing where you rank and what gets you links can help you produce better content that will get the most page views.
Keep up the great blogging, and remember, outside.in is a great way to share your content with a wider audience, and to discover what’s around you. Not being picked up by outside.in yet? Submit your blog via GeoToolkit here.
Have your own list of tips? Send ‘em our way. Best tip will receive a limited edition outside.in t-shirt.
