How to Promote Your Blog Locally (and Why You Should)

Building early attention for your blog can be difficult; most bloggers never end up reaching their first 1,000 readers. But one of the most overlooked strategies for improving your blog’s visibility also has the potential to be one of the most effective: promoting your blog locally, within your city or region.

Why Local Promotion?

You might be surprised to consider local promotion as a valuable tactic since national or global promotion would give you a bigger potential readership. However, there are some distinct benefits to promoting your blog locally:

  • Smaller target audience. It may seem counterproductive to target a smaller audience—after all, it might mean a smaller potential number of readers. But when you target a small, much more specific niche, you can create content that’s much more relevant to those demographics. Catering to locals in your neighborhood or region allows you to give them more content that addresses their specific needs, which means you’ll have a better chance at winning their loyalty for the long haul.
  • Less competition. Think of the number of companies like yours that are operating on a national level. Now think of how many are operating within your city. Temporarily shifting your focus to target a local demographic should cut your number of active competitors dramatically, allowing you to spend less and worry less about other companies encroaching on your business.
  • Affordability and convenience. In many cases, local marketing is more cost-efficient than national marketing. For example, you’ll pay far less for a TV ad that only plays for your region than you would for a national audience, and you’ll spend less time and money on local SEO than you would a full-scale search engine optimization campaign.
  • Loyalty and personal connection. Shopping your blog around locally also gives you more opportunities to engage with your audience. Instead of trying to reach someone on the other side of the country with digital ads, you’ll be talking about your blog firsthand toward your neighbors and community members. You’ll have more opportunities to build personal connections, and those connections will likely drive more reader loyalty to your blog.

Tips for Getting Started

So what types of strategies can you use when promoting your blog locally?

  • Advertise on your car. If you don’t mind the aesthetics, consider marketing your blog on your vehicle. You could get a sticker or other designs on your car that leads people to your website, or even a custom license plate that spells out the name of your blog. That way, you’ll get passive advertising views as you drive throughout the city, and you won’t have to pay recurring costs or lift a finger to do it. Just make sure you have a car insurance policy that covers your vehicle for business purposes.
  • Leave ads in cafes and other hot spots. Travel to some of the most popular destinations in your city, such as cafes, bars, or other establishments related to your subject material. While you’re there, drop off a few flyers, brochures, or other forms of collateral that show off the name and purpose of your blog (as well as the fact that you’re a local).
  • Network. It’s also a good idea to network with other people, as often as possible. Attend professional networking events in your city and meet like-minded professionals who may be interested in your blog directly—or who may refer you to someone they know who may be interested. It’s a fast way to build your reputation and blog views at the same time.
  • Create more location-specific content. While you’re pushing the local angle, make sure to produce some new location-specific content. Cover local events, delve into local legends, or make some other connection to your community if you want to earn some bonus points. You can even cover local events, like parades and festivals, to meet people while you’re generating new topic ideas.
  • Start speaking. It’s easier to find speaking opportunities in your local community than you might imagine. Speaking events are commonplace in cities around the country, and more often than not, they have empty slots available just begging for someone interesting. Prepare a presentation or two on a subject related to your blog, and get speaking! You’ll have a chance to show off your expertise and drive traffic to your blog, and if you’re good enough, you might even make some money on the side.

You don’t have to stay confined to your city limits forever; these strategies are purely intended to help you get started with your audience-building efforts. Once you’ve reached a solid threshold, you can start expanding your reach however you’d like—either by doubling down in the local scene or by aiming for a wider audience.

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