Guest Blogger:
Spencer Brokaw published his first book The Impenetrable Spy in 2011 at age 12. He enjoys writing and plans on creating a series. He resides in Ohio and enjoys swimming, golfing, playing the drums, and reading.
SpencerBrokaw.com
The topic for today is why I switched from WordPress to Blogger. When I started my website, I was using WordPress. After a while, I switched to Blogger and copy and pasted all of my posts. I hadn’t been posting for long, so there wasn’t too much to transfer. I switched for a few reasons, but still think both free blogs are wonderful.
Free Blogs Comparison
WordPress:
I loved WordPress, but felt like it was too technical. I didn’t like the way my posts came up in searches, and just felt like it was complicated. It is still a great place to make a website. Here are the pros and cons.
Pros:
- To use a custom domain, you have to pay an additional amount of money on top of what you are already paying for your domain: This is called Domain Mapping is is a paid upgrade See WordPress.com: Domain Mapping
- Has lots of options
- Tons of FREE templates, they are the basic make up of your blog’s appearance
- Shows up a ton in search results
- More control over the blog authors than blogger
Cons:
- You can’t upload your own theme or template
- Google ads may occasionally be displayed on your blog
- Not many widgets/gadgets to choose from
- NOTE: If you opt to host wordpress (not using the free service) then have to pay an additional amount of money on top of what you are already paying for your domain (Domain Cost – about $12/year; Hosting Ranges from $5 to $20+/month)
Blogger:
I am currently using Blogger, which I like a lot. It is easier than wordpress, and there are tons of gadgets to choose from. Here are the pros and cons:
Pros:
- No fees
- There is a template designer to edit the layout, fonts, and colors of your blog without the knowledge of HTML, which is very complicated.
- Tons of widgets to choose from and organize for your blog
- Blogger will never show ads on your blog unless you want them to
Cons:
- Hardly any templates to choose from, but you are able to download and upload your own from external template sites
- You can only create 10 stand alone pages
These are the things I had to choose from when switching to Blogger. If you create a website, I hope this helps you decide between these two great blog creating websites.
Comment:
Both Blogger and WordPress offer a great platform for blogging: Easy to use, and “free”. However, to determine which free blog service is best for you, open an account and do a test drive.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
I’m confused about your cons for WordPress, particularly where you mention you need to pay more to have a custom domain… you can install wordpress wherever you host. Most places have buttons to auto-install it, like on GoDaddy and many others. There’s no fee for doing this. If you have to pay extra when doing this for domains registered at wordpress itself… that’s what it costs them to host your domain. That isn’t free. If you’re doing it on myblog.wordpress.com, then you’re using their hosting that they recoup the money on by showing ads.
There are two fees when making your own domain, the fee to register the name with ICANN, and then there’s the fee to actually physically host the site. There is a machine sitting in a farm somewhere (probably several across which your site is duplicated and distributed) on which your site is physically located. Is this the “extra fee” you mean?
If google gives you free hosting, you can be sure they’re taking their pound of flesh some other way. As the saying goes, if you aren’t paying for it, you’re not the customer, you’re the product.
Michael, The extra fees are the domain name purchase and the hosting (optional). In the case of Spencer, he opted for the free blog, and then purchased the domain name (about $12/year), then pointed the domain name to the location of the blog. This makes marketing a lot easier.
Sorry for the Confusion, and thanks for posting a clarification. — Suz
NOTE: WordPress does charge for using a custom domain. It is called Domain Mapping:
Read More Here: http://en.support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/
Registering a domain through WordPress.com and mapping that domain to your blog costs $17.00 per domain, per blog, per year. For $8.00 more, you can also make the domain registration private.
Mapping a domain you already own costs $12.00 per domain, per blog, per year.
I got that Domain tip from another website, a very reliable one. I am guessing that WordPress charges an extra fee for using a custom domain. I am almost positive that is what the con means, I hope this helps, thank you for commenting! :)
Spencer is correct: To use a custom domain, you have to pay an additional amount of money on top of what you are already paying for your domain:
This is called Domain Mapping is is a paid upgrade. See: http://en.support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/
Received this email today and was pleased the post was helpful. This month is Blog month: so stay tuned for more information and insights into blogging.
Thank you for the Kudos, Caroline
–Suzanne
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“Your post came after a very frustrating week of posting on both
WordPress and blogstop! I have been debating which is more practical
and you have provided the info to cut loose and post to one..
. oh,but my archive website on omeka.net is next up to evaluate Cost
of my Time vs. Website Results. Keep up the fine work. Love your posts
and podcasts. Caroline (aka citizen archivist)” –Caroline Vandeusen