The Importance of Being First in Local Blogging

Weblogs Inc, the blog network reportedly sold to AOL for some 25-30 million, has launched its next phase of blog dominance - building statewide blog networks.

The first of these experiments is Blogging Ohio. Five Ohio bloggers discuss everything there is to know about the great state thats round at the ends and "hi" in the middle.

Why is this important?

Because in the blogosphere, "first in" confers a huge advantage due to preferential attachment.
The advent of Webogs into the local market legitimizes the trend towards local blogging as a way to generate both real ROI and signifies a recognition that national blogging is reaching a saturation point where even the best new content has difficulty breaking through to the top.

Local blogs, whether state, city, or region focused, still remain a competitive environment for the independent blogger working part-time versus company-backed group backed blogs.

Whether in politics, business, or in dicussing the local social scene, local blogs are still in the growth phase outside of a few cities (New York is blog saturated and has been for some time). With Weblogs, Inc pushing into the Midwest (and I can only imagine Southern and Southwest States are next), the window for local bloggers to make their mark is shrinking.

There's no telling if this is a net positive or a net negative, but if you're interested in building a St Louis or Missouri based blog network, now's the time to get on the horn and give me a call.

Hat Tip: Blogspotting