Blogger vs WordPress – Which One Is the Right for You?

When you are starting out as a blogger, the confusing query that arises is the platform of the blog you should choose to blog on. You generally type queries like “Blogger vs WordPress”, Which is a better blogging platform”, “Pros and Cons of blogging in BlogSpot or WordPress” and such to determine your blogging platform.

Even I passed through this phase but in my case, I decided to go for WordPress. Well, it might differ for you. So, before you take your decision, I decided to share with you all the differences between Blogger and WordPress so that you can take an informed decision and not regret later.

Well, I mustn’t say regret actually, because you can migrate from BlogSpot to WordPress anytime but it requires diligent work, which you must be ready to handle. I will share with you that tutorial too – the guide on migrating from BlogSpot to WordPress in the next article on Friday, so keep an eye out. If you are moving from BlogSpot to WordPress in the recent future, just put your email in the box aside so that you don’t miss out the updates.

Blogger vs WordPress – Which is better for you?

There is no correct answer to which is better in general, but the answer will depend on your needs and intentions to create a blog.

1. Blogger is FREE to use

No hosting fees, no domain fees (of course, you are on a subdomain – it’s not your primary domain).You can get a domain name (such as www.domainname.om) for yourself if you are on BlogSpot but you have to pay for that. You can get one from NameCheap or GoDaddy but the hosting is free.

2. Blogger has Tight Security

Since it’s hosted on Google servers, it has tight security and it’s not so easy to hack a BlogSpot blog. No one can hack your BlogSpot blog unless he or she hacks your Google account associated with the blog.

3. Faster Indexing

Since Google hosts this, Google indexes BlogSpot blogs very fast.

4. Easier AdSense Integration

Since BlogSpot is a Google product, it has in-built AdSense units that make it easier for beginners to just follow a wizard and integrate AdSense ads to your BlogSpot blog.

5. Loads Fast

Again, since it’s hosted on Google servers, the pages of Blogger load faster on Desktop and mobiles.

You have to pay some sort of price for most of the things that come for free in life. And it happens here too. It’s not a debate between Blogger vs WordPress but a simple distinguish that will help you decide the right one for you. So, what are the disadvantages of using Blogger.

1. Limitations in Design

Almost all BlogSpot blogs look like age-old HTML sites and there are limitations in design. You cannot tweak the design of your blog just as you wish.

2. Outdated Comments Section

The design of comments sections looks outdated and your visitors need to login with their Google account to comment. This is irritating and many of your visitors will avoid commenting due to such login systems.

3. You do not own the site – Google owns it

The worst thing about Blogger is that you do not own the site. If you violate even one policy, one fine morning you might end up seeing that your site doesn’t exist. All content of your blog, comments, and website is lost.

4. You cannot resell the site

If you are not having the time or patience to continue with the blog or you are moving to some new project, you have to lose all the work you have put into all these years into this BlogSpot blog. On the other hand, you can resell a self-hosted WordPress blog and move to your new project if you don’t have the time to continue with a blog.

5. Limitations in Page Size

If you are on blogger, you need to keep some page like the Homepage, Archive page below 1MB. If it’s more than that, your visitors will get a 006 error message asking them to contact Blogger support. This is really annoying and a great turn-off.

6. Limitations of Storage

In Blogger, you have only 1GB to host your images and content. If it gets more than that, you have to find other means of storage.

7. Limitations in Choosing Permalinks

In Blogger, you have only one permalink option. You cannot choose from several structures or create a custom SEO-friendly URL structure, like in WordPress.

8. Lose Template Customization Easily

If you wanted to change your theme on Blogger, it’s not so easy. It takes a lot of time and you have to play around with the code of the new template you applied. It’s not a 15-minute job.

1. WordPress software is free to use

The software is free to use. You can just download and install it in just 5 minutes.

2. Flexible and Highly Customizable

The sites on WordPress are flexible and you can add any number of functionality, as you need. The design is highly customizable and you can use premium or free themes. If you have coding or designing knowledge, you can create any functionality or designing tweaks.

3. Easy to use with plugins support

Even if you don’t have coding knowledge, you can add any functionality using plugins. There is a vast library of plugins available that you can just download and install to make your website feature-rich.

4. You own the site

Unlike Google, for WordPress sites, you own the site. No fine prints. You own the content.

5. You can resell the site

You can resell the site anytime as and when you need. There are no limitations.

6. Make it load faster

You can make a WordPress blog load faster using plugins such as W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache.

7. Tighten Security

Even though Blogger has tight security, you can tighten the security of your WordPress blog too using a good host and plugins such as All In One WP Security & Firewall and SECURE.

8. Better SEO

You can make your WordPress site better optimized for the search engines by choosing the custom SEO-friendly permalink structure and adding Meta titles, Meta keywords and Meta descriptions.

1. Paid domain and hosting

Getting a WordPress site requires a little budget because you need to get a domain, which usually costs $10 to $15 and a paid hosting. This is a yearly recurring expense and you need to be ready for that.

2. Customizing the theme can be a little difficult for beginners

If you do not have any coding knowledge, it can be a little difficult to customize the theme. However, it’s not much of an issue because you can choose from thousands of free and premium themes and choose the one that perfectly fits your need. That will require minimal editing and lessen your work to customize the theme.

So, Blogger vs WordPress – Which One Will You Blog On?

If spending on hosting and domain doesn’t matter much to you and can fit it within your budget, going for a WordPress blog is definitely better because you can integrate a lot of advanced features as your blog grows.

If budget does matter to you or blogging is just like a hobby, start with Blogger (BlogSpot blog) and move on to WordPress when you need more freedom and enriching options to grow your blog.

So, which platform do you think you would start blogging on – BlogSpot or WordPress? Did the blogger vs WordPress article change your decision or making you wonder the second time?