Wordpress vs Blogger

Posted by Mike | November 8, 2007 .

If you’re thinking about starting a blog so you can make money online, but you’re not sure if you should go with Blogger or Wordpress…this post is for you.

The blogging platform you choose when you’re just starting out will have a profound impact on your ability to make money from it for years to come.

Is it impossible to switch from one to the other after you’ve already built a blog with lots of posts and comments? Not at all. But it’s a major hassle and if you’re not extremely careful and organized you’ll end up losing some of your data.

That’s why I think it’s better to take some time to research your options before you start posting away.

As you can plainly see from the “Powered by WordPress” link at the bottom of this page, I chose Wordpress for this blog and I recommend you do the same.

(Note - In this article I’m assuming you’re looking to host your blog on its own domain with Wordpress as opposed to using Blogger’s free blogspot hosting. Wordpress.com is where WP hosts your blog and you’re limited as to what you can do.)

Why Wordpress?

Like most bloggers, I started out with a free Blogger account. I looked at Wordpress from time to time but there seemed to be a steep learning curve and I couldn’t be bothered learning the ins and outs. I just wanted to start blogging!

But while Blogger does have some advantages (new blogs are indexed as fast as lightning and setup is so simple my mother could do it), there are far too many limitations to make it a viable long-term solution.

First off, and most importantly, Blogger blogs are hosted and controlled by blogspot. They can be deleted by Blogger at any time and without warning. Can you imagine building a blog that consistently earns you hundreds or thousands of dollars every month and having it deleted without explanation?

Some other areas where WP outshines Blogger include:

Categories - This was a key concern for me. Blogger doesn’t allow you to categorize your posts using keywords. Readers must search through your archives chronologically to find what they need. From a usability standpoint, that stinks.

Imagine walking into Macy’s to buy a new pair of shoes. You look around for signs to point you in the right direction, but there aren’t any. Instead everything is all mixed together in a great big pile…handbags, appliances, ladies lingerie, silverware, bedding, perfume, and clothes. Do you want to sift through everything Macy’s sells to find the one item that interests you? What makes you think your readers want to do the same?

The ability to customize. - Yes, you can customize the look and feel of a Blogger blog to some extent. But I find it limited compared to what you can do in Wordpress. There are literally thousands of themes you can download and install in just seconds.

Shout out to Maki at DoshDosh for the great theme I’m using here. He’s got over a dozen ready-made Wordpress templates available for free, so you should take a few minutes to check them out.

Plugins - The WP community is constantly releasing new plugins to increase the usability and functionality of Wordpress. There are currently hundreds to choose from and more are on the way.

Flexibility in the future - These constant advances in the form of plugins, widgets, and themes ensure WP will only become more and more superior in years to come. Whenever a need or limitation is identified, programmers go to work to fix it. Wordpress is built around the concept of flexibility and changing on the fly.

No matter what the future of blogging looks likes, you can be confident that WP will meet your needs.

Blogger? I’m not so sure.