When you’re just starting out, it can be tempting to choose a free option for your website or blog. After all, why pay when you can just do it for free? That’s where services like Blogger come into play, but is Blogger really the best option? How does it stack up against WordPress?
Join as we look at the major differences between Blogger and WordPress, so you can see which one is a better choice for your website, blog, or business.
WordPress vs Blogger: A Full Breakdown
One thing to remember here, is that WordPress does have a free version (WordPress.com), but today we’ll be looking at the differences between a self-hosted WordPress blog, and a standard free Blogger account.
Let’s take a look:
1. Design Options
Let’s start with design. A website lives and dies by how it’s made, and how the design makes a first impression on the user. Their experience is also going to be affected by how your site looks and the structure of it all.
In this regard, Blogger offers a set of templates that can be modified in simple ways. You can change colors and aspects of the layout, but overall they are very rigid in their design. You also can’t create your own if you wanted.
Blogger does have some unofficial options, but these tend to be even less impressive than the templates you have access to.
If we flip this over and look at WordPress, the difference is huge. WordPress gives you access to thousands of different themes that you can implement with the click of a button. Furthermore, there are plenty of professional options that are free or paid.
Control over themes in WordPress is absolute. While beginners will want to use built-in tools to modify their themes, developers can make any changes they want through child themes or by creating their own.
2. Overall Ownership
In regards to ownership, there’s another big difference between Blogger and WordPress. With Blogger, even if you have your own URL, you do not own the website. The reason for this, is because Google is footing the bill for hosting.
Since you’re not paying for the hosting service every month, you’re essentially at the mercy of Google. If they decide to stop using the service, or they don’t like something on your site, they can shut it down in the blink of an eye. You won’t get your content back, or any backups of your site. All of it will be gone.
Looking back to WordPress, this isn’t the case. To create a self-hosted WordPress site, you’ll go through a hosting company and purchase your own server space to make your website live. This monthly (or yearly) payment will give you full ownership of your site.
You’ll still need to abide by the host’s terms, but beyond that, your website is your own. You won’t have to worry about it being shut down or having the plug pulled on it because the service ended.
This brings us to another point in regards to ownership. With WordPress, your site isn’t going anywhere. WordPress is one of the biggest names in the world. Blogger, on the other hand, hasn’t seen an update from Google in a long time.
Furthermore, Google has shown in the past that they aren’t afraid to shut down services. Things like Google Reader, Adsense for feeds, and others have been wiped off the internet in the past. It could happen with Blogger, and there wouldn’t be anything you could do about it.
3. Functionality
Our final category looks at the differences in overall functionality. Blogger gives you basic blogging tools, but doesn’t offer much in the way of expansion or flexibility for different types of websites. If you have additional needs for your site, Blogger may not be able to meet them.
On the other hand, WordPress has its famous plugins for this exact purpose. Plugins are like apps that can be installed on your website to add new features, options, or design elements. If you want social media sharing buttons on your site, a plugin can make it happen. Want to have detailed analytics or an animated logo? There’s a plugin for that too.
With over 30,000 plugins and growing, you can make your WordPress website do just about anything you want. Blogger doesn’t offer this kind of control, giving you less options for growth, and limiting the types of sites you can create on the platform.
Final Thoughts
When it comes down to it, the biggest difference between WordPress and Blogger is the sheer value and flexibility you get from WordPress. If you’re trying to cultivate a successful online business or blog, WordPress is the way to go, hands down.
How about you? What differences have you seen between the two platforms? Which one is your top pick? Let us know in the comments!