If you have the desire to start your own blog, but don't know which platform to choose, in this article you will find a comparison of two of the most popular blogging services: Blogger vs WordPress.
In an increasingly connected digital world, you know, sharing content is one of the musts of any strategy to web marketing.
Whether you are content creator professionally or you're involved in anything else, you can't help but engage your audience by proposing topics for them to be interested in and passionate about.
Beyond social platforms, there are still quite a few out there who use their websites to share ideas and stories or dispense guidance and advice through articles in the blog - just as most professionals complete their online presence in the same way.
Yeah, as crazy as it may sound to some, nowadays the numbers of blogging are crazy - meaning that if you're wondering if it's worth it... Yes, the answer is absolutely yes.
If you are getting into the world of digital content and would like to start your own blog, you probably already have some ideas about what to write about and what it should look like. Maybe you even know a thing or two about Web marketing and Web site creation.
Nevertheless, you may be wondering which platform to use to get the best results...
Not least because, in an increasingly competitive environment, it is crucial to be able to build a website that can keep up - and enable you to establish yourself as a thought leaders and acquire authority.
Today I really want to tell you about two of these popular blogging platforms: Blogger e WordPress.
The former may not be known to everyone, but the latter is somewhat the Ferrari of the industry.
Blogger is a simple service that allows you to create a blog and publish it online immediately. WordPress, on the other hand, is a comprehensive content management system (CMS) for creating Web sites (ah, a necessary clarification: in this article I always refer to WordPress.org, which is different from WordPress.com).
Both I must say have solid reputations and both allow users to create a blog using various customization options.
Of course, each platform has its pros and cons: the best choice for you will depend on your goals and what you intend to use it for.
In this article I offer a simple but detailed comparison so that you can decide which one is best suited for your goals.
Happy reading!
Bloggers vs. WordPress: what are they?
As mentioned earlier, Blogger and WordPress are two of the most widely used blogging platforms in the world.
Specifically, Blogger is a free blog hosting service from Google.
Due to its ease of use and low cost, it is popular among the inexperienced who want to start creating simpler blogs.
You only need a Google account to access it; the service already includes a free Blogspot subdomain.
WordPress, on the other hand, is actually more than just a blogging platform (although it was originally born for that): it is a comprehensive Content Management System (CMS) designed to help you create online content of various kinds. In practical terms, that means you can use it to create almost any kind of website.
It is also an open source platform, where you have the freedom and ability to create and modify things as you wish, as long as you know enough code. It is more suitable for this reason for users who are looking for more control over the appearance and functionality of their blog.
(Please note that we are talking about WordPress.org, the open source downloadable software, while WordPress.com is a different thing.)
Like Blogger, WordPress is also free, although it will not host your blog for you. You will need to choose a hosting plan and pick a domain name, after which you can install and configure your WordPress site.
Having said that, I will then anticipate that the main difference is that Blogger is a free and intuitive blogging platform owned by Google with limited customization options, while WordPress is a more powerful and versatile platform with more flexibility and control, while requiring more technical knowledge for installation and maintenance.
Ultimately, the choice comes down to your specific needs and preferences.
How to choose the platform for your blog?
If you want to start a blog, you need to consider the features you will need.Before we delve into the comparison between Blogger and WordPress, let's quickly look at the most important things to pay attention to.
These are, by the way, the same points that we will later use to compare the two services.
- Ease of use: you need a simple, easy-to-use platform to quickly set up your blog, add content and grow your audience;
- Flexibility: you need a platform that allows you to add more features or use more resources as your blog grows;
- Appearance and design: The look or design of your blog plays a key role in attracting visitors and reducing bounce rates, making it user friendly and optimizing performance;
- Monetization options: If you want to make money online with your blog, then you need to choose a platform that allows you various monetization options;
- Support: you may need support while creating, designing, or managing your blog; if you are struggling, you will want to get help as quickly and easily as possible.
In addition to the above, there are other important factors to consider: platform costs, available design options, SEO optimization features for traffic, and more.
That said, let's see how WordPress and Blogger compare to these requirements.
Blogger vs. WordPress: a comparison
Now that you have a little overview of Blogger and WordPress, it's time to move into comparison mode. We will look at different aspects of both platforms-this should help you get a much clearer idea of which platform is right for your website.
#1 Blogger vs WordPress: ease of use.
Blogger is relatively easy to use: after logging in with a Google account, it takes only a few minutes to set up.
From the dashboard you can create a new post or change settings; you can also view drafts and published posts in the center of the control panel.
However, if you want to customize your theme, it is a bit more complicated, because you will need HTML skills to do so.
Even the creation of a blog in WordPress is a quick and easy process, but it requires a few extra steps: first, you need to purchase a web hosting plan and a domain name.
Most hosting services then allow you to install WordPress automatically, simplifying the setup process.
Next, you can choose a theme and install various plugins to add functionality.
You can easily create text content and add images, videos and other media to your posts and pages using the intuitive block editor.
#2 Blogger vs. WordPress: flexibility and customization
Blogger is designed to be a simple blogging tool-that means the things you can do on your site are limited.
It has a number of built-in "gadgets" that allow you to add some functionality, but they are quite small; advanced options such as popups, e-commerce features and more are not available (and this obviously limits your earning potential).
Blogger provides only a limited set of templates to use, which are quite simple and also popular on other sites.
You can change the colors and layout of these templates using Blogger's built-in tools. However, you cannot create original ones or make changes to them.
WordPress is an open source software: this means that with third-party plugins and integrations, you can modify and extend the default functionality, also choosing from a large number of available themes.
With a content management system, you can choose the colors, fonts and layouts of your blog. You can create, edit, schedule, update your posts and customize them.
You can add buttons, forms, affiliate links and other social media features via plug-ins. You can also add custom CSS to the WordPress dashboard or modify your site's source code to perform more advanced tasks, such as creating a permanent navigation menu.
#3 Blogger vs WordPress: monetization
With the built-in function of Google AdSense, both Blogger which WordPress allow you to monetize your blog by showing relevant ads to visitors. You will need to create an AdSense account, make your ad spaces available, and select where you want to place the ads.
You can also monetize your blog through affiliate marketing and sponsored posts. While there is no built-in Blogger tool to manage affiliate links and earnings, on WordPress you can install several plugins for this purpose.
Also, since you can create an A to Z website with WordPress, you can obviously leverage it for selling courses, subscriptions or products in e-commerce.
#4 Blogger vs WordPress: pricing
As I have already explained, Blogger is a completely free service that provides you with everything you need to quickly create and launch a blog. You don't have to pay for hosting, an SSL certificate or templates.
You don't even have to pay for domain registration if you agree to use a blogspot subdomain. In that case, your URL will look like: www.mywebsite.blogspot.com. (Not to be confused with Blogger, Blogspot is a free domain service provider also owned by Google.)
If, on the other hand, you prefer a custom domain, you will need to purchase and link it.
Also the software WordPress is free, but you will need to purchase several items before starting a self-hosted blog, primarily a hosting service and a domain name.
Therefore, creating a WordPress site requires an initial investment, the amount of which will depend on the type, size and complexity of your website.
Once you set up your blog, the ongoing cost depends on the services you wish to use. If you use paid themes and plug-ins, it will obviously cost more than if you use free ones.
For example, you can install the Yoast SEO plug-in to simplify your on-page SEO optimization. This plug-in will offer suggestions for creating readable text, using keywords, optimizing meta descriptions and image alternative text, and adding internal links.
#5 Blogger vs WordPress: SEO.
With Blogger, you can perform several steps to optimize your blog for search engines. You can customize your permalinks, add keywords to the titles of your posts and pages, add headers, optimize alternate text on your images, hide pages from searches, and tell search engines not to follow certain links.
Because no plug-ins are available to help you simplify or automate these processes, Blogger is ideal for users already familiar with SEO best practices.
WordPress is an excellent content management system that comes with many different integrated SEO tools.
WordPress core already has several SEO features, including visibility settings, permalinks, meta descriptions, and redirects. In addition, WordPress offers tons of marketing and SEO plug-ins to help you grow your blog faster.
#6 Blogger vs WordPress: security
As a leader in the technology industry, Google provides high-level security for websites hosted on Blogger.
It provides two-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized users from accessing your account. In addition, the default domain includes an SSL certificate to encrypt incoming and outgoing Web site data.
However, since you do not host your blog yourself, you cannot change all the security settings or add others.
And if Blogger doesn't work, so will your site ... along with all the other sites hosted on Blogger - and you won't be able to do anything to restore it.
WordPress is quite secure, but because it is a self-hosted solution, you are responsible for security and backups.
Because of its flexibility, it provides you with several measures to protect your website-there are many plugins that make things easier for you by detecting malicious activity and blocking comments that might contain malicious links.
#7 Blogger vs WordPress: support and community
Since Blogger is a free platform, Google does not provide individual assistance to users.
There is a community forum where you can post questions and get answers from other users, as well as a help center where you can find tutorials and other documentation. You can also access these help articles directly from the Blogger bulletin board.
Although also WordPress does not offer customer support and does not have a dedicated support team, it can undoubtedly boast the best support system and community available online.
There are thousands of tutorials, message boards, videos, and other online communities you can find and get the answers you need-including official WordPress documentation.
It is also worth noting that you can get dedicated support from your web hosting provider. Many premium themes and plug-ins also offer customer support.
#8 Blogger vs WordPress: properties
Blogger is free, reliable and has enough functionality to easily publish your content on the web, but you don't own it.
Google operates this service and has the right to shut it down or block access to it at any time.
It is just like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, which can accounts without notice.
On the other hand, when you use WordPress for your site, own all your data and control what information you share with third parties.
Also, you are not tied to any specific web host. You can switch to a new web host at any time if you wish.
Blogger vs WordPress: which one to choose?
As you could understand, both platforms have pros and cons.
Let's summarize them quickly:
Benefits of Blogger
Getting started is very quick and easy-you can literally create a blog in minutes.
You will be able to learn how to create content and use all the main features right away.
You don't need a hosting plan, making it a free solution at 100%.
Although limited, there are options for customizing your blog.
Cons of Blogger:
The functionality of the platform is very simple: you cannot do much beyond creating a standard blog and publishing content.
Your options for customizing the appearance and functionality of your blog are very limited, as is the ability to add custom code.
You do not completely "own" your content because it is all located on Google's servers.
Pros of WordPress
Although it requires a bit more work than Blogger, starting a blog with WordPress is still a fairly quick and painless process, and most quality WordPress hosts can handle the setup for you.
The platform is suitable for beginners and easy to learn, especially if you use it for something simple (such as precisely a blog).
There are thousands of customization options in the form of plugins and themes, allowing you to shape your site as you like.
For more advanced users, WordPress makes it easy to add custom code and complex functionality.
Cons of WordPress
Starting a WordPress site generally requires a small monetary investment.
You will be more responsible for ensuring that your site works well and is safe.
To use it to its full potential, more knowledge and expertise in programming is needed.
Conclusion
Both Blogger and WordPress are excellent tools that allow you to share content with your online audience.Ultimately, the choice depends on your skills, budget and goals.
If you just want to quickly create a simple blog, Blogger may be a good choice.
But if you aim instead to create a professional blog that can contribute to your income, then you need a robust and scalable platform like WordPress.
In the end, the choice is yours. You might as well try both and figure out which one works best for you and your website.
But tell me, do you know of other blogging platforms that are just as interesting?
Write it in the comments!