For the past few weeks we have researched and studied browsing habits of Nigerians online. We sought to know what Nigerians search for most on the internet.

Is this article useful?
You can bet. Information marketers and bloggers will find it useful to have the information about the most searched things online by Nigerians. In compiling this report we did not take into account single word searches like “2go” “Facebook” etc. We, rather, wanted to find out the sort of information (How to’s) that Nigerians seek most online.

Note also that this report is not complete in its entirety as we will still continue our research and effect any changes we discover along the way. We also give credit to the following site/organizations through which some of our research was carried out:

a. Google.com
b. Nairaland.com
c. Facebook.com
d. Twitter.com among others.

And now, the list.

Please note that we do not compile in an order of importance or most searched,. We just let you have the list and do whatever you wish with it.

1. Job Vacancies/Opportunities: the relative success of many job sites in Nigeria attest to the fact that thousands of Nigerians go online everyday seeking information on available job openings. They type in several phrases depending on the job they want. You see phrases like, ‘engineering jobs in Lagos, accounting jobs in Nigeria’ etc.

Also, many search for web address of known recruiting firms, oil companies’ banks and telecom companies. When government agencies like the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) advertise for recruitment thousands of people go online to search for details and application process.

Job vacancies is one thing Nigerians will continue to search for online for sometime to come given that unemployment has continued to be a huge challenge to the country.

2. How to Make Money/Income Online: this is a particularly popular search term for Nigerians. As the internet opens more and more in Nigeria, thousands dream for a life where they work on their computer for a couple of hours per day and get the dollar cum naira rain to live the life of their dreams. For many however they soon realize how difficult it is to make money online in Nigeria. Nigerians search to discover best ways to make money online without much stress.

3. News: depending on the latest occurrences in the Nation’s political or sporting sector (these two are the most eventful parts of Nigerian’s lives) Nigerians go online to search for more information. News sites like 234next.com, Vanguard and sports sites like goal.com are very popular in Nigeria for this purpose.

4. How to Get Overseas Scholarship: the craze to go abroad by Nigerians did not start today. And it is not about to end. Undergraduates and graduates all seek multiple ways to escape the country and study abroad to presumably have access to better life with the degrees they’ll acquire abroad.
The search for overseas scholarship and educational opportunities include a wide varieties of country; Canada, Malaysia, US among the most common searches.

5. Where and How to Get Laptops, Phone Accessories and Other IT Gadgets: do we need to say more on this? As the latest gadgets and tools appear many Nigerians search online for information on these gadgets and tools and how to get them.

6. Computer/Mobile Phone Cheats: many young Nigerians want to browse the internet with their mobile phones for far cheaper costs or even for free. Hence, the search for phone cheats to enable free or low-cost browsing. The same applies to the computer.

7. Sports: the country has some of the craziest fans of the English Premier League, Spanish League and UEFA Champions League.
Every transfer window in Europe brings plenty of searches by Nigerians who wish to keep up to date on latest sales and acquisition of players by their favourite dubs.

Nigerians also search for match results and issues concerning Nigerian football.

8. Answers to Term paper Questions, Project Topics & Other Academic Questions:
This consist a reasonable percentage of searches conducted by Nigerians on the net.

9. Free Stuff: yeah, Nigerians love free money, free browsing, free tips on how to get a woman to like you and stuffs like that. So they search for free things. When I started out as a blogger I searched for many free tips to help improve my blog.

10. Online Dating: the last but not the least. Curiously, many young Nigerian are into searching for online dates with the opposite sex.

Do you have any other ideas? Lets us know about it through the comment box.