When looking at launching a website, whether it’s an online store, a blog, or a simple landing page you will often come across thousands of various website builders and platforms. Two of the most common ones are Blogger and the infamous WordPress. So which of the two should you use and just what are the differences between them?
What Is The Purpose Of Your Website?
Before you can decide the best platform to use, you first need to establish the purpose of your website. What we mean by this is how exactly do you intend on using your website? Is it a simple showcase of your services or is it perhaps an online blog with the capacity for you to eventually earn money. Whatever the intentions are for your website, it is crucial that you opt for a platform that will enable you to achieve your goals.
Will You Build The Website Yourself?
Once you know exactly what you are after, it’s then time to establish whether or not you will build the website yourself or get professional assistance. This will mostly depend on your technical skills but it can be made easier with certain platforms. Straight off the bat, we know that WordPress is a highly complex yet efficient platform. If you have the time to learn the capabilities (and there are a lot) of WordPress then this may be the option for you. However, if you aren’t very technical and are looking for something that can be easily edited and easily put together then Blogger is probably more ideal.
What Is WordPress And How Is It Used?
Established in the early 2000’s WordPress is an open source software that enables users to build a website. It isn’t merely limited to just blogging options though. With WordPress you are able to create landing pages, simple websites, online stores, and much more. It is the most widely used blogging software available and for good reason. WordPress has a lot fewer restrictions than other software and website building platforms but that does mean that it is more complicated to use. Because WordPress is a software, it requires you to have a hosting plan and a domain name. Once you have those, you will then need to install WordPress to be able to use its features.
What Is Blogger And How Is It Used?
Blogger is a service that is owned by Google and has been since 2003. The same year that WordPress was established. However, Blogger is slightly older as it was created by Pyra Labs in 1999. Naturally, Google had made many adjustments once they acquired it and continues to do so. Blogger is a hosting service that has a free membership option. Of course with the free membership, your blog will have several restrictions like the use of a subdomain provided by Blogspot. For anyone who doesn’t know what a subdomain is here is an example:
www.yourblogname.blogspot.com
It is possible to create a blog using your own domain but you would need to purchase and register a domain from a third party site and then link it to Blogger. Obviously, Blogger is a service that is tailored more toward blogs rather than online stores.
Setting Up With Blogger And WordPress
For many people, ease of use is a major factor when choosing a blogging platform. There is, of course, a minority that does have experience in website development but for the most part, many blog owners aren’t very technical.
WordPress
Upon initially starting a blog with WordPress the process is fairly straightforward. You don’t need any coding knowledge but you do need to install and setup WordPress and it’s relative apps first. From there you simply choose your favorite WordPress theme and then look at any potential plugins that your site may require. Adding content to your WordPress site is as easy as you need it to be. There is also the option to include various types of media to your posts by using the block editor.
Blogger
Blogger isn’t all that difficult to set up and navigate either. With this platform, you first need a Google account and then you need to register on the Blogger website. Once you’ve done that you simply find the ‘new blog’ option, fill in the details, find a theme, and then add your content. Editing the layout and configuring the settings is also an easy task. The biggest difference between the two during the setting up stage is theme customization. In Blogger you will find that HTML skills are required whereas WordPress offers drag and drop page builders. Aside from that, there isn’t much difference in setting up a blog on these platforms.
Flexibility And Control
Here is where the differences between Blogger and WordPress become apparent. At first, the flexibility and control that you have over your blog might seem pretty irrelevant but as you begin to grow your blog and become familiar with navigating it, flexibility and control become a major factor. What we mean by this is whether or not it is possible to add new features and functions to your blog. Under this umbrella would be the ability to monetize the blog. To enhance its ease of use, Blogger has pretty limited tools available. So with this platform, there would be a limit as to how much you could customize your blog. These restrictions don’t just apply to the free membership plan but every plan available on Blogger.
With that said Blogger does include the following options,
- Contact forms
- Subscription links
- Ad features
These are limited as are their functionality. Unfortunately, there aren’t alternative options to these functions on Blogger.
WordPress Flexibility And Control
In this respect, WordPress operates in a completely different way to Blogger. Instead of it being a type of platform it is actually an open source software. This means that you have much more control and flexibility with it than you do with Blogger. With WordPress, your customization options are almost endless. There are so many ways for you to easily add third-party integrations and plugins (whether they are owned by WordPress or not) so that you can modify your blog. The winner between the two in terms of control and flexibility is most definitely WordPress.
If your needs are fairly basic and you just want an easy to use platform for your blog then Blogger is the way forward. However, if you have big plans and a continuously changing business, then WordPress will likely be better suited. They both provide an excellent level of security and both are extremely popular among Bloggers both old and new.
