West Seattle Blog and Blogging Best Practices

Perhaps one of the most popular hyperlocal blogs is the West Seattle Blog. This blog represents a small, but civically active neighborhood in Seattle. It was started when a power outage in the neighborhood sparked the need for an instant and neighborhood specific news source.

From its start WSB has only grown averaging nearly half a million visits each month. The West Seattle Blog is a regular source for reporters and a first thing in the morning read for most residents in West Seattle and beyond.

Timing is important especially today when we receive a constant flood of information from social channels. The perfect timing will depend on your audience. In the case of WSB they’re timing of creating a neighborhood news source of instant need to know information through their blog, came after a power outage which highlighted the lack of this need.

Once created the engagement is what created the buzz of this blog and creating a stronger community within the neighborhood of West Seattle. WSB has an avid community forum where discussions regularly end up on the front page, and then the occasional evening news.  Not only does WSB engage through the blog itself but it engages through multiple social media platforms such as: facebook, twitter, flickr, youtube, pinterest, and google plus.

This hyperlocal blog’s timing along with its content, frequency, engagement, and use of social media has helped establish its authority as the go to blog for most residents as well as reporters in the West Seattle area.