My detailed recipe for a successful hyperlocal blog post

This article will describe, with examples, exactly how to write a hyperlocal blog to drives leads.  I was fortunate to participate as a panelist in the Activerain Blogger Success Panel this morning.  There was a lot of discussion about the details of what makes a successful post.  It occurred to me that having a specific recipe / formula might be appealing.  So, using a recent hyperlocal blog as a template, here's exactly what I've found pulls in readers.

TITLE:  [tract or subdivision name], [city/town name] Homes for Sale ["Guide", "Source", etc]

Example:  Rinconada Hills, Los Gatos Homes for Sale - The Definitive Guide

BODY CONTENT

OPENING: [Neighborhood name] is a great place to buy a home

Write a short paragraph about the neighborhood with a general description of what it is, where, and why it's nice.  Be positive.  For example:  Maple Manor is a 90 home subdivision located off Wicker Road surrounded by open space.  The homes were built by local builder Jack Sprat who has a reputation for quality.

FACTS PARAGRAPH:  Quick Facts about [neighborhood name]

Write a bullet list of quick facts that include housing count, school scores, recent average sales, etc.  You want to put in 8-10 facts here that grab attention.

LIFE PARAGRAPH:  Life at [neighborhood name]

Write a bit about what it's like to live in the neighborhood.  Talk about local resources, places to go, restaurants, activities, even traffic patterns.  Anything that's informative and LINK BACK to anything that has a website.

MARKET PARAGRAPH:  Real estate market in [neighborhood name]

This is your chance to post a brief summary of the market in the current year.  You don't want too much detail or you'll be drowning out the rest of the content.  Just put the average or median selling prices, days on market, and similar stats.

HOMES FOR SALE PARAGRAPH:  [neighborhood name] Homes for Sale

This should be a combination of a short paragraph about buying a home plus either a map-based search or a list of active listings from an IDX feed.  If you can't do that, a link to an IDX feed will work as well.  This way, readers can go look for homes right away.

So, that's what I've been doing and getting results.  My article on Rinconada Hills in Los Gatos has had over 500 views in 3.5 months and I've got one listing from it.  I've been doing the same thing for other neighborhoods as well, making a few variations to the formula as needed.