Soft-chemical methods were used to create ZnO nanoparticles that were doped with transition metal (Ni and Co) ions. By using a variety of characterization approaches, the crystal phases, microstructural, magnetic, and optical characteristics of doped ZnO NPs were fully examined. Electron mapping and chemical analysis were performed with SEM-EDS and ICP-AES, respectively, showing that the doping of metal ions was successful. TEM and XRD)analyses of doped ZnO NPs showed the confirmation of the wurtzite structure of ZnO. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) further confirmed the doping of metal ions into the ZnO matrix. When compared to pristine ZnO, the PL spectra of the doped ZnO NPs indicated a greater defect concentration. Moreover, the magnetic measurement results of doped ZnO NPs showed defect-mediated room temperature ferromagnetic behavior without any coercivity and remanence magnetization. It has been found that the ferromagnetic behavior of doped ZnO NPs is mainly reliant on the defect concentrations in the sample.