Top Ten Most Popular Blogs

If you are one of the millions of people around the world considering starting a blog or if you have already entered into the world of blogging and need a little motivation, this is the article for you. Nearly all of the top ten most popular blogs in the world were started in the last 10 years. All of these sites started as something small and now attract millions of unique visitors per month. All of the blogs listed also generate millions of dollars of annual income and have become legitimate business entities.

This goes to show, it is all about dedication, the right idea, and execution. The best blogs in the world are blogs which have content updated on a regular basis. For many who do blogging on the side while working a full time job, it can be difficult to write posts consistently, but it is a necessity for success. The best word of advice would be to try to post at least once a day during the week. Slowly over time, you will start to see your traffic numbers increase and as a result so will your revenue. There is no alternative for quality content.

To help motivate you, here are the top ten most popular blogs in the world:

10

Lifehacker

Lifehacker was founded by Gina Trapani on January 31, 2005. Content on the blog covers a wide variety of topics such as Microsoft Windows, Mac, Linus, iOS, Android, and general life tips and tricks. The site is typically updated about 18 times per week and operates under the motto “Tips and downloads for getting things done.” Currently ranked as the 623rd most popular website in the world according to Alexa, Lifehacker receives more than 5 million unique visitors per month.

9

Gawker

Founded by Nick Denton, Gawker aims to be the definitive source for daily Manhattan media news and gossip and primarily focuses on celebrities and the media industry. Gawker, which originally launched in 2003, is the flagship blog for Denton’s Gawker Media which also runs other big name blogs Gizmodo, Defamer, and Deadspin. On average, Gawker posts 20 every day during the week and attracts more than 6 million visitors per month.

8

Tech Crunch

TechCrunch has evolved into being the go-to source for information on IT companies and startups around the United States. It was originally founded by Michael Arrington in 2005 and has since grown into one of the most popular websites in the world. With a current Alexa ranking of 517 and more than 7.5 million readers per month, you could say that TechCrunch has quite the following. Every year since 2011 TechCrunch hosts annual conferences in San Francisco, New York City, and Beijing where a number of technology startups launch their products and services competing on stage in front of potential investors, media, and other interested parties. In addition to the blog, TechCrunch also hosts an annual database called CrunchBase which allows users to look up information about various technology companies from its database.

7

Mashable

The British-American technology and social media blog was founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005. Although the site primarily focuses on social media news, it also covers news in areas such as mobile, entertainment, online videos, business, web development, technology in general, memes, and gadgets. In 2009, Mashable won an award for being one of the 25 Best Blogs from Time Magazine. Every year since 2011 Mashable has hosted a conference called Mashable Connect, which features speakers on content curation, the democratisation of content, social media, and social television. Currently Mashable receives approximately 10 million monthly viewers and ranks as the 472nd most popular website in the world.

6

Gizmodo

The immensely popular design and technology blog, was originally launched by Peter Rojas in 2002. By mid-2004, it was reported that the blog was bringing in monthly revenue in excess of $6,500 per month. In 2010, the blog was the source of controversy when Gizmodo came into possession of what appeared to be an iPhone 4 prototype when it purchased it for $5,000 from an individual who had found the device unattended at a bar in Redwood City, California a month earlier. Every since, Gizmodo has been barred from all Apple-hosted events and product launches. Despite this, the blog currently receives more than 10.1 million unique monthly visitors and is ranked the 472nd most popular website in the world.

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5

Perez Hilton

PerezHilton.com was formed in 2004. It has been considered one of the best sources of celebrity gossip on the internet. The site features several posts per day about the latest in celebrity news. On average the site brings in 10.2 million visitors per day.

4

Engadget

Engadget is a blog with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. Originally started in 2004 by Peter Rojas, Engadget has more than 11.5 million monthly visitors. Since it was founded, dozens of different writers have contributed articles to Engadget including many high-profile bloggers, industry analysts, and even professional journalists. Throughout the years Engadget has been nominated for numerous awards. In 2004, it won a Bloggie for Best Technology Weblog, in 2005 it also won a Bloggie for Best Computer or Technology Weblog and Best Group Weblog.

3

Business Insider

The youngest blog on this list, Business Insider was launched in February 2009 by former DoubleClick founder Kevin Ryan. The site provides and analyzes business news and acts as an aggregator of the top news stories from around the web. The site currently employs a staff of 50 writers and first reported a profit in 2010. Every year Business Insider hosts a variety of conferences including IGNITION which explores the emerging business models of digital media. This business site receives more than 12.1 million visitors per month and is ranked as the 427th most popular website in the entire world.

2

TMZ

TMZ is a celebrity ness site which debuted on November 5 as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures Productions, a division of Warner Bros. The name TMZ officially stands for “thirty-mile-zone” which was the historic “studio zone” centered in Los Angeles centered at the intersection of West Beverly Boulevard and North La Cienega Boulevard. Unlike many celebrity gossip sites, TMZ claims that everything published is research and vetted for accuracy. In 2007, a companion TV series was launched called TMZ on TV. The site attracts 19 million visitors per month and is the 426th most popular website in the world.

1

Huffington Post

Founded in May of 2005, The Huffington Post is an online news aggregator and blog founded by Arianna Huffington. The site was launched as a liberal, left-leaning alternative to the hugely popular Drudge Report. The site offers a variety of content including news, blogs, original content, and covers such topics as business, technology, lifestyle, culture, health, environment, and local news. In 2011, AOL purchased Huffington Post for an astounding price tag of $315 million making it the quintessential blog success story. Also, fairly uniquely, the Huffington Post makes the majority of its revenue through paid advertisements. Although far from the one person blog operation it started as, it still has the feel of a much smaller site, which could be one of the reasons it has been so hugely successful over the years. The active user community contributes more than 1 million unique comments on a monthly basis and often engages in heated, intelligent debate. The Huffington Post consistently ranks in the top 100 most-visited sites in the world according to its Alexa ranking.

 

Featured image: Flickr by Tavallai