When starting a blog, one of the most important choices that will decide the performance and scale of the blog will be the choice of blogging platform. Among all the available options, Blogger and stand out as the two most popular.
With these two blog publishing platforms, bloggers can create a free blog and use the wide variety of customization options available to further enhance their website. However, as with any major choice, each publishing platform comes with its pros and cons.
In this article, we will take a look at Blogger vs WordPress and evaluate their features and differences in the categories of ease of use, customization, monetization, scalability, security, and customer support.
What is Blogger?
Blogger is a free blogging platform owned by Google that offers less tech-savvy users an easy way to .
You only need a Google account to integrate Blogger on your website, with a maximum of 100 authors per website. Each user can create up to 100 blogs, either for business or personal use.
Also, there are no limitations on the number of blog posts a writer can create. However, the number of static pages created cannot exceed 20.
Other notable features of the Blogger platform are:
- Seamless integrations with Google services like , , and .
- Security, reliability and constant updates since Google manages the network.
- A free Blogspot domain, hosting, and an SSL certificate.
- A simple content management system.
- A decent selection of templates to get you started.
What is WordPress?
WordPress is open source software and one of the most popular content management systems, powering more than 2021.
With WordPress, users can create websites that range from eCommerce stores and forums to personal websites and portfolios. Two of the biggest brands that use WordPress as the foundation for their websites are and .
Not only WordPress is free to start a blog, here are some of the most notable features of this CMS:
- A wide range of publishing tools, from media management to publishing calendars.
- Expandable with plugins.
- Tons of free and premium WordPress themes.
- The platform supports up to 70 languages.
- A well established community.
Although WordPress also has a commercial service called WordPress.com which is free, this article will focus on WordPress.org as it is the most popular and powerful version.
Blogger or WordPress: What should you look for in a blogging platform?
There are many factors that determine if a blogging platform is suitable for a project. As we already mentioned, both WordPress and Blogger have their strengths and weaknesses. Here are some pros and cons worth considering as a point of comparison:
- Easy to use: Choose a publishing platform that fits your level of knowledge. Make sure the interface is easy to use and navigate. In this way, you will be able to create and manage your blog in the blink of an eye.
- Themes and customization– Make sure the blogging platform offers extensive customization options to fine-tune the look and feel of your website. This feature is not only essential for branding, but can also affect the performance of the website as a whole.
- Accessories– Use additional software or presets to enhance the default features of your website.
- Marketing and SEO: Search engine optimization helps increase the visibility of your website. Consider whether the platform you’re going to choose has all the essential marketing tools, like analytics, newsletters, and forms.
- Monetization: Some blogging services have rules regarding monetization options and restrictions. Read the fine print before committing.
- Scalability: Refers to how well your blog scales with the growth of traffic and the reach of a web page.
- security features: The measures available to protect your data from malware, spam, and other security threats.
- Customer Support: Evaluate the communication channels used by customer service, working hours and supported languages.
Easy to use
While some are more suitable for beginners, others have steeper learning curves. An interface is easy to use if new users can intuitively understand the purpose and location of the tools.
This quality also refers to how quickly a blog is created and whether the instructions are clear.
Without further ado, let’s compare Blogger and WordPress in terms of ease of use.
blogging
Using Blogger is relatively easy, since you only need a Google account to create a blog. After you log in, there will be a three-part onboarding process to guide you through the process of creating your first blog.
The setup wizard requires users to enter the blog title, Blogspot address, and author name. Once this is done, you access the control panel, where you can create a new entry or adjust the blog settings from the left sidebar.
Once the blog has a lot of content, the list of drafts and posts will be in the center of the control panel.
wordpress
By comparison, WordPress requires more steps as the user needs to have access to web hosting services to make it accessible. Once the hosting and domain name are configured, you need to first install WordPress in the hosting control panel to configure it as well.
Luckily, many web hosting companies like offer the option to install WordPress with a single click. That said, it may take a newbie some time to get used to the WordPress dashboard as it has more features.
Although the WordPress interface offers more options, this also means more clutter. Also, many of the tools that make blogging easy require additional plugins to set up.
Blogger or WordPress: the verdict
In terms of ease of use for beginners, Blogger wins this round as it only requires a Google account to get started.
You don’t need to buy a blog hosting service and a domain name to use Blogger, since Blogger already comes with the service. Also, the control panel is simple, with all the essential functions ready in the sidebar.
Themes and customization
Having access to a wide variety of customization options is essential, as a great web design can attract visitors, effectively communicate brand messages, and .
Not to mention, well-designed themes can also increase the usability of your website, optimizing its performance and overall navigation. Luckily, you don’t need to build everything from scratch, as both Blogger and WordPress offer pre-made themes to get you started.
However, what sets these platforms apart is the number of tools on offer for further customization.
blogging
Blogger offers two options for customizing blogs: a visual editor and simple HTML snippets. The visual editor has some drag and drop elements, but is limited when it comes to layout placement.
As for the templates, the selections are also restrictive. There are 12 theme categories to choose from and most of them are geared towards personal blogs. Advanced customization is only possible if you have knowledge of HTML and CSS.
Although there are many third-party themes, there is no easy way to install them on Blogger. You have to open the template XML file with notepad or other text editor and copy the source code into the function Edit HTML of Blogger in the current topic.
As for content editors, Blogger only offers one type with a simple interface. There’s a sidebar for categorizing post labels, setting a posting schedule, pinpointing the location on a map, turning off comments, and customizing permalinks. For embedding media, Blogger supports YouTube and Google Photos.
wordpress
WordPress, on the other hand, has more customization options to modify the appearance of a website. There are over 8,500 WordPress themes in which they can cater for all types of websites, be it a simple home page or a personal blog.
Additionally, WordPress offers an easy option to upload third-party themes, whether they are free or premium. If you want to make further changes to a template, a built-in CSS editor with a live preview shows the changes in real time.
Unfortunately, the adjustments you can make with the default layout are limited in comparison. Features are static and you can only change a few attributes like background image, color, site identity and sidebar menus.
Also note that unlike Blogger, you cannot move the theme layout location using drag and drop. While this can be fixed, you may need to install an additional plugin to do so.
Another great customization option that WordPress offers is its text editors. Users can choose between the classic editor and the block editor. The former is a simple text editor, while the latter implements blocks that serve as layouts for various types of content, making posts more dynamic.
Blogger or WordPress: the verdict
When it comes to customization options, WordPress offers more options as it offers loads of free and premium WordPress themes to start a blog. Also, you can perform advanced customization on the site design easily with the help of live preview code editor.
Accessories
When choosing between Blogger or WordPress to create a blog, you also have to consider whether it is possible to extend the existing functions. This is where plugins come into play. These tools add extra functionality to a website without altering the platform at a basic level.
Let’s compare WordPress and Blogger on this aspect.
blogging
Blogger is a simple blogging platform that doesn’t offer much in the way of plugins.
However, it does have gadgets that can extend the functionality of the blog. They can range from adding an extra section for a featured post and implementing newsletters to adding a contact form and HTML/JavaScript snippets.
The last option is convenient if you have for custom elements. However, remember to be careful when adding code snippets from external sources. Check the developer’s reputation and the latest update of the widget.
wordpress
Thanks to the open source nature of…
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