14 March 2023
Are you looking for a Blogger vs WordPress comparison to start your blog?
Blogger is a simple platform that allows you to quickly create a blog and publish it online. On the other hand, WordPress is a full-featured Content Management System (CMS) for creating websites. Both have their own set of pros and cons that you should be aware of before choosing one over the other.
In this article, we’ll compare WordPress vs Blogger side by side and show you the differences with pros and cons. Our goal is to help you decide which is the better platform for your needs.
Note: In this article, we’re talking about self-hosted WordPress.org, which is different from WordPress.com. To learn the difference, read our article on WordPress.com vs WordPress.org.
Blogger is a free blogging site provided by Google. Pyra Labs launched it in 1999, and Google bought it in 2003.
It is known for its simplicity and user-friendliness, making it popular among beginners.
Furthermore, Google owns Blogger; you only need a Google account to log in to your blog. Plus, you will also get a cost-free Blogspot subdomain.
The URL for your blog will look something like this: www.yourname.blogspot.com.
But you may also use a custom domain name for your blog.
In order to do that, you must first register a domain name with a third-party domain registrar and then connect it to your Blogger blog.
WordPress is open-source software that allows you to simply create a website, blog, or online store.
It was founded in 2003 and today powers more than 43% of all websites on the internet.
WordPress is a free-to-use and download platform that may be installed on as many websites as you want. See why WordPress is free and what the hidden costs are.
However, to start a blog on WordPress, you will need to purchase a WordPress hosting plan and a domain name.
It may sound complex at first, but it is really easy, with plenty of user-friendly tutorials available on the internet.
Most people who want to start a blog are not web developers. They may operate a small business or a non-profit, want to share their ideas with the rest of the world, or be keen on trying a new hobby.
To get their words out there, they need an easy-to-use blogging platform. Let’s compare these two in terms of user-friendliness.
Blogger is a simple blogging tool that allows you to build a blog in a few minutes. To get started, you’ll need a Google account.
Go to the Blogger website and sign in with your Google account. Next, enter the blog title, Blogspot address, and author display name.
Once you’ve done that, your blog will be set up. Next, you can choose a theme, configure blog settings, edit your blog layout, and add posts.
The setup process is very simple. However, customizing your theme is a lot trickier. To change your blog’s design in Blogger, you’ll need HTML skills.
Setting up a blog on WordPress is a simple and quick process. You won’t need any coding knowledge. All you need to know is how to set up WordPress and install WordPress plugins.
You can check out our guide on how to start a WordPress blog in less than 30 minutes.
Once the setup is complete, you can select a WordPress blog theme that is perfect for your blog. A theme is similar to a template for your blog. It controls how your blog looks.
Following that, you may install the best WordPress plugins to improve the functionality of your WordPress blog.
You can use WordPress block editor to create content for your posts and pages.
Aside from the block editor, you can also use the drag-and-drop page builders that allow you to customize anything.
While Blogger’s setup process is quicker, customizing your theme is much more challenging. WordPress, on the other hand, makes it much easier to customize things and offers a lot of options.
We think WordPress is the clear winner here.
Another important factor to consider when selecting a blog site is its ownership and control.
Having complete control over your blog allows you to do everything you want with it. These include how to manage it, monetize it, and when to shut it down.
Let’s compare control and ownership between WordPress and Blogger.
Blogger is a blogging service offered by Google. It is free, secure, and has enough functionality to easily publish your content on the web.
However, you do not own it.
Google runs this service and has the right to stop it or block your access to it at anytime.
It’s similar to how social media sites can ban or suspend users without notice.
Even if you do nothing wrong, you might lose your blog if Google decides to discontinue support for Blogger.
By using WordPress, you host your website with a WordPress hosting provider. You have complete control over how long your blog will be active. It will not be shut down without warning.
Also, you are not limited to any one web host. You can change web hosts at any time. However, Blogger does not allow you to take your blog away from Blogger.
When you use WordPress for your website, you own all of your data and have complete control over what information you share with any third party.
Another advantage of self-hosting is that you can easily increase your site’s bandwidth and storage to improve the speed of your blog.
WordPress is a clear winner here due to its complete control over ownership.
Design options are essential since they allow you to build a personalized design that meets your needs. It also helps to attract visitors, effectively communicate brand messages, and reduce bounce rates.
Additionally, well-designed themes may improve your website’s usability by improving its efficiency and overall navigation.
Fortunately, you don’t have to create a design from scratch because Blogger and WordPress both provide pre-made themes. However, the number of tools for further customization differentiates these platforms.
Blogger only offers a limited selection of templates to choose from. These templates are very simple and have been used on hundreds of blogs.
You may change the colors and layout of these templates using Blogger’s built-in tools. However, you cannot build or edit your own templates.
Some non-official Blogger themes are available, but finding high-quality ones might be difficult, and you’ll have to pay for them.
WordPress has thousands of free and paid themes, making it simple to choose the right theme for your blog.
There is a WordPress theme for every type of website you can think of. Whatever the topic of your site, you’ll find a number of high-quality themes that are simple to customize and modify.
You may also purchase more themes from third-party theme providers like Elegant Themes, Themify, and Astra Themes.
Not only that, but you can also use WordPress page builders to create stunning landing pages in WordPress.
Plus, you can also create your own custom WordPress themes without writing any code.
The large range of templates and unlimited customization options make WordPress a winner in terms of design options.
Another crucial factor to consider is your level of flexibility.
Does your blog site provide you with complete control over the style of your blog? Can you add additional features to your blog?
Let’s explore how Blogpost vs WordPress compare in this regard.
Blogger is designed to be a basic blogging tool. It means you have fewer options for your Blogspot blog.
Blogger has a range of “gadgets” that allow you to add features such as advertising, a contact form, translating your blog, and so on. However, these gadgets only have limited functionality, and no alternatives are available. They’re all provided by Google.
Furthermore, it lacks features like popups, eCommerce, etc. This seriously limits your potential for making money using Blogger.
Since WordPress is open-source software, you can easily add new features to it. With the help of plugins and third-party integrations, your WordPress site can add almost any feature you can think of.
If you go to the WordPress.org plugins page, you’ll find over 60,000+ free plugins.
You can use these plugins to:
Furthermore, you can also create your own custom plugins and use them on your blog.
When it comes to flexibility and customization options, WordPress is far ahead. It is also the best long-term solution for any blogger who wants to grow their site. So, WordPress is a winner here.
Security is another essential aspect to consider when selecting between Blogger or WordPress platforms for blogging.
As a leader in the tech industry, Google offers high-level security for Blogger-hosted websites.
It uses two-factor authentication to prevent unwanted users from accessing your Blogger account. Additionally, the default domain contains an SSL certificate to protect incoming and outgoing website data. For most blogs, enabling these security measures is enough.
However, since you do not self-host your blog, you are unable to change or add new security settings. And if Blogger goes down, you won’t be able to access your blog.
WordPress is quite secure. However, since it’s self-hosted, you are responsible for security and backups.
The good news is that several WordPress plugins are available to help you.
For example, you can use UpdraftPlus to create a backup and Sucuri to build a web-application firewall to improve site security.
You can also check out our ultimate WordPress security guide to secure your WordPress site.
We think it’s a tie when it comes to security measures.
There are several ways to optimize your blog for search engines. You may focus on technical aspects, such as load time, or on-page SEO, such as keywords, meta descriptions, links, and images.
To optimize these types of SEO, you’ll need a platform with the required built-in functionality and add-ons. Let’s compare the SEO of Blogger versus WordPress to find which is better for your site.
Although Blogger does not include many marketing tools, users can use Blogger Stats and Google Analytics. Using Google Analytics, you can track your website’s traffic and gain more insight into its performance.
In terms of SEO, Blogger is good for non-experts looking for a search-engine-optimized platform.
When applying SEO, make sure your website is not hidden from search engines.
Like any other platform, you must apply blog SEO best practices to rank on search engines. This includes using relevant focus keywords, meta titles, meta descriptions, and permalinks in your content.
WordPress is an excellent content management system for implementing complex digital marketing strategies and WordPress SEO practices.
Furthermore, WordPress core already has various SEO features, such as visibility settings, permalinks, meta descriptions, and redirects. It also offers many SEO plugins to help your blog grow faster.
For example, you can use All in One SEO to optimize on-page content for search engines.
With complete control over how you optimize your blog, WordPress is our winner for the best blog platform for SEO.
Blogging might be an excellent way to make money online. Thankfully, both WordPress and Blogger provide many monetization options.
Blogger’s built-in Google AdSense functionality allows you to monetize your site by showing relevant ads to visitors. You’ll need to create an AdSense account, make your ad spaces available, and select where to put the ads.
However, your blog must meet Google AdSense’s terms of service to be eligible for monetization.
You can also monetize your Blogger blog via affiliate marketing and sponsored posts. Unfortunately, there is no built-in Blogger tool for managing affiliate links and earning.
WordPress allows you to monetize your site in a number of different ways. This includes paid advertising, affiliate marketing, sponsored articles, selling products, etc. Choose monetization methods that best match your skills and hobbies.
Additionally, if you do affiliate marketing, you may use affiliate plugins like Pretty Links to manage your affiliate links and track your earnings.
You might also make money by creating a membership website. This allows you to charge visitors who want to access exclusive content.
Both platforms offer different methods to monetize your blog. It’s a tie!
This article aims to help you select the best platform so that you do not have to move your site. However, mistakes do happen. As a result, it is important to figure out whether your blog platforms offer secure options for moving to another platform.
Moving from Blogger to another platform is a little more difficult. While you can back up your blog’s content and transfer to another blogger account, switching to a new platform will result in traffic loss and negatively impact your SEO.
Using WordPress, you can move your blog almost anywhere. You may change almost everything, including your hosting service, domain, and content management system (CMS) platform.
WordPress allows you the flexibility to quickly move all of your content, images, blogs, and data—in other words, your whole website—with just a few clicks.
When it comes to WordPress, migrating your blog is really easy. As a result, our winner!
The future is in your hands. It really is!
The future of your blog is totally dependent on your vision and plans for it.
Blogger’s future is in the hands of Google. Google owns the platform. And they have the authority to shut it down at any time.
Over the years, Google has stopped popular services such as Google Reader, Google AdSense for feeds, and FeedBurner.
WordPress is an open-source software managed by a community of developers and users. This indicates that WordPress is not dependent on any one firm or individual.
WordPress is the most widely used CMS, with thousands of businesses depending on it. Indeed, WordPress is here to stay.
Your WordPress blog will only stop working if you decide to shut it down.
Didn’t we tell you that the future is in your hands?
WordPress wins this category because it gives you total control over your blog.
Price is one of the most important factors when choosing a blogging platform. Check that your selected platform is cost-effective and fits into your budget. Let’s have a look at the costs of setting up and running a blog on Blogger and WordPress.
Blogger, as we all know, is a fully free blogging platform. You create an account and start blogging. You’ll also get a free Blogspot subdomain.
However, if you want a unique domain for your Blogger site, you’ll need to buy it from a domain registrar. You might also buy it via Google Domains, which is available from the Blogger platform’s settings.
Blogger is free, but it lacks features that will help your site succeed.
WordPress is open-source software that is free to use. To start a blog, all you need is a domain name and hosting. Check out some best cheap WordPress hosting for your WordPress site.
While the domain and hosting are the only costs to consider, you may want to consider upgrading to premium themes and plugins if needed. This will increase the cost of your WordPress blog.
The additional cost is not mandatory to run a successful blog. Furthermore, with the free themes and plugins available, you still have a lot of options for monetizing your blog.
A paid option with limitless monetization options vs a free platform with limited monetization options. It’s a tie!
Another important element to consider when selecting a blog platform is support. Look to see whether a solid support system exists that can help you when you need it.
Blogger is a free publishing platform, and Google does not offer one-on-one help to users.
There is a community forum where you can ask questions and get answers. It also offers a help center where you can find tutorials and other documentation. You may also access these help articles directly from your Blogger dashboard.
While WordPress does not provide customer support, the WordPress community is quite active. There is also a support forum where you can share advice with other users and ask questions.
If you prefer reading guides, there are several WordPress tutorials available online, including the official WordPress documentation. It covers practically every aspect of WordPress that users need to know, from installation to troubleshooting.
It’s also worth mentioning that you can get dedicated support from your web hosting provider. Several premium themes and plugins also provide customer support.
WordPress has much more online support and forums than Blogger has. WordPress wins here.
WordPress and Blogger are both popular blog platforms. However, since you have to select one, it comes down to the purpose of your blog.
If you want to create a personal blog and share your ideas, you may choose a basic platform like Blogger.
However, if you want to create a professional blog that can earn a living, you’ll need a strong and scalable platform like WordPress.
Using WordPress, you may earn money by adding a store to your blog, creating a membership website, and adding plenty of marketing tools to your blog.
We hope our WordPress vs Blogger comparison helps you discover the pros and cons of each and helps you choose the best platform for your site.
For more, check out these other WordPress comparisons:
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