This is a post by featured guest writer Samantha Wright. If you’d like to guest write for Magnet4Marketing then why not get in touch with us at blog@magnet4marketing.net
I’m sure I speak for the majority of bloggers including myself who can remember the days of starting out on our blogging journey’s with Blogger. I’ll even put my hands up that I still have a blog running with Blogger to this day!
Blogger is owned by Google and is probably still the world’s biggest online blogging platform. What makes Blogger stand out from the crowd is its simplicity and ease of use where you can literally be up and running within a few minutes, you can even purchase and point your own domain.
If you don’t like the default templates available with Blogger there is literally thousands of free and premium templates available from the web. One of many drawbacks with Blogger is that there is little room for customisation, widgets and plugins.
For:
Free.
Easy to setup and use.
You can have your own domain.
There is a large selection of free and premium themes available online.
Supports multi-users and editors.
Use Google Adsense to earn money from your Blogger blog.
If there are any others I’ve missed out please comment below.
Against:
Limited customisation.
Very limited widgets and plugins support.
Not 100% hacker proof, but is anything these days?
Splog magnet, spam comments galore!
If there are any others I’ve missed out please comment below.
WordPress.com is the majority’s favourite and what can be said is that it is far more complex than Blogger yet still simple to use.
Setting up is easy, and once again you can literally be up and running within minutes. The themes that are available are broad and not only this, some of the theme designs are outstanding and very professional looking, and if your dandy with CSS you can customise your blog even further.
Other features include an integrated stats system which allows you to monitor people visiting your blog. Premium features include owning your own domain purchasing extra space for photo’s and videos and more.
As far as security and spam is concerned, WordPress.com uses Akismet which is the world’s leading spam killing machine.
One of the very few drawbacks with WordPress.com is that you are forbidden to place any ads such as Google ads on your blog unless you have a substantial traffic flow, and WordPress.com may from time to time display their own ads on your blog. You can of course eliminate ads appearing on your blog at a premium fee.
User wise you can manage up to 35 users on a WordPress.com blog as apposed to the 100 users you can have with Blogger. Again at a premium you can increase the number of users but I’m sure most will agree that 35 is ample when starting out.
For:
Free (Most of the time, unless you purchase premium features).
Easy to setup and use.
Purchase your own domain.
Lots of fantastically designed themes available with further customisation.
More resilient anti-spamming system.
A more professional feel.
If there are any others I’ve missed out please comment below.
Against:
Ads appearing on your blog (Pay a premium to remove)
Unable to monetize your blog effectively unless you have a large flow of traffic.
If there are any others I’ve missed out please comment below.
So what now?
As a dedicated newbie I’d be so tempted to use WordPress.com as the features, usability and aesthetic looks are far more superior to those found on Blogger. Having said that if you’re the kind that is just looking for a quick blog setup with no fuss and couldn’t careless about features or having the time to even worry about the little special things then by all means use Blogger.
Even if you choose to use either, and eventually realise your blogging potential you can always seek out a service that will take your blog into another dimension.
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About Samantha Wright
I would go with you, Sam, re: choosing WordPress.com. I’m also a beginner in the world of blogging. I like the idea of discussing anything and everything and sharing it with everybody. The problem was, I don’t know how to start it right. I’ve attended a seminar about blogging and the speaker told us of the difference between these two platforms. Guess what? Like you, he recommended WordPress.com because of its simplicity and being newbie friendly.