As a small business owner or an affiliate marketer, you are most likely to frequently deal with “local” search engine traffic (people coming from location-specific search cash loans online, universal search results containing maps, etc). If so, you should know that this is the most valuable traffic because people definitely know what they want.

Their intent is clear and well-defined and their action is almost immediate if they see what they want. These are your most useful visitors, those that get converted eagerly and promptly.

So here’s the good news: the more local you go, the better targeted your visitors are.This is why a well-planned local SEO strategy is so important.

Here comes “hyperlocal” blogging phenomenon.

• Reach a a tightly-targeted niche audience: Hyperlocal sites cater for a particular village, local community or town. This means that your message is very much on spot and will attract a more active response.
• Highly targeted message always means that it is much easier to get high rankings for (as the competition is considerably lower) while the search traffic gets only higher (like with most long-tail traffic, these are most interested surfers).
• Blogging lets you cover hyperlocal news and event – which means you get extra traffic from timely searches (which are even easier to rank for).
• Maintaining a hyperlocal blog makes your business more attractive for local journalists and columnists – which means you start getting covered in press (which, in turn, means more traffic and brand recognition).

Research your location topical relevance.

What’s your city or area associated with? Text Optimizer can help you find out! Type your city in the search box and select content ideas from the list. Here’s semantic research of the City of Albany:

How do I create and promote my hyperlocal blog?

The easiest recipe here: go as specific as you can. Start covering important news in your business neighborhood and reach out to local newspapers for coverage. This local blog by one Dallas real estate firm is a great example of what I am talking about:

Here are also a few hyperlocal news aggregators and communities for you to promote your blog:

• Outside.in: Register your site with Outside.in for Bloggers and wait for the status confirmation.
• EveryBlock.com: To get covered, contact the team feedback at everyblock.com
• Patch: Apply as a local editor here and add your events in the corresponding section (Patch is only available for a handful of locations)

All the above powerful resources will gladly syndicate your hyperlocal news articles and generate plenty of extra traffic.

Another option is to use Twitter to get in touch with local PR experts and columnists. Use twitter search to track news near your specified location and to get in contact with local journalists. If you have interesting news to share with them, they will always be happy to connect.

LocaFollow is a nice free tool that lets you search Twitter users by location and specify what they specialize in. For example, you can use it to search for Dallas/Fort Worth journalists:

Now just spend time and effort to properly approach these local influencers and turn them into your business advocates.

Good luck!