There has been a lot of news on Linda Ikeji lately. Not on Linda Ikeji, as in Linda Ikeji blog; but on Linda Ikeji, the woman. She recently acquired a mansion in a choice area of Lagos, even though it's likely that this should just pass as a cool house, instead of a mansion. If it were indeed a mansion, then what would we call the abodes of other Nigerian money giants like Dangote or Adenuga? However, this doesn't remove from the reality that the blogger has been doing exceedingly well in the revenue department. Looking over the numerous news recently emanating about her wealth and how much her blog makes, I couldn't help but draw a relationship with Nairaland and how this rampant blog compares with this other Nigerian content start-up we all love and are addicted to.

According to Alexa, Nairaland ranks 8 in Nigeria, twenty places above Linda Ikeji's blog which is ranked 28. Both have seen times on the list, going through a succession of peaks and troughs that had Nairaland rank as high as 900-and-something and Linda Ikeji doing no greater than about 1600 in the world this year. This are arguably the two most loved Nigerian-content websites, even if they differ in the content they present. Currently Nairaland is ranked 1255 in the world, having gone up 306 places in recent months, while Linda Ikeji is currently ranked 2427 in the world, down 570 places.

Attaining 1255 or 2427 places in the world is no small feat. Both sites are safely ranked above many million other websites, among which are the official websites of Pepsi, Cocacola and all other drink companies in the world! Besides, Nairaland holds an assured first position in Africa as the biggest content website on the continent, created by an African. Linda Ikeji comes quite behind here. Punch's and Vanguard's website have even better ratings.

In a country where there is still very little internet penetration, what seems to be working well for Nairaland, I suspect, is its simple design and light weight. According to Alexa, the site loads faster than 59% other websites on the internet in just about 1 second, depending of course on your internet speed. There is little doubt Nairaland's owner would have seen this as an attribute to invest in. The site has maintained its relatively redundant look for years on end, only recently moving from machine codes to self codes. Linda Ikeji on the other hand has 89% other websites on the internet which load faster than it does. It takes some 4 seconds for the site to come up. Saturated with images from both posts and adverts, Linda Ikeji's blog could sometimes drag hesitatingly slow while popping up the pictures in their slots and ads in their corners. The background of the blog itself is a colourful banner for sale, overshadowing the highway on which content rests.

In spite of the unwholesome clog, it would seem Linda Ikeji's blog still provides good user experience. Its number of single-page visitors compares favourably well with Nairaland's, and is about the best you get in Nigeria. Only about 1/3 of people land on the two websites and bounce off. This is only slightly lower than even Facebook's, comparing well with industry standards. But with people spending longer time on Linda Ikeji than on Nairaland, it does seem that Linda's content holds more attraction than what communal effort is able to produce.

On the average, visitors on the model's blog spend a fifth of an hour, roughly 5 mins more than what they spend on Nairaland. Generated by Linda herself, content on the blog centers mainly around celebrity gossip, rumours and petty news. Oftentimes there are sundry news items as reported on major news website. This ensures that news items can be targeted at specific visitors; items can also be modified as it suits the admin and release appropriately timed. In contrast, Nairaland portrays a stream of user-generated news items. The site depends on its community to create news, update items and stimulate followings. Sometimes admin may generate news for its ultimate frontpage, it however still looks up to the community to stimulate interactions, interactions upon which the success of a frontpage topic eventually depends. While it could boast of some advantages of community-stimulated engagements, Nairaland seems to have proven that users could shoot down topics just as much as they can help drive it. Tribalism, trolling, tirades, insults are things the typical Nairalander is all too familiar with. Though there's little evidence that this has failed the site more often than not, there is reason to suspect that is the case. The AMA organized with Mark Essien, CEO of hotels.ng, is at least one case where trolling saw to the failure of a well-intended venture.

Nairaland and Linda Ikeji's blog claim audience from both sides of the Atlantic. While it's quite reasonable to assume that these are Nigerians in the diaspora, there's some evidence there are also foreigners in the pool. Albiet foreigners interested in things Nigerian. Reddit would suffice for most who have no business with Nigeria, and Perez Hilton for those who want foreign celebrity gossip. So, these Nigerian-content websites are not attempting to sell themselves beyond the country, or even the continent. They have a loyal local base they have continually built successfully on and as startups are not really embracing as much disrupting innovations as one might expect. Unimaginative Nigeria has a part to play; and the argument is, if it ain't broke, why fix it? Even then, it is appropriate to question whether Nairaland should have waited for the malicious attack on its website that year before investing in additional security apparatus, or if the taking down of Linda's blog by her friend should have had to happen before she considered relocating or duplicating her content. Is there a danger that these start-ups are settling ever so comfortably into their success unaware of the need to reliably hold the fort?

And success they indeed have. With ad managers jostling to put up banners on Nairaland & Linda's blog, it's quite reasonable to assume that the two entrepreneurs have been smiling to the bank in recent years. Sites such as worth of web attempt to give a potential valuation figure for websites using Alexa ranking to estimate traffic figures, number of visitors and page per views. Admittedly they do such a horrible job, but the figures they churn out give suggestive insight into what a site might be worth, even if little. Nairaland & Linda's blog rate highly on these valuation websites when compared to other more successful websites such as Facebook or Instagram, suggesting indeed that the Nigerian owners are earning millions from them. How big? That's hard to say. Extraneous factors, such as sex or reach of owner for example, are also playing a part in how these two websites are being evaluated by potential customers. There could be considerable weight behind the argument that Linda earns more than Nairaland because she is a woman, hence more empathy from mostly male brand managers who are willing to support with ads. It could also be true that her associations bear more fruits than Nairaland's, since she maintains a more imposing public image. The jury is still out on these.

Whatever the case, there is no doubt the internet is starting to change things for the group of Nigerian entrepreneurs. Nairaland & Linda Ikeji are charting the route for other content deliverers to follow. With the start-up vibrancy that is setting the environs of Yaba alight, there is good reason to believe that a brighter future awaits internet business in Nigeria. And though the problem of internet penetration may need to be solved first, many reasons encourage every follower to stay abreast of developments, stand behind the lines, wait it out in trenches, and be ready to deliver to a generation of youth and adult a richly rewarding experience that will benefit both sides immensely.

Lookingbuoy

cc: lalasticalala

epelumi42:
Nairaland obviously contain more content. But people prefer a more refined and handpicked news by going to Linda.

MzTee1411:
nice write up

IamMrNoble:
hbd dearie