Local Hero – Target Geographic Markets
Most people coming to this Blog (and many other Blogs in the same field) are looking for an edge – something that will help them stand out. For the most part we cover broad topics relating to SEO, Blogging techniques and Affiliate matters because the standard thinking is that we want to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.
Think Local
Even when we do focus on a niche, its almost always a market niche, so we’re getting (or trying to get) visitors who are interested in a certain subject matter, wherever they are geographically located.
What about we turn that on its head, and aim for a purely geo-based market? and where better to try that than in your own town?
What I’m talking about is making a Local Blog – and not just a Blog, but a Forum and a Directory, a News site or local reviews even.
The Benefits
If you get yourself a good, locally relevant domain name and content that is aimed smack-bang at a local audience – you are going to have a great chance of grabbing visitors and retaining visitor loyalty, because people feel a natural preference for a ’local’ site over a generic one. They have a sense of attachment and that is something you can build on.
What’s more, once you are able to establish a ‘brand’ locally, it will be relatively easy to build on that by expanding the scope of your site/network – and even reproduce it for neighbouring Cities/Towns.
Say, for example, I pick up a domain “BirminghamBuzz.com”, “HotInPerth.com”, “CapeTownReviews.com” etc. (I just plucked those names out of thin air – I don’t know if they have been taken, I’m just using them as an example). I can use names like these to build a very focussed, very targeted niche site.
Aren’t I restricting my potential Visitor Numbers?
Sure, I know that straight away I’ll be ignoring the vast majority of people in the world who don’t actually live in those Cities, but in this case i don’t care, because I know that the people visiting the site will be considerably more likely to be interested in what’s on there.
More to the point, I can sell that ‘exclusivity’ to advertisers – because they will also know that the vast majority of people visiting the site will be those most likely to be interested in their services. That means that they will be guaranteed a better success rate when compared to taking pot luck on some generic term web site.
It’s the Web equivalent of local newspaper advertising – you don’t get so broad a reach but you get a better hit rate.
Getting Advertisers
What it means to you, as the Site owner, is that the normal advertising ‘model’ doesn’t apply. You will have to do more legwork to attract advertisers, as generally speaking you won’t be able to use the usual mainstream advertising/affiliate methods.
The upside (and it’s a big one) is that you will be able to negotiate deals direct with local businesses – you’ll cut out middle-men and, of course, you will be WAY cheaper than traditional print advertising, which means you could pick up business from people who have previously avoided advertising.
You will probably have to offer ‘loss leader’ or ‘opening discount’ type deals to get people interested to start with but the freedom of being able to work out your own arrangements with local businesses can bring great benefits. Plus, the ‘personal’ touch means that these guys will be more willing to give you a chance -particularly when you can literally drop round and discuss deals face to face.
User Involvement
As with any other niche, you want to generate and maintain user involvement. And that means you need to do more than just set up a Directory site and hope it takes off. This is where Blogs and Forums in particular can pay off – people tend to feel involved in their community and are often passionate about subjects of local interest. Once you provide a means for them to air their views you will be able to develop a thriving online community, which will spread by word-of-mouth as well as by SEO.
Once a user base is established (with the help of some good ‘start up’ advertising deals and special offers), you can leverage that involvement with Reviews and increased advertising.
What to Do?
So – if you live in a town with a population of say, 100,000 or more, give it a try:
- Register a locally meaningful Domain name
- Start by Blogging about local topics and news
- Identify local businesses (even just start with 2-3) and approach them on the basis that locally targeted online advertising will be beneficial to them (and also much cheaper than traditional methods)
- Be prepared to offer cheap or free advertising to begin with, or to work on a commission-only basis, perhaps using a basic ‘voucher code’ approach
- Approach local newspapers to see if you can get an editorial plug, local radio stations to get an on-air mention (offer some free advertising in return).
- Encourage Comments and set up a Forum – exploit the fact that many people feel passionately about their town. Publish and encourage Reviews and Feedback.
- Get some advertiser testimonials – even if you have to pay for them
Put them on the site - Get your advertisers to offer Website specials/discounts
- Maintain Visitor and Click stats if you can – use them to generate repeat business – don’t be afraid to approach businesses in the same field as your advertisers – let them know just how well your advertisers are doing
- Don’t neglect your usual SEO tasks
What we’re looking at here is generating maximum benefit from a relatively small user base – we’re not competing on Keywords with a million other sites and we’re maximising the chances of a visitor actually making a commitment to your site/advertisers.
Give it a go…
Cheers
Dave
