As a designer, I get asked pretty regularly about my preference between Blogger and WordPress. I felt like since I just recently switched my blog from Blogger to WordPress that maybe I was giving you the impression that I didn’t like Blogger or something. The truth is, I think Blogger is a great (possibly even the best) option for a lot of people. Let’s talk about that today.
There’s a common misconception that being on WordPress automatically makes your blog more “professional.” I find myself getting defensive about Blogger when I run into that belief in the blogosphere. Do you see all those amazing blogs in the graphic above? Each one of them runs on Blogger. I would bet that a lot of you recognize at least one of your favorite blogs up there.
There are plenty of legitimate reasons to switch to WordPress (I’m planning to follow up with a post about them in my next TFBB post!) but the hope that it will magically grow your blog is not really one of them. I thought of a lot of reasons why Blogger is a great option for many bloggers, but I decided that I wanted to do something a little different with this post. Why hear from me when you can hear from bloggers who have been really successful growing their blogs and communities on Blogger?
I asked a few bloggers that I follow and really admire what they think about Blogger and why they’ve stuck with it. Below are their responses. You’ll find that they are pretty varied, but all of them are really interesting and insightful. Make sure you check out each of their blogs, they are all wonderful!
What do you like or not like about Blogger?
In the nearly two years I’ve been blogging, I never once second-guessed my decision to start on Blogger. I lament (on occasion) that I wish I wasn’t as reliant on the Google platform, but I am ultimately a huge fan of Blogger because of this seamless integration with other Google products.The WordPress bloggers I know speak veryhighly of the “back end” of their platform. They have easy options for SEO and often have beautiful designs not seen in Blogger. However, for every argument against Blogger in the Blogger vs. WordPress debate, there have been no “lightbulb” moments about why I should change and I remain steadfast in my original choice.If there are a lot of things you don’t like about it, what made you stick with it?
I’ve never been frustrated enough with Blogger to say adios. Sure, there are minor frustrations from time to time–but I hear the same occurs with WordPress. Though some think Blogger blogs lack a certain finesse, it is all in the eye of the beholder. In my opinion, the actual content is what matters most. However it is displayed–be it on WordPress or on Blogger–shouldn’t matter at the end of the day, as long as your happy with the final product.{av}, Long Distance Loving
What do you like or not like about Blogger?
I have had a love/hate relationship with Blogger since I started blogging in 2008. At first, I liked the ease of posting, the fact that I could log in via my Gmail account, and the built-in network of bloggers that I quickly connected to via Google Friend Connect. While I still like those aspects of Blogger, I do feel more restricted when it comes to the design of my site. Simple things like adding additional pages to your blog, or even having tabs at the top of your main page, were difficult to achieve. I’ve spent many hours editing and tweaking the HTML within Blogger to get my blog to look more like a website, and I have still yet to fully achieve that look.If there are a lot of things you don’t like about it, what made you stick with it?
This is the million dollar question, and something I debate all the time. I’ve wanted to make the jump to WordPress for a long time now for so many reasons, the main one being how easy it would be to change the aesthetics of my blog. My biggest fear switching from Blogger to WordPress is that I will lose readership that has established my blogspot URL in their RSS feeds. I know it sounds trivial, and that a quick announcement on my blog would probably suffice, but that is my hang up. I do think that I will switch to WordPress in the near future though, as I feel I have simply outgrown the limits set by Blogger.Annemarie, Brunch at Saks
What do you like or not like about Blogger? If there are a lot of things you don’t like about it, what made you stick with it?
My favorite thing about the Blogger platform is the COMMUNITY. It’s something I haven’t seen on WordPress, and it’s the main reason I stick with Blogger. The Google Friend Connect (GFC) widget allows bloggers to easily follow and be followed by other bloggers, and within circles of blogspot.com bloggers, it just seems easier to network and grow your own following. I have friends on WordPress who have a much harder time gaining loyal readers because they no longer have the option to post the GFC widgets. It seems to me like Blogger blogs stick together, and help each other to grow, whereas WordPress blogs have to work doubly hard to gain and keep readership.Having said all that, there are definite cons to Blogger. It’s sometimes glitchy and doesn’t have nearly as many options for awesome plugins, like WordPress has. There are also more limitations to custom designs, I hear. But it’s much, much simpler to make basic customizations for the average blogger, so in my mind and for my needs, Blogger wins!
Jenni, Story of My Life
Are you on Blogger? Do you think you’ll ever switch? Tell us why!
Wanna read more about this? This post on Pugly Pixel brings up some good points.
Blogs in the graphic: Oh Hello Friend | Kendi Everyday | {long distance loving} | Brunch at Saks | MadeByGirl | the daybook | Story of My Life | Amanda Jane Jones
Edit: I should have been clearer about this from the beginning, but when I talk about WordPress blogs in this post, I’m talking about self-hosted blogs running on WordPress.org as opposed to the free platform on WordPress.com. They are very different in terms of what you can do with them, and I’ll be sure to talk a little bit more about that in my WordPress post!
This post is so timely! I have been mulling over this very topic for the last couple of weeks and think I’ll stick with blogger. I get frustrated because I don’t know simple programming, but there are tons of online tutorials & support (thanks to bloggers like you!) to help guide me.
–Anna
I have to agree with Jenni. I don’t think I could ever switch to WordPress because so many people use Blogger and that’s where the community started, I think. It’s just much easier. I have to use WordPress for our work blog and I absolutely hate it. It’s not user friendly at all. Blogger is so simple. As evidenced by your awesome designs, blogs on Blogger can look just as great as those on WordPress!
I’ve been on WordPress.org since the start and I love it. I’ve used Blogger in the past for projects here and there, and I think WordPress was just more customizable. It also boasts far better SEO options, which is huge for the blogging community (I work in SEO, so maybe that’s why I’m biased as well!) I do notice that Blogger blogs seem to have more of a following and community with things like Google Friend Connect, so I wish WordPress had features like that.
I personally started my blog and WP instead of Blogger, but I’m a designer and wanted to learn the ins and outs of designing for WP. I don’t think it’s fair for people to say that Blogger blogs look less professional — it’s obviously possible to make them look amazing! But I do think WP is better if you want to let your imagination run wild — there are just so many more options for customization available. You want a specific category to display as thumbnails? No problem! Want to run a shop on your site? There’s a plugin for that! But the downside to this is you will likely have to hire someone to do it for you.
In regards to Annemarie’s fears over her feed/URL — you can actually redirect the feed and URL when you switch. There are some great tutorials out there for migrating to WP without losing subscribers.
I have to say, as a non-Blogger blogger, nothing about Blogger frustrates me more than GFC (except for maybe word verification!). I think way too many people put too much stock into that number. I can’t tell you how many blogs I’ve been a long-time reader of and subscribe via RSS but don’t enter their giveaways simply because they require you to follow via GFC, like it’s the only method of following that counts. It’s so frustrating. I wouldn’t be surprised if Google eventually phases it out, considering they’ve already removed support for other platforms. Definitely will be an interesting day if that happens!
Such a great post, looking forward to the WP one!
I totally agree- especially about GFC. I thought that I might miss it (and maybe I will down the road) but so far it’s been freeing not to have little number box in my sidebar. It just feels kinda shallow and like you said, it doesn’t mean as much as people think it does.
Thanks for the advice, Lisa! I will definitely keep you in mind when I make the switch :)
Ok, so I have only ever worked with WordPress. There are so many benefits to it (plugins, widgets and independence) – but one thing that Jenni really points out that I agree with is the community. WordPress lacks community so much. I have to rely on my Facebook fan page for that and it’s not always easy to transcend from blog to FB. I would make the switch but I am comfortable with the independence of my blog and I’m a creature of habit. Also, I’ve never seen WP have a huge blackout, where as Blogger has had many glitches. Anyway, that’s my opinion- thanks for the topic! Xo Jenna
Blogger does seem to have a built in community that WP doesn’t seem to cultivate as well. It’s tough call! Thanks for sharing, Jenna!
Really interesting post!
You constantly amaze me with your blog Kate :) I’ve been thinking of going to WordPress for quite a while now, but I’m afraid of losing that community that Jenni is talking about. and as much as I don’t want to admit it, that GFC number does constantly linger in my mind. I’ve wanted to take it off for so long, but it really is a blogging community that I don’t want to lose! Maybe I should just take the plunge…
The biggest issue I have is with comments, so I’ve been considering changing my commenting system for a while now. Who knows if I’ll actually do it though…
xoxo,
Joelle
Thanks Joelle, you’re so sweet! From my experience, I didn’t feel like I lost my community too much when I moved. The people who were active on my blog before continued to be active in my new space, and the people who had followed me on GFC and never came back… I’d kinda lost them already, right?
The comments thing is tough, but I’ve heard good things about Disqus, if functionality is your main concern! I think it looks pretty good too, but maybe not as flexible as it can be in WP.
What a great post idea, Kate! I love that you solicited the advice of other bloggers! And yes. I’ve been to every single one of those blogs. :) I love this.
I just love your post ideas! You really have a talent for blogging :) Even though I’m happy with blogger + have yet to run into problems that would cause me to switch, I really enjoyed reading through every opinion you gathered. And I follow all three of their blogs – they really are wonderful! xoxo, eliza
When I started my blog I signed up on WordPress & have no idea why. I knew nothing about the differences in platforms & just kind of fell into it. I have loved being on WordPress & love being able to customize my blog myself, even without vast knowledge on how to do it. I do feel I have missed out on the Blogger community & am frustrated at how my blog seems to grow at a much slower rate then others. A very timely post for a new project I’m thinking of starting & its really helped me immensely!
Isn’t it funny to think back on the decisions you made when you were first starting your blog and wonder “why?” When I started blogging, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing! I’m glad this helped, thanks for sharing your thoughts :)
I actually started on WordPress and it was fine. I don’t know anything about HTML and when it was time to grow my blog and personalize it, I found it much more difficult to find designers who worked with WordPress (and more expensive!) Since moving, I’ve found the community much better on Blogger – my readership has grown exponentially and I feel much more connected to others than I ever did on WordPress. I do find the dashboard on WordPress better and there are a few things I miss but I don’t regret my decision.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Jay! Were you on WordPress.com originally, or was your blog self-hosted? Just curious!
.com – Like I said, I know nothing about HTML and self-hosted would have been way too difficult to start out on (for me anyways!)
I totally understand! That makes sense- a lot of designers don’t design for WP.com (myself included!) because in order to have access to the HTML on the site, bloggers have to pay a fee that is about the same cost as web hosting- meaning that most people switch to self-hosted blogs so that they can have more functionality for the same price. I definitely think that among the free platforms, Blogger is the way to go!
Really interesting! I started my blog on WordPress for the sole reason that I needed to learn the platform for my day job. I’ve continued using it for my personal style blog and have considered making the switch to Blogger many times in the past, specifically because of the community aspect– that’s a huge thing I think I have missed out on with WP. I think I’m here to stay now, but had I started on Blogger, I’m sure things would have been different. And like AV said, there are obviously frustrations to be had with both!
Definitely! Blogging comes with its own set of struggles that we all face, and if you’re comfortable with your “home,” sometimes it’s worth it to stick with it just for that reason! Thanks for stopping by, Emily! :)
I totally agree with you Kate that Blogger can be just as beautiful, and I totally know what you mean about getting defensive over it when talking to other designers ;)
I absolutely love WordPress, but I do feel like I miss out on the community that surrounds GFC. I feel like I have to work harder, and make sure my readers know how they can subscribe and interact. It’s not as simple as just having them click a button. But in the end, the pros for WordPress outweigh the cons.
This is so insightful! As a new blogger, this isn’t something I thought much about when setting up my blog. Maybe because I’ve never played around with WordPress. I’m interested to read your second post as a follow up.
Also, thanks for the links to other great blogs!
evannclingan.blogspot.com
I’ve been using WordPress for almost three years now, and I love it! I first got started on Blogger, but I don’t think it has the flexibility that WordPress has. I don’t know, I guess it all comes down to where you’re most comfortable. The thing with WordPress is you have to make it work since it’s not free (the software’s free, but still you need hosting). You’re paying for hosting, whereas Blogger is completely free.
Great post and very insightful.
I’ve thought about switching to WP but I’m still content with Blogger for the time being. I think if I wanted to truly grow my blog into a business or have it as something more than a hobby, then I might possibly switch.
Thanks! I’m really glad that I started out on Blogger, and had circumstances been different I might have stayed there forever! :)
love this post! i am someone who originally started on WordPress.com years ago and moved to WordPress.org self-hosted about four years ago and I love it! i honestly don’t know much about blogger because i have never used it!
Such a well written post Kate! Thank you so much! Have been contemplating the switch to wordpress which will probably happen down the road. However, blogger has been very good to me, and I haven’t really had any complaints, except as a designer I would love more options with my blog.
Thanks for sharing this!
Thank you so much, Anna! It’s definitely a tough decision.
Great post! I use blogger and have been wondering if I should switch over to WP. I didn’t even know there was a blogger community so that is so great to learn! I have a question for all the blogger pc computer users, does anyone use a post template outside of blogger to create your posts? I find formatting my posts inside blogger takes so long and then if I go back into the post to edit it all the spacing changes and even changing font colours doesn’t always work. I’ve been looking for a template I can use but haven’t had any luck. Thanks in advance for your tips!
:)
mikky
http://www.todaloos.com
mikky@todaloos.com
I’ve never used it before, but I’ve heard good things about Windows Live Writer. But I would make sure that the template of your blog is closest to what most of your posts will look like (in terms of fonts and colors) and maybe just try to keep things consistent to cut down on time. Hope that helps!
Thanks so much Kate! I will definitely check it out. I really appreciate you responding back to my q, I’ve been looking for so long for a solution. Thanks a million. :)
:)
mikky
http://www.todaloos.com
I’ve had this in my “to read” open tabs for days now, waiting to dive in! I love, love, love this post. I completely understand why some people choose WordPress for the features it offers over Blogger, but I do get defensive when people suggest that a WordPress blog looks more professional or is more aesthetically pleasing. I see many beautiful Blogger blogs daily…but for each beautiful one there are 100 ugly ones that use the worst templates and widgets. But it can be done. You know my stance on this :) It was nice to hear from three Blogger cheerleaders.
Thanks again for having me, Kate! I’ve come back to this periodically throughout the last few days just to see what everyone else responded with. I loved reading their responses and why they chose their current blogging platform. Hope your week is off to a great start! xo
I was with Blogger since 2008 and really liked everything about it. It was easy to navigate and had all the features I needed for a personal blog. As the years went on, Blogger continued to make improvements, so I never had a good reason to leave. Just a few weeks ago, I made the move to WP (as you know, Katelyn!) I moved because I’m hoping to build my blog as more of a one-stop-shop for my writing/speaking information, and eventually sell e-books and ad space. I think WP offers a better platform for that kind of blog.
That said, the move has been expensive (I had to pay someone to migrate my 2 blogger blogs, design the new blog :), hosting fees and domain fees) and time-consuming. I’ve run into multiple issues in the last two weeks that have cost me HOURS of time trying to figure out what is going on. (Thank you, again, Katelyn, for all your help!) The tutorials and forums are complicated and difficult to understand, in my opinion. I do a lot of clicking around, just trying to figure it all out. I’ve still got a lot of kinks to work out, I’m afraid.
But in the end, it’s probably the best thing for what I want my blog to eventually be.
If you don’t have a really good reason to switch to WP, I don’t think you should–Blogger is a great service, and it’s FREE.
Thanks for this post, Katelyn! Loved reading all the responses.
That’s a really good point, Sandy! I think a lot of people underestimate the amount of time and effort that goes into switching your blog platform. There’s definitely a learning curve!
This is a great post! I’ve definitely thought about switching from blogger to WP. I can’t decide if I will. Blogger is working really well for me for now, but I do wish I could customize things a bit more. Thanks for the insight! Reading all the comments has been informing. Looks like you haven’t lost many readers in your switch :) Your blog looks great!
Thanks Amanda, I’m glad it helped! Nope, it looks like everyone made it over okay for the most part :)
Just found you via a pinterest search as I work on re-branding. Great article as I was wondering why I am sticking with blogger :) Thanks! xo
Yay, I’m glad it helped! :)
Great Article! I own was using Blogger (on my old blogs) but now switched to WordPress. The reason behind this is, nearly everything is controlled by Google. The biggest problem with Blogger platform is they can delete our blog too, like one of my friend loose his blog for no reasons, and now he too is running WordPress.
That’s totally true- one of the pros to being self-hosted is that you have much more control over your control over your blog content!
I definitely agree. I’ve studied WordPress in graphic design school and have been wrestling with it for a few months now, attempting to figure it out enough to be able to offer designs for it. Having used Blogger for years, I gotta say that I really don’t see what all the fuss is about WordPress, even now that I’ve gotten my feet wet with it. It’s largely awkward and clumsy to figure out how and where to edit anything, whereas with Blogger all you need to do is edit some CSS. Kudos to people who have the patience to dig through dozens of plugins, PHP code, and Javascript to make WordPress themes work, but for me, I’m definitely a big fan of clean and simple Blogger.
I just switched to WordPress recently and I am so glad I did! There are some things that are frustrating, but only because I was so used to the way I did things on blogger and I am having to relearn everything.
Having said that, I am so glad I started on blogger. GFC really helped build a community and made me feel like there were others out there. Years ago, I started a blog on WP and I felt so alone, which was ridiculous because it was the internet (of course, this was when facebook was popular but twitter was just getting started). Now that I’ve gone to WP I’m able to still enjoy that community because I started it on blogger. I’ve also had other bloggers on WP that started on WP talk about switching to blogger simply because they felt left out.
I found this post today and I just wanted to say thank you! Ever since I started my blog, I felt like I should’ve gone with WordPress instead of Blogger because I’ve seen so many bloggers praise WordPress over Blogger, so this post was reassurance for me.
Thanks for the post! I really appreciate it and appreciate hearing what bloggers using Bloggers have to say!