Us, humans have a lot to share and tell, which is why blogging has been so popular lately. The world is getting more connected, thanks to the world wide web. When your mind is full of ideas, it’s hard to know where to start.
As for blogging, the first step is to choose the right platform. But if you’re a complete newbie, you may not know which to choose.
Out of all the platforms available, let’s focus on the two most famous ones, WordPress and Blogger. Before diving into the comparisons, let’s start with a small introduction for both our competitors.
What is WordPress?
WordPress is one of the most famous tools for creating websites, blogs or online stores. It started around in 2003 and now it’s used by 30% of websites on the internet, considering how vast the internet is, that’s A LOT of websites! WordPress is actually free, but to use it, you’ll need a hosting plan and a domain name, which aren’t always free.
Basically WordPress is your batter, the hosting plan and domain name are the oven. And when you combine the two, you get a perfect cake!
Now that we know a few things about WordPress, let’s move onto Blogger.
What is Blogger?
The name is pretty self-explanatory; Blogger is for well…bloggers! All you have to do is create a google account and create a free profile! Blogger is for those kids who could never understand anything in their computer class. It was launched in 1999 but Google acquired it and gave it a huge makeover.
Quite obviously, both of them are VERY different. Here is the table of content for the aspects we’ll cover in our comparison.
Ease of use
Not everyone is super tech-savvy so ease of use for a platform like these is very important.
WordPress
A platform like this can accommodate the needs of both beginners and more advanced users. However, it can take some time to learn WordPress. It’s installation and set up are quite easy but publishing your first post can be quite tricky
In order to upload a post, it has to be set up the right way or it won’t publish at all. This can prove to be quite difficult for newbies who have nearly zero experience.
Blogger
As compared to WordPress, using Blogger is a piece of cake. What you have to do is: log in to Blogger using your Google account, and if you don’t have one, making one takes about 5 minutes. Then you can choose a template for your blog and start publishing posts!
It’s that simple.
Ownership
For some users, having full control and ownership of their blog is important to them, which is completely understandable.
WordPress
On this platform, your blog is yours. As soon as you install it, it becomes your responsibility. As mentioned before, you do need a hosting provider for it, but that’ll only cost a few dollars.
At least you’ll have the freedom of running it as long as you want and shutting it done as you wish. All of the data and information you have will be kept private unless you share it with a third party.
Blogger
Ownership in the case of Blogger goes to Google as it’s a completely free service. Even though Google is a very reliable company which assures the protection of data, it could decide to shut down Blogger all together whenever they want.
You could lose all your blogs. It’s a possibility that Google may also block you from accessing your own blog as this has happened before to its users. Your issues with the server may also go unresolved as it’s settings are in the hands of Google.
Layout and design
Who doesn’t want their blog to look like it was made by a professional? Choosing the right layout and design is just as important as the written blog!
WordPress
Right off the bat, WordPress provides you with thousands of free templates you can choose from. And if you want even more options, you can pay an extra fee to choose from their premium themes. They even include extra features! Whatever you choose, you can further customize it to your liking.
Still not convinced? Don’t worry there’s more!
To push the customization one step further, you can create your own WordPress theme by modifying the source code. For those who don’t know how to code a site add-on called, Beaver theme will do the job for you. So you can sit back and relax.
Blogger
When customization comes to the table, Blogger doesn’t have much to offer. Although it has plenty of templates to choose from, your choice will be limited as compared to WordPress. Unlike WordPress, it doesn’t have too many customization options to modify your themes with.
Another downside is that you can’t make a custom theme as Blogger doesn’t even have that option. There are some unofficial Blogger templates available but it’s better to keep your distance from them as they’re usually of low quality.
Support
Sometimes you run into an issue that you just can’t fix and for times like that, you need support. No matter which platform it is, good support is essential for each one.
WordPress
WordPress is quite easy to use and modify. It is full of features and options to make blogging easier. And when it comes to support, it’s no less. There are thousands of videos and articles available on overcoming different issues.
You can find support on their official website and even on websites that are dedicated to this platform. Despite the vast variety of support you can get, you might have to solve more complicated problems on your own.
Don’t make that into a headache though, there are companies that provide premium support (like us!) for WordPress so you could always reach out to them.
Blogger
On the contrary, Blogger doesn’t have a lot of support. You can find a few documented files to fix your problems but it’s quite limited. Even Google’s support forums don’t offer much help.
Since it’s a free server, Google doesn’t provide individual support to its users.
Flexibility
When you run a blog, many things change along with time. You may want to change your hosting plan or change your platform together. So how do our competing platforms accommodate a user’s needs in this regard?
WordPress
While using this platform, you won’t face any major issues while switching hosts. You’ll need some knowledge of moving servers but that’s about it. Even moving data isn’t much of a problem with WordPress. It even allows you to export and import content from one site to another without any risk of data loss.
Blogger
Moving from Blogger to another platform is possible but not easy. Exporting your blog from Blogger is a slow and complicated task. While doing so, you’ll risk your SEO as well.
The fact that Google holds on to your data even after you’re done with it can be unsettling for some.
Content management
A big part of blogging is setting up the platform and managing it. After all, you can only publish your post once you get the hang of your own platform.
WordPress
WordPress does a pretty impressive job at content management. Once you understand it’s working, editing will be a breeze. Visual and Text editors makes it really easy to add new content to your blog.
Even formatting is quite simple and won’t take up much of your time. Moreover, you can add images and media files with a few clicks only. WordPress also allows extensions which make the task of editing and media management super simple and just the way you like it.
This platform has made itself versatile enough that both newbies and experienced bloggers can use it.
Blogger
Since the whole purpose of this platform is blogging, it makes sense that Google paid extra attention to the ease of content management. From the minute you start writing till the minute you make your final draft; you won’t face any issues.
The writing space for Blogger looks a lot like MS Word with a bar on top with all the editing options. This way your working space will look more familiar and comfortable!
Future planning
If you’re thinking about making your blog into a long term project, surely you need your platform to oblige to your plans.
WordPress
WordPress is an independent software, meaning that a company or an owner does not control its fate. A group of developers and users are responsible for it. Since it’s the world’s most popular content management software, its future is safe.
Blogger
Blogger, on the other hand, is a property of Google, which means they can shut it down as they please. Blogger also hasn’t had a major update in a very long time.
Lastly, Google has shut down many of his services such as google reader and Google AdSense. Judging by that, the future of Blogger isn’t so clear.
Cost
Starting a blog may need some investment but you should at least have an idea of which platform is cheaper.
WordPress
WordPress itself is free but to use it, you need a hosting plan and a domain name which may cost you a few dollars. Once the hosting plan is done, the rest of the cost will depend on which service you choose from them.
Blogger
You already know that blogger is a free service, even its subdomain is free. It’s very cost-effective but it’s capabilities are limited.
While using Blogger, you can get your own domain name but that’ll cost you extra.
Protection
When you’re planning to start a project on the internet, protection is your first concern. You want to invest in something reliable and safe so you can be away from the risk of being hacked or robbed.
WordPress
Being a self-hosted software gives you the advantage of taking matters into your hands. You can set up its security and backup. Furthermore, you can even add WordPress plugins to make everything extra secure.
Software’s like VaultPress and UpdraftPlus can help you create a backup.
Blogger
Google is the largest search engine in the world; it’s obvious it’s security system is top notch. This gives you an advantage as well since you won’t have to worry about creating a backup.
Although, if issues within Blogger itself arise, you won’t be able to access your blog.
Conclusion
The final decision should be a lot easier now that you know the working of both the platforms. Blogger helps you start a free blog and get done with things in a jiffy. It’s best for those who are just getting started or trying to experiment with new content.
Basically, it’s simple and sufficient.
But for more serious and experienced bloggers, WordPress is the answer as you can do just about anything on it. You don’t have to be confined to a blog, you can turn it into an online store or a completely different website.
The bottom line is:
You have more control while using WordPress.
So make sure that you know all the prerequisites of blogging or building a website so that your final decision will be the right one.
Now, go ahead and finally make your blog!
Happy and progressive Blogging
