WordPress vs Blogger – Which is the Better Blogging Platform
Between WordPress and Blogger, which of the two is the greatest blogging platform till date?
Many would say its WordPress. This may come as a surprise to some, because Blogger, which is WordPress’ main competitor, is owned by Google!
We all know Google is the number one search engine on the planet, and because of this, many would expect it to be running a monopoly on the internet.
The claim that WordPress is the greatest platform is backed by top bloggers and websites like ReadWriteWeb, ProBlogger, New York Times, Mashable, Ford Motors, TechCrunch, and People Magazine – all of which use WordPress.
But to make sure which of the two is the best, its better if we look at the pros and cons of both. Let’s stat with WordPress.
WordPress Versus Blogger – Advantages and Disadvantages of WordPress
WordPress is classified into two types. One is WordPress.com, which is a hosted, free, ad-supported blogging platform (just like Blogger).
The other is WordPress.org, which is essentially the blogging software that powers WordPress.org. This is the self-hosted version of WordPress, for which you need your own hosting service and domain name. WordPress is an open source blogging software, and WordPress.org is where you can go download it.
Each of these has its pros and cons, which we are going to look at in detail below.
WordPress Versus Blogger – WordPress.org Pros
WordPress.org and WordPress.com – Both have their advantages and disadvantages
You can use any theme that you want. You can modify, upload and customize a theme, or design a theme of your own from scratch.
- You have complete control over the look & feel and all other aspects of your blog
- You can install any number of WordPress plugins to extend the functionality of your blog
- There is a large community of bloggers and technical people ready and willing to help you in case something goes wrong with your blog. Most of these people offer free advice.
WordPress vs Blogger – WordPress.org Cons
- To use WordPress as mentioned above, you need a few things or skills which may seem a bit overwhelming especially to firs time bloggers.
- You need to have your own web hosting. Although this is a nominal cost, this may prove to be costly depending on the web host you choose.
- You need to have some intermediate computer skills – this includes knowledge of how to use FTP to transfer files, create MySQL databases and edit configuration files.
- You need to manage your own back ups
- You are responsible for stopping spam comments and trackbacks
- You are responsible for updating the WordPress software and the installed plugins whenever new versions are released
- If your blog gets a lot of traffic, you need to optimize it by caching, having a robust hosting setup, etc. Otherwise, your blog may go down.
WordPress or Blogger – WordPress.com Pros
- Blog hosting is free, and is provided by WordPress.com
- This is one of the easiest way to get started with blogging – no technical knowledge required
- There is a list of available themes to choose from
- Your blog is backed up on hundreds of servers, so it will always remain available even under high traffic
- Your dashboard is secure (SSL), making it even safer to log in on shared networks
- You can get some extra traffic for being part of the WordPress.com community
- All of the technical maintenance work is taken care of: the setup, upgrades, spam blocking, back-ups, security, etc.
WP vs Blogger – WordPress.com Cons
WordPress Versus Blogger Standoff
No custom themes or modifications are possible
- You cannot upload plugins, and the available plugins are limited
- You cannot modify the code of the blog
- You have limited control over your blog, only as permitted by the terms of WordPress.com
- Your account (and therefore, your blog) can be deactivated by the moderators, leaving you completely stranded
Blogger vs WordPress – Advantages and Disadvantages of Blogger
As compared to WordPress.com, Blogger.com has the following pros and cons.
Blogger Versus WordPress – Blogger Pros
- Very easy to use and understand, especially if you are a new blogger
- Blogger hosts blogs for free – you don’t have to look for your own website hosting
- Blogger has less ads compared to other platforms like WordPress.com, and thus is more user friendly
- There is plenty of support for those starting out, as well as for those who want to make complicated changes to their blogs
- You can customize it to look professional if you have CSS and HTML skills
- You get one single dashboard to maintain all your blogs – this is a boon if you have or plan ro have multiple blogs
- Has better security
Blogger vs WordPress – Blogger Cons
- You cannot upload any files other than images
- Blog ownership remains with Blogger, which means they can shut either their service or your account down without any notification, leaving you stranded
- Your blog’s domain and the URLs (permalinks) of your posts would be too long if you don’t use Blogger custom domain
WordPress vs Blogger: The Conclusion
WordPress or Blogger – Which One is the Best
Looking at the above facts about WordPress and Blogger, it is easy to come to the conclusion that WordPress is the best blogging platform. This is especially true for WordPress.org self-hosted blogs.
This is because it allows a blogger – you – to have complete control over the blog, unlike Blogger.com which is under Google’s control.
Many bloggers out there have complained of their blogs being deleted by Google after they have invested their precious time and energy into growing them. This is the one main disadvantage that continues to discourage bloggers from using Blogger.com.
WordPress.org Versus Blogger.com – Points to Consider
Overall, people generally agree that WordPress is better than Blogger for the following reasons:
- You can use your own custom domain names (such as www.yourname.com) instead of sub domain names (like www.yourname.blogspot.com)
- WordPress allows use of various plug-ins (such as All in one SEO Pack, Akismet, Robots Meta, GD Star Rating, etc.) that easily and conveniently enhance the functionality of your blog. There are numerous WordPress plugins available, most of which are completely free.
- WordPress offers lots of customization options when it comes to themes. Again, there are a ton of WordPress themes available – many of them completely free.
- WordPress provides lots of options to developers for developing WordPress plug-ins ad WordPress themes
- If you use WordPress, you can play with the CSS files to get your very own designs as per your needs and taste
- WordPress is an open source blogging platform, so it is totally free of cost
- WordPress has an active developer community, and is constantly evolving to keep up with the latest trends
- WordPress is very easy to use
- Search engines love WordPress – WP is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) friendly out of the box
- It is generally easier to get approved for an Adsense account when using WordPress as compared to Blogger
- WordPress is known for having a great reputation. Blogger on the other hand does not have one. A very large number of users on Blogger use it purely for black hat SEO, spamming and for creating affiliate landing pages.
- Using WordPress.com gives you a guarantee that your blog and its content would always remain yours – it will not be deleted without any warning as compared with Blogger, which is owned by Google (If spammers report your Blogger account as spam, Google can remove it without giving you any warning)
My blogs are hosted reliably at HostGator | |
| I run 20+ blogs, and each of these is hosted at HostGator. I have been using their service for a long time, and have never experienced any downtime. They also have a very responsive customer service team. HostGator provides the most reliable and fully featured WordPress hosting service. Their plans start as low as $3.96 per month for unlimited hosting - try out HostGator now! | |
Speak Your Mind