Blogging is one of the most straightforward ways to make money online in Nigeria. And until today, a lot of Nigerians are making decent income from blogging.
Traditionally, blogging is done via platforms such as Blogger, WordPress, and Typepad. However, with the emergence of social media and video sharing platforms, the definition of blogging is gradually being expanded to include these platforms.
In this post, I’d be discussing the various blogging platforms widely used among Nigerian bloggers.
Blogging Platforms in Nigeria Explained in Detail
Blogging platforms in Nigeria can be classified into 3 major categories:
- Content management systems
- Social media platforms
- Video sharing platforms
Let’s now discuss each category in detail.
1. Content management systems
A content management system (CMS) is a program that allows users to create, manage, and modify content (usually text) without any technical skills. So, with a content management system, you can run a site or blog without knowing anything about coding or website development.
In Nigeria and even the rest of the world, WordPress and Blogger are the most widely used content management systems.
WordPress is a full-featured system for building blogs and websites. While it’s most commonly used for blogs, it is used for many other types of websites and other applications. WordPress offers a free-to-use version (WordPress.com) which is used for blogs, and the more versatile paid version (WordPress.org), which is used for blogs and many other applications.
Blogger is a simple, free-to-use blogging platform owned by Google. It allows users to create simple blogs within a few minutes. However, its major downsides are that it is grossly limited in terms of customization and its functionality is very basic. And these explain why it’s no longer favored by professional bloggers.
Blogging on content managing systems is majorly done for search engine traffic (aka organic traffic). Once your blog starts to generate organic traffic, it can start earning income constantly from that traffic. Even on days when you don’t add new content to your blog, the visits would still come, and you can literally earn income while you’re asleep.
Even though starting a blog on a CMS is quite easy, there’s a lot to learn — keyword research and SEO, content creation and optimization, analytics, and many other concepts. Another issue is that things change at warp speed. Strategies working today might stop working tomorrow, and you’d have to adjust from time to time in line with such new developments.
2. Social media platforms
Although most bloggers use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms to promote their existing WordPress or Blogger blogs, blogging directly on these social media platforms is now becoming popular in Nigeria.
Because most posts shared on social media “blogs” are short pieces that are highly tailored to the target audience, the practice of blogging on these platforms is called “microblogging”.
Facebook is ideal for bloggers who intend to share images, videos, and text-based content. Twitter is perfect for short pieces of text. And Instagram is best for eye-catching videos and other visuals.
Starting out as a blogger on social media platforms cost nothing, as all the widely used platforms are free to join. And gaining followership is easy once you start churning out content that people find interesting — educative or entertaining.
Another upside of blogging on social media platforms is that you have a ready audience for each piece of content that you post. And you won’t have to wait for several months to start building that audience.
However, blogging on social media platforms is an active venture. If you don’t post, you won’t attract any traffic, and you won’t enjoy any benefits attached to the traffic.
Another downside of social media blogging is that you don’t own or have control over your account. Your account can be closed down if that platform finds you guilty of certain “crimes”, and you’ll lose all of your content if that happens.
3. Video sharing platforms
Although interesting video content can be shared on WordPress blogs and social media platforms, video-sharing platforms such as YouTube and TikTok are presently the most widely adopted options among video bloggers. Both platforms provide unlimited space for you to share interesting videos with the platform’s users all over the world.
YouTube, primarily a web-based service with a mobile app version, is the perfect option for lengthy videos. TikTok, on the other hand, which is primarily a mobile app is the ideal option for brief videos.
Getting started with video-sharing platforms is free. So, newbie “vloggers” (video bloggers) won’t have to pay any registration or hosting fees. But they might have to invest in good-quality video creation and editing equipment and software.
However, video bloggers are at the mercy of their platforms. They may lose all of their content if their accounts are closed.
Wrap-up
Now you know the options available when it comes to blogging platforms in Nigeria. You’ve also understood the pros and cons of each. If you’re looking to start a new blog, your choice of blogging platform should be based on the type of content you intend to publish — whether text, images, or video clips.
Note that there are far more platforms than the few specifically mentioned in this article, which are just the ones widely used by Nigerian bloggers.
