Wordpress vs Blogger: Which one is for you?

Categories: Blogger, PLB, PLB How To's, Wordpress

Mehreen Farhan

WordPress vs Blogger: Which one is for you? // Source: barbaric.com.ng

Blogging is the new trend where people who love to share ideas can promote a cause, jot down their own thoughts or simply write for the fun of it. Among so many blogging options, the most popular CMS based blogging platforms are Blogger and WordPress. While both of these platforms serve more or less the same features, there are some intrinsic difference in Blogger and WordPress which can help us decide to choose either one of them.

In this article, we will attempt to lay down some basic difference in their philosophy so you may be able to choose one of them as your new blogging platform.

The scope of this article is the difference between Blogger and WordPress.org (paid). We will not compare Blogger and free WordPress (WordPress.com site) since they have more or less the same features.

1) Ownership:

Blogger is a free blogging platform for the general public and is owned by Google. It does not offer self hosting option as of now. WordPress, however, is available in two types: Free and paid. Free WordPress blogs are owned by WordPress but self hosted WordPress blogs are owned by you.

2) URL

Since all blogs on Blogger are free, they come appended with .blogspot.com at the end of each blog URL. A user can, however, buy a domain name and can use custom domain for their Blogger blog.

Your self hosted WordPress blog/website will have your custom domain and have nothing appended to it.

3) Security

Since Blogger is owned by Google, it is secured by it too. This makes it a hassle free option if you are not familiar with code and technical details.

A self hosted WordPress blog is owned by you so you will be responsible to make your blog secure. This will require at least some basic level technical proficiency on your part.

4) Control

Blogger offers only limited features for a blogger with little flexibility. This is useful in case you are not familiar with the technical side of your blog, or in case you want to simply focus on your writing side without any technical issues to distract you.

A self hosted WordPress blog is in complete control of the blog owner. It is highly flexible in terms of customization, plugins and much more. The possibilities are endless, provided you are technically strong and know what you need out of your blog.

5) Design

Design for a Blogger blog is limited with only a handful of themes available. All of these are free and can be moderately customized. Using some well thought of detailing, you can still make the most of them and make your blog look appealing. You can also have a custom Blogger theme designed and the price will vary according to the design.

On the other hand, there are thousands of themes available for a WordPress website. While you need to pay for most them, there are free themes available too. Depending upon your needs, a good theme will not only handle the aesthetic side of your blog, but also offer different features. For example, if you want to sell something on your blog, you can get a theme which makes handling an online shops easier for you, or a testimonials feature to showcase feedback from your previous customers, a portfolio feature for a photography blog, etc. If you cannot find a theme that meets your requirement, you can have them custom made also.

6) Support

There is little to no support available for Blogger blogs. But this is not a disadvantage as such because a Blogger blog is very simple and straight forward. An end user can easily grasp it and start blogging soon after a short hit and trial.

If you are using a self hosted WordPress blog, you are in good hands. There is an extensive online documentation available at WordPress Codex which discusses each and every feature available in the WordPress.org software. Other than that, each custom/paid theme comes with a detailed documentation also, explaining all features offered by that theme. Other than there, there are countless support forums available for themes and plugins as well as one official WordPress.org support forum which is the go to place for almost all queries.

7) Final Verdict

If you are new to blogging and are still a learner, then Blogger is a good choice. It will allow you to focus on the blogging side while not being distracted by other technical details and upkeep of a blog. Even though Blogger features are limited, it should not discourage you from blogging using Blogger because it covers all features needed to start a professional blog.

WordPress should ideally be the next step in your blogging journey. If you have the time, you can shift to free WordPress (WordPress.com site) to get an understanding of how a typical WordPress CMS works. A self hosted WordPress website will contain all features of the free version and will have more features added on from the theme running on it too. So, a free wordpress.com is a great middle step if you eventually want to shift to a self hosted WordPress.org website.

Here is an image outlining all these points in a brief form. Feel feel to share it, as long as you credit back to us.