An effective way to figure out the web's most popular blog topics is to visit the Top 100 list at Technorati. Using in-house "authority" rankings, Technorati attempts to classify blogs by their popularity -- with incoming links being one of the most important assets a blog can have.
I spent an afternoon parsing the list for the world's most popular blog content, and here's what I found:
37% Technology
18% Politics
14% Celebrities
6% Uncategorized
5% Finance
3% Parenting
So, what does that tell us? People who surf the web a lot like technology. No surprise there. But it also doesn't take a sociologist to realize that the Web's unfairly tilted toward tech sites. In 20 years, the Web's going to be so pervasive that regular, non-geeky people are going to be online all the time, too ... and they're going to read and write about things that aren't techie.
Looking at the list above doesn't make me think starting a tech blog is going to make me rich. Quite the opposite. It makes me think it'd be a lot easier to get readers if I wrote a blog about something that isn't techie since I know I'll have a lot less competition.
As more and more "regular" people spend their free time online, they're going to drive up demand for topics that fall outside the categories listed above. It's the "long tail" that Chris Anderson was talking about.
That said, I'd like to point a small number of the handful of Top 100 blogs out there that aren't about celebrities, iPhones or stocks. They're all proof that there's demand for offbeat content, and that demand is only going to increase in the years to come.
Monthly Traffic at Offbeat Blogs
(random sample)
742K Make Blog
283K Pioneer Woman
185K Luxist
160K Post Secret
152K Zen Habits
• Makezine Blog (Technorati Rank: 69): MakeZine highlights the underground DIY culture that's committed to foregoing corporate goodies in favor of more authentic, hand-made possessions. On Make's blog, you'll find hundreds of ways to build things on your own. 742,000 visitors per month.
• The Pioneer Woman (Technorati Rank 27): Musings, recipies and love stories from a woman on the "frontier". From "black heels to tractor wheels," Ree Drummond's site gets about 283,000 visitors a month.
• Luxist.com (Technorati Rank: 45): A blog about ridiculously expensive toys: from cars to watches to wine. 185,000 visitors per month.
• Post Secret (Technorati Rank: 18): A site that beautifully and magically blends the online and offline worlds. Users send in anonymous postcards, and Frank Warren posts them online. 160,000 visitors per month.
• Zenhabits.net (Technorati Rank: 56): A self-help site by Guam-based blogger, Leo Babauta. Zenhabits publishes contributed articles on increasing your productivity, getting healthy and paying your off debt. 152,000 visitors per month.
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I spent an afternoon parsing the list for the world's most popular blog content, and here's what I found:
37% Technology 18% Politics 14% Celebrities 6% Uncategorized 5% Finance 3% ParentingSo, what does that tell us? People who surf the web a lot like technology. No surprise there. But it also doesn't take a sociologist to realize that the Web's unfairly tilted toward tech sites. In 20 years, the Web's going to be so pervasive that regular, non-geeky people are going to be online all the time, too ... and they're going to read and write about things that aren't techie.
Looking at the list above doesn't make me think starting a tech blog is going to make me rich. Quite the opposite. It makes me think it'd be a lot easier to get readers if I wrote a blog about something that isn't techie since I know I'll have a lot less competition.
As more and more "regular" people spend their free time online, they're going to drive up demand for topics that fall outside the categories listed above. It's the "long tail" that Chris Anderson was talking about.
That said, I'd like to point a small number of the handful of Top 100 blogs out there that aren't about celebrities, iPhones or stocks. They're all proof that there's demand for offbeat content, and that demand is only going to increase in the years to come.
Monthly Traffic at Offbeat Blogs
(random sample)
742K Make Blog 283K Pioneer Woman 185K Luxist 160K Post Secret 152K Zen Habits• Makezine Blog (Technorati Rank: 69): MakeZine highlights the underground DIY culture that's committed to foregoing corporate goodies in favor of more authentic, hand-made possessions. On Make's blog, you'll find hundreds of ways to build things on your own. 742,000 visitors per month.
• The Pioneer Woman (Technorati Rank 27): Musings, recipies and love stories from a woman on the "frontier". From "black heels to tractor wheels," Ree Drummond's site gets about 283,000 visitors a month.
• Luxist.com (Technorati Rank: 45): A blog about ridiculously expensive toys: from cars to watches to wine. 185,000 visitors per month.
• Post Secret (Technorati Rank: 18): A site that beautifully and magically blends the online and offline worlds. Users send in anonymous postcards, and Frank Warren posts them online. 160,000 visitors per month.
• Zenhabits.net (Technorati Rank: 56): A self-help site by Guam-based blogger, Leo Babauta. Zenhabits publishes contributed articles on increasing your productivity, getting healthy and paying your off debt. 152,000 visitors per month.
