What do the Most Successful Blogs Have in Common?
The blogosphere, like the business world, has its share of high fliers. A select few blogs manage to draw in millions of readers, commanding influence and generating income that most of us can only dream of.
So what’s their secret sauce? When you look under the hood of the most popular blogs, some common ingredients emerge that we can all learn from.
In this post, we’ll uncover what gains traction and keeps readers coming back. We’ll also highlight some top blogs crushing it right now in terms of traffic, revenue, and authority.
Common Traits Among Top Tier Blogs
While each successful blog has its own distinct voice and angle, look closely and you’ll notice some shared characteristics that are worth emulating.
Laser Targeted at a Specific Niche
Generalist blogs that try to appeal to everyone tend to get lost in the noise. The most popular blogs zero in on a very specific target audience and niche, tailoring their content appropriately.
For example, blogs like Budgets Are Sexy and Afford Anything speak to financially savvy young professionals aiming to maximize savings and retire early. Their focused approach pays dividends.
You might assume narrow niche sites struggle to attract readers. Yet often it’s quite the opposite. By providing deep value to an underserved community you can quickly establish authority and word spreads.
Brilliant at Link Building
Links remain crucial for SEO and ranking highly in search results. The best blogs don’t leave this to chance. They strategically build links through guest posting, partnerships, interviews, and organic citations.
ProBlogger – one of the most respected blogs on blogging itself – articles regularly appear on sites like Forbes, Business Insider, and HuffPost. This referral traffic and backlinks turbocharge its authority and reach.
Utility and Takeaway Value
Top blogs hook readers by offering extremely useful tools, resources and actionable intel. Lifehacker’s name says it all. Posts constantly provide clever solutions and shortcuts.
Similarly, Young Adventuress shares invaluable logistics for hassle-free travel like visa requirements or packing lists for different climates. These utility posts breed a loyal following.
Personality and Authentic Voice
While informative content is essential, today’s readers also crave personal connection. The “faceless corporation” doesn’t cultivate engagement. The most compelling blogs build community by infusing posts with founder’s stories, values and transparency.
A standout is Mr Money Mustache. Despite the financial focus, posts feel more like a conversation with an eccentric friend who challenges norms around consumerism and early retirement. This genuine voice breeds a tribe-like following.
Consistent Publishing Schedule
The most successful blogs don’t leave fans hanging. They stick to a clear content calendar, reliably churning out posts on schedule. Consistency allows anticipation to build while signaling the blog is actively maintained.
Top performers often post daily or multiple times per week. But even once a week can work wonders if it becomes part of the reader’s routine.
Examples of Some of the Most Successful Blogs Right Now
With these success factors in mind, let’s showcase some blogs with massive followings that rank among the cream of the crop.
The Penny Hoarder
Founded in 2010 by Kyle Taylor, this site focused on money-saving hacks has exploded. By 2013 it hit over 10 million monthly views and Taylor was making $500k a year from display ads and affiliate revenue.
Staying true to its “for the love of saving money” tagline, posts constantly deliver actionable money saving tips and stories centered around saving on food, travel, cars, bills, debt and more. This hyper practical advice proved wildly shareable.
With over 16 million monthly readers, The Penny Hoarder receives more traffic than stalwarts like Lonely Planet and CNET.com.
Nerd Fitness
As the name suggests, this blog takes a geeky angle towards health and fitness. Launched by Steve Kamb in 2009, its mission is helping “nerds, misfits, and mutants to get fit”.
With an emphasis on fun over fitness, it dishes out highly accessible advice like how to sneak more activity into sedentary lifestyles or diet tips for fast food and restaurant meals.
This niche approach struck a chord. Nerd Fitness now pulls in over 4 million monthly visitors. Kamb also evolved a thriving coaching business helping readers achieve fitness goals.
Humans of New York
Originally just a photography blog, Humans of New York has mushroomed into a cultural phenomenon. Photographer Brandon Stanton began documenting candid street portraits in 2010, pairing shots with quotes and snippets of lives.
The approach ignited a raw emotional connection with followers. A Facebook community of over 20 million emerged. Posts were liked over 25 million times. A popular book deal followed.
Humans of New York gave rise to dozens of copycat projects globally like Humans of Shanghai and Humans of Berlin. Stanton’s blog tapped into universal human truths – we all crave storytelling.
Wait But Why
Launched by Tim Urban in 2010, this blog takes complex topics and breaks them down into engaging, easy-to-digest thought experiments illustrated with stick figure drawings and infographics.
Rather than robotic posts by a faceless writer, Urban’s personality is front and center. His self-deprecating humor and uncanny analogies earn loyalty. He also isn’t afraid to invest in epic 4,000+ word posts like on procrastination.
Wait But Why now attracts over 4 million readers per month – more than Times.com – with a minuscule advertising footprint. Fans happily support through Patreon donations and merchandise.
Key Takeaways
While successful blogs span every topic imaginable, some common ingredients underpin soaring traffic, revenue, and authority. Narrowly targeting an underserved niche pays dividends. Utility and takeaway value beat generic content. Developing an authentic voice and community is crucial.
Hopefully, these case studies and traits provide some inspiration to take your own blogging game to the next level! Consistently delivering focused value to readers can unlock impact and income.
