Analysis of 6 Top Paid Bloggers - SystematicBlogging Blog

Nowadays, there is an abundance of aspiring professional bloggers worldwide. Nonetheless, it is not uncommon for these individuals to harbor doubts about pursuing this career.

If you aspire to make a career as a professional blogger, it is understandable that you would be interested in learning about highly successful blogs that have generated significant financial gains.

If you solely write about your passion without it bringing any significant value to your life, it will not continue to inspire you as a hobby blogger in the long run.

How Much Money Does a Blogger Make?

The answer to this question is subject to personal opinion, and its outcome is influenced by various factors.

After paying blogger taxes, bloggers generally earn an annual income ranging from $38,000 to $51,000, which is determined by various factors including the length of their blogging tenure, the size of their audience, and the quality of their content.

Even novice bloggers have the potential to earn $500 per month right from the beginning, and this amount can gradually grow over time and with hard work, as long as the content they produce is distinct and they adopt effective marketing strategies.

What Type of Blogs Make the Most Money?

To make the most money in your blogging career, it is essential to carefully choose the best blogging niche.

The profitability of your blog is also influenced by niche selection.

There are 6 niches that are well-known for providing a high return on investment (ROI) when it comes to blogging.

#1. Fashion Blogs

If you possess a great sense of fashion and desire to make money from it, then fashion blogging is the ideal choice.

Due to fashion’s significant role in society and lifestyle, these blogs are extremely captivating. Once your blog starts to gain recognition, it presents an opportunity to collaborate with brands and generate income from it.

Depending on the success of their blog, a fashion blogger can earn anywhere from $500 to $6,000 per month after one year of successful blogging.

Atlantic-Pacific is an exemplary fashion blog that Blair Eddie initiated in 2010 with the intention of showcasing her personal fashion style and providing guidance to others on the subject.

Until now, she has collaborated with numerous renowned brands, including Sephora, Gucci, CoverGirl, among others, resulting in significant revenue totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

#2. Food Blogs

In recent years, food blogs have become immensely popular. Therefore, if you have a passion for cooking and sharing recipes, food blogs offer an ideal opportunity to monetize your passion.

Food blogging extends beyond the boundaries of solely cooking and sharing recipes. Your blog can also encompass topics such as the top-rated restaurants, cooking advice, or any subject related to food or culinary expertise.

Food bloggers earn an average monthly income ranging from $12,000 to $100,000.

Love and Lemons is a renowned food blog that originated in 2011 and was established by Jeanine Donofio and her partner, Jack Mathews.

The focus of their menu is typically on vegetarian cuisine and they have garnered attention from various respected food publications. The name originates from Jeanine’s affection towards her meals, complemented with a hint of lime.

#3. Travel Blogs

If you enjoy discovering new places, travel blogs are a great option. To start your own travel blog, you can write about your experiences and share photos and videos from your journey.

After a year of hard work, bloggers in this niche can start earning a decent income of approximately $1,000 per month. By persistently putting in effort, their earnings have the potential to gradually increase and reach thousands of dollars.

Matthew Kepnes, also known as Nomadic Matt, is one of the highest-paid travel bloggers. Throughout the course of 15 years, he has traveled to over 100 countries.

Today, he manages to draw in more than a million visitors per year, resulting in an annual income exceeding $100,000. He has gained recognition on various renowned media platforms such as Forbes and BBC.

#4. Lifestyle Blogs

If you are interested in recording your personal life in writing, then lifestyle blogging is the suitable choice for you.

As a lifestyle blogger, you have the opportunity to write about a wide range of topics such as beauty, fashion, home decor, and essentially anything that encompasses your lifestyle.

By reviewing new products and sharing their opinions on various lifestyle-related things, lifestyle bloggers assist their readers in selecting effective products and life hacks that can enhance their lifestyle.

If you are new to this, you could potentially earn approximately $5,000 per year. Nevertheless, there are lifestyle bloggers who achieve earnings of up to $100,000 in a single month.

The success of your lifestyle blog ultimately depends on the efficacy of your content strategy and the level of investment in its marketing.

Wit and Delight, started by Kate Arends in 2014, is an example of a successful lifestyle blog.

On her blog, Wit and Delight, she discusses various topics such as fashion, decor, career, relationships, and parenting, all from a woman’s viewpoint. The intended readership for her blogs primarily consists of women navigating through different stages of adulthood. It is projected that the average revenue generated by Wit and Delight will surpass $4 million.

#5. Health and Wellness Blogs

If you are someone who is passionate about fitness and wants to share your knowledge with others, starting a health and fitness blog could be an excellent way to begin.

You can encompass all aspects of health and fitness, from maintaining a nutritious diet to engaging in physical activity on a daily basis.

Fitness bloggers who have an audience that is highly engaged typically earn a monthly income ranging from $5,000 to $100,000 on average.

Mark’s Daily Apple is a prime illustration of a fitness blog that has achieved remarkable success. This blog centers its attention on matters related to fitness, primal lifestyle, the keto diet, and the provision of recipes.

With the generation of revenue surpassing $14.7 million annually, it obtains its earnings from advertisements and product recommendations.

#6. Parenting Blogs

If you are interested in sharing your experiences as a parent and earning some money at the same time, then consider starting a parenting blog as it is the last profitable niche on our list.

You have the option to share your experiences, starting from your pregnancy journey and all the way through childbirth. Additionally, you can discuss your experiences and insights on raising children.

Parenting blogs typically make around $3000 per month, although the actual earnings can fluctuate depending on the monetization strategies implemented (such as affiliate marketing, display ads, product reviews) and the amount of website traffic received.

The Realistic Mama is a parenting blog that is successful and brings in approximately $20,000 in revenue every month.

Alida, a mother, initiated this blog which discusses various topics related to raising a child. Additionally, she explores methods for stay-at-home moms to achieve financial independence.

Top 6 highest-earning bloggers

1. HuffPost (founded by Arianna Huffington): $143.1 million

Between 2005 and 2011, Arianna Huffington, the founder of The Huffington Post (which was later renamed HuffPost in 2017), gradually developed her business from a current affairs commentary blog to a comprehensive media empire. This growth eventually led to the acquisition of The Huffington Post by AOL for a substantial amount of $315 million.

Huffington continued to serve as the Editor-in-Chief at The Huffington Post until 2016. Afterward, she assumed her current role as the CEO of Thrive Global, a blog and training provider that focuses on corporate wellness. Additionally, Huffington holds positions as a board member for various brands, such as Uber and Onex.

With an estimated annual revenue of $500 million, HuffPost stands among the top-tier in terms of traditional newspapers and even surpasses many other blogs.

HuffPost’s success is largely attributed to its methodical method of producing and distributing digital content. On a daily basis, the platform has consistently uploaded a range of 600 to 1,000 articles, from which a variable number of 10 to 100 articles go on to become viral.

The success of blogs has always depended on their ability to draw in readers, and HuffPost achieved this by employing a well-timed and effective strategy. However, it remains uncertain if a comparable strategy implemented in 2020 would allow a blog to reach the same level of growth as HuffPost. This is due to search engine algorithm changes that have raised the bar for the quality of content required to generate a significant number of organic search views.

2. Engadget (founded by Peter Rojas; now edited by Dana Wollman): $47.5 million

Engadget, which was established in 2004 by former Gizmodo editor Peter Rojas, offers coverage on various tech subjects such as smartphone games, robotics, search engines, and wearables. After leaving Engadget in 2008, Rojas shifted his focus to venture capitalism. Similar to the Huffington Post, Engadget was purchased by AOL in 2011 and is currently owned by Verizon Media.

With an estimated annual revenue of $47.5 million, Engadget is positioned near the top of the tech media league table.

Engadget extensively uses affiliate links within product reviews as a way to monetize. These links are presented as a “Buy now” call-to-action button located in a fixed header.

Engadget’s main navigation prominently features product reviews that generate affiliate revenue. The blog has successfully identified its commercial approach and strongly implemented it. Whether your own blog focuses on affiliate commissions or different revenue sources, a valuable lesson from Engadget is the benefits of prioritizing revenue-generating elements in your blog design.

3. Moz (founded by Rand Fishkin; now edited by Morgan McMurray): $44.9m

Moz, an SEO community and service provider, offers SEO software, conferences, and a large-scale digital publishing operation.

Moz’s content is not just content marketing; it is also one of the top publications in the field of search marketing, led by a highly influential blog.

Moz’s blogging is known for its popular features such as case studies, industry reports, and the educational vlog series called ‘Whiteboard Friday’. The series was originally presented by Rand Fishkin, the founder of the company. Although Fishkin occasionally presents Whiteboard Friday vlogs, he shifted his focus to a new venture called SparkToro in 2018, which serves as an audience intelligence provider.

Even though blogging is not Moz’s main product, we believe it is appropriate to include Moz in our list of top-earning bloggers. This is because the brand’s blog is highly popular and influential in the digital marketing field. Additionally, Moz’s digital publishing plays a crucial role in generating leads for the company, which contributes to its annual earnings of $44.9 million.

Moz has demonstrated the effectiveness of incorporating blogging as a central component of its brand to sell products and services. Instead of simply adding a blog to its website and occasionally posting articles, this brand has successfully established one of the top blogs in its industry. As a result, Moz has become a popular destination and hub for the SEO community, largely due to its focus on blogging.

4. PerezHilton (Perez Hilton): $41.3m

Perez Hilton, whose real name is Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr., is a well-known media personality and celebrity blogger. His blog, PerezHilton, is widely recognized in the field of showbiz journalism.

Since 2005, Perez Hilton has been writing stories about celebrities like Lady Gaga, Johnny Depp, and Miley Cyrus. He has also actively inserted himself into celebrity culture. The PerezHilton blog offers popular features like gossip stories, photo galleries, and quizzes. The blog’s content is akin to that of conventional celebrity/gossip magazines like Closer or Heat.

The effective utilization of celebrities by PerezHilton blog is one of its major strengths in engaging with its content. The blog gives prominent attention to well-known personalities by using specific categories dedicated to them and incorporating numerous paparazzi and red carpet photos. This demonstrates a deep comprehension of the aspects that make the blog captivating, an essential aspect for every blogger to determine for their own blog.

5. Copyblogger (founded by Brian Clark; now edited by Stefanie Flaxman): $35.1m

Copyblogger is a renowned blog that focuses on blogging and various other forms of content writing. It has been recognized as the most influential blog in the world for content marketing. The blog primarily offers invaluable writing tips, examination of recent advancements in content marketing, and engaging podcast episodes.

Copyblogger, being a blog focused on copywriting, is under significant pressure to practice what it advises and create high-quality copy. Its articles consistently fulfill this expectation by presenting well-structured content and engaging, conversational writing.

6. Mashable: $30m (founded by Pete Cashmore; now edited by Jessica Coen)

Pete Cashmore, a 19-year-old web consultant from Aberdeen, founded Mashable, a media and tech blog, in 2005.

Mashable covers a wide variety of subjects, such as tech, science, and social good, in its content. Amplify, a content series that focuses on racial equality issues, is one of the blog’s notable attributes, aiming to increase awareness, highlight concerns, and promote active involvement.

Mashable Deals is another intriguing aspect, this time considering monetization. It is a section of the blog where deals, reviews, product roundups, and other content focused on commercial aspects are featured.