The Rise of Nigerian Tech Blogs

KoliTech

Posted by Felix Okoli on Tuesday December 3, 2013 at 11:24:16:

There are a growing number of Technology related blogs or websites in Nigeria. The reason is not far fetched - Nigeria remains a major market for tech companies around the world.

When you talk of brand Tech products like Apple, Blackberry, Samsung, Nokia, Tecno, LG and Sony, there is a growing number of web blogs that are publishing content related to such products.

Why Tech blogging? Why do people start blogging about Technology? I guess it's probably there is also a need by the market for independent reviews about such tech products. Nigeria's don't just want to buy tech products but they also want to read honest and unbiased reviews about them before even committing to buy. There is also a need for free information on tech problems and solutions and these growing number of Nigerian Tech blogs tend to be providing it.

Blogging about Tecnology is basically what niche blogging is about. Gone is the time when Nigerian webmasters just start up blogs related to general topics since there are already a lot of blogs on the issue. Nowadays, bloggers try to focus on niche blogging just to be able to focus on more detailed issues relating to products and services that people actually use.

I happened to do some Googling a few days ago and noticed that there were already a large number of Technology related blogs in Nigeria. They just don't focus on global issues or topics but on local topics that Nigerians are actually searching for. when you search for things like Sony playstation, Nokia Pureview review, Apple iPads, DSTV, Vehicla tracking, you'd get to see a lot of Nigerian tech blogs already listed.

Truth is, setting up a Tech blog related to issues that actually identify with the Nigerian community can actually be a profitable online business model. Nigerians use a lot of products and services related to mobile phones, gsm, cable tv, electronic billing, vehicles, computers and so on. Blogging around those tech categories can attract a good amount of local web traffic.

I'm not sure if I can put a finger on the exact number of Tech blogs already available in Nigeria but I can say that for the established ones that can at least last for the next 10 years, we've got up to 100 tech blogs already.

Do Nigerian Tech blogs make money? Of course they do. While I can't say which of them precisely makes money but I think there are a varying ways through which they can make money from their website content. Tech blogs can make money by partnering with tech companies and becoming their voice on the web. Some tech bloggers can even get jobs as corporate bloggers. Apart from getting jobs and contracts, Tech bloggers can also monetize their blogs by making use of online advertising platforms like Google ADsense, AdDynamo or Bidvertiser. I've seen that there are a lot of local Tech companies already advertising their products using networks like Google, Bing and Chitika. There are also a few Nigerian blogs who make money by selling advert spaces directly.

Inasmuch as there is a growing number of Tech blogs in Nigeria, there is also a growing number of Tech blogs dying off. I've visited some local tech blogs I knew started a few years ago and found out that their domain names and web hosting has expired. What then happened to their content? I think it's a wasteful investment to start a blog, add content to it and yet kill it off. It's probably better to sell an old blog that retire unceremoniously. Anyway, I think Tech blogs tend to remain alive for the long term if they find a way to sustain themselves financially.

So when it comes to profitability, I think Tech blogs have the best potential but the real question that remains is whether Nigerian Tech bloggers would be able to sustain their blogs for the long term.

Comments:

Re: The Rise of Nigerian Tech Blogs Reply by Ayoola Ayobami on Thursday December 12, 2013 at 23:54:13:

Nice Post. We have a lot of Tech Blogs in Nigeria and you've already mentioned why. I also run a Tech blog here - Nigerian Tech Updates Blog

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