Two great blogging platforms dominate the free blogging options.
WordPress.com vs. Blogger (Blogspot)
Have you thought of starting a blog and just aren’t sure? Maybe you read my post “Should You Start Your Own Blog or Website” and it got you thinking but you’re not sure what to blog about or I you want to pay for hosting and a domain yet.
Well, why sit there thinking when you could try blogging for free?
A free blog is a great way to see if you enjoy it. It gives you a chance to see what you really like to blog about and if anyone is interested in what your think you want to blog about. Also, once you decide to move ahead, you can use those free blogs to point people to your new “official” blog.
Who wins in a facedown between Blogger and WordPress.com?
In a no-holds-barred one-on-one, what’s the best choice to start a blog with? I’ll cover this matchup blow by blow with a surprising winner.
[mc src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiYPhlELLyc" type="youtube"]Blogger VS WordPress.com[/mc]
There are two primary places to get a free blog:
- WordPress.com
- Blogger (also known as Blogspot)
There are other services, but these are the two strongest and some of the other options are more social sites (like MySpace) where only other users can view them. Both Blogger and WordPress.com consider the content you create as your own and not their property (surprisingly this is not always the case, especially with social media sites – WordPress.com does claim the right use your work to publicly promote your blog though, but still seem to consider it yours). Both these blogs do well in search engines. And as I pointed out, they are free.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com is my easy favorite in this match. After all, if you ever decide to get your own domain name and hosting, you will probably end up using WordPress.org (which is different) as your blogging platform. WordPress.com (as is a self-hosted WordPress.org based blog) has a strong record. The editor (which you will use to blog with) is simple and yet fully featured. Lean and mean.
A Free WordPress.com Blog
WordPress’s widgets allow you to add things to the blog easily. There are a hundred themes to choose the look you want for your site. You can do a ton of customizing without having to learn any type of code, all you do is drag and drop.
What’s not so great about WordPress.com?
- If you want to use your own domain name? They charge for it.
- Understand CSS and want to customize the theme to look the way you want. They charge for that.
- Blog a lot and need more space for all the stuff. They charge for that (a lot).
- Want to keep WordPress from running ads for their own advertisers on your blog. They charge for that.
- Want to run ads from your own advertisers? You probably can’t do that.
While if you just want to have a simple, fun blog WordPress.com is great, it’s going to cost you to do anything truly customized. If you are looking to make money with your blog, WordPress.com is not going to be the best place to do it. You could say that WordPress.com may not have the legs to go the full ten rounds.
Blogger
Google’s Blogger (Blogspot) is an almost opposite of WordPress.com. I personally have found Blogger just seems a bit awkward to use. That said. Blogger has become much improved and continues to improve. Blogger has been around a long time. You could say Blogger is the long time champion still in great shape.
A free Blogger or Blogspot blog.
Blogger gives you almost total freedom to customize the page. While the choice of themes is much more limited compared to WordPress, modifying those themes can be done very easily and a lot can be done without learning any code. If you do understand html, you can design your own page and upload it. Blogger really gives you an amazing amount of freedom and unlike WordPress.com they don’t charge extra.
Blogger also allows you to allows you to use your own domain name, again at no extra cost. In fact, I did not see anything that Blogger charges any extra for anywhere. Google also does not seem to mind you having advertising on your blog. In fact, Blogger recommends Google’s Adsense program for Blogger blogs (not allowed on a WordPress.com site). Getting a Blogger blog may be a good way to help aquire an Adsense account for new bloggers.
With a Blogger blog, you get everything you would want to potentially make money with a blog at no charge. It is hard to beat that. It’s a knock-out 1-2 punch.
What is not so great about Google’s Blogger?
The editor. Personally, I hate it.
My first problem with the editor is that it does not include the proper H1, H2, H3 header tags. If you wish to mark headings and subheadings (important for on-page search engine optimization) you are going to need to learn how to hand code them into the page or use a desktop editor like Windows Live Writer. I can’t understand why such an important element is left out after all this time.
Adding a video from YouTube is also not intuitive like WordPress. You can’t just use the add video button in the Blogger editor to add the URL for the video. You will need to switch to the html (or code) view in the editor and paste the embed code there. Not hard, but your more likely to host a video on YouTube and post it on your blog than trying to upload it to the blog itself (it’s a lot easier).
You spend a lot of time using the editor. If you are new blogging or type slow, little things like this are going to slow you down a bit. It is not an insurmountable obstacle, but it makes what should be push button easy a bit more complicated than is should be. You could say Blogger is getting slow in it’s old age. It may be strong, but WordPress is faster on it’s feet.
So, who wins in Blogger Vs. WordPress.com?
Obviously if I had to choose one and I wanted to use the blog to make money, Blogger is the winner and the long term Champ. But that is not my recommendation. I recommend you use both Blogger and WordPress.com. Make it a tag team. Literally.
Use Blogger as your main blog. This is where you put your best posts and concentrate your effort. Then, use your WordPress.com blog to do short, quick posts and link to your Blogger posts. The added links will help your Blogger blog get better ranking.
The absolute best solution is to have your own self-hosted WordPress.org-based site.
This uses nearly the same software used on WordPress.com but hosted on your own domain name on a hosting provider that you choose. The cost to do this is actually not much more than you would pay to customize a WordPress.com blog and you will have complete control over everything.
In my opinion, spending energy on building on a free blogging platform is like renovating a home you are renting.
You are spending a lot of time and effort building up something that in the long run, you don’t own and might be forced out of without compensation. Owning your own blog costs just $10 a year for a domain name and as little as $5 a month for hosting. Skip super-sizing your lunch for a few days a month and you’ve bought your own business.
I used blogger for years and found it fairly easy to work with. You are pretty much free to do what ever you want with it. Now that I use wordpress.org I am finding that things are very different.
I agree that if someone is just starting out they should try both. It is a good educational experience if nothing else. Also, have plenty of pain relief available. Because you will get a head ache from time to time.
I need to talk to you about the H tags, something I have never heard of using blogger. Great post!
Dwayne´s last [type] ..Ocean
@Dwayne: Thanks Dwayne.
There is not too much to get a headache with on WordPress.com. It’s pretty simple and without paying extra, there’s not too much you can mess up.
I’ll be experimenting with Blogger a bit so maybe you can tell me how to to some things there and I’ll explain
H tags
@Dwayne: I have done exactly the same. Went from blogger to WordPress. I think its true what you are saying, although you wrote your comment in 2010.
But lately I think WordPress.com has started to lose up a bit and let you do more thinks to your blog than you could a couple of years ago.
@Dwayne: It’s a good thing to start out with both to “feel” which fits your needs.
Although you want to start bloging pretty right away. So it’s a good thought but maybe a little bit harder to attempt.
I love WordPress myself but I also like Blogger. The simple fact is if you want to self host your own Blog I would highly recommend WordPress. If you don’t want to self host go with Blogger. They both have the tools you need and are highly optimized and work well with Search Engines. I know guys who are in competitive niches with number #1 rankings just from a Blogger blog.
@Washington DC Internet Marketing Company: Yes, there are many very successful blogs running on Blogger and you can do very well with it. Between the free blogs, I’d still say WordPress.com is easier but use Blogger if you have any plans for an income from it.
I don’t think either of the free options really compare to a self-hosted blog running WordPress.org software.
Hi James,
Thanks for your kind comment on my blog today and I’m happy you like my photos still today
Back then in Key West it was a different style of photography, it was more a commercial type for the tourists to buy and to remember their vacations down in Key West.
Today I’m going more towards Fine-Art-Photography – and I like it!
Sue’s Daily Photography
Susanne Van Hulst´s last [type] ..Palm Trees In Key West by Susanne Van Hulst
@Susanne Van Hulst: You’re welcome.
Hi James,
When I started blogging, this was something I struggled with until I started researching what the “big boys” were doing. Nearly all of them were self hosted WordPress blogs, so I went that way too. Looking back, I’m happy I did. Although I’ve experimented with the free WP blog platform, I like how I can do nearly anything I want being self hosted. And like you said, the cost isn’t all that bad.
Barbara Swafford´s last [type] ..Blog For Sale
@Barbara Swafford: Not to mention that beautiful theme you have now.
Thanks for visiting.
Hi James
Thanks for a great review and comparison.
I agree with your final statement…
“In my opinion, spending energy on building on a free blogging platform is like renovating a home you are renting.”
BTW – thats a great phrase you’ve come up with.
Keith Davis@Public Speaking and Presentations´s last [type] ..Two way traffic
@Keith Davis from Public Speaking and Presentations: I’d like to think I come up with phrases like that a lot, maybe it will with more practice. Thanks!
I personally hate hosted blogs. I want to own my content and do what I want with it, not be limited by someone else. I realise it’s right for some people, but not for me.
Mark´s last [type] ..Joomla Shopping Carts Worth Trying
@Mark: Hate is such a strong word.
There is no doubt that for any serious blogging a self-hosted WordPress blog is just about the only real solution. Blogger and WordPress.com can be a great way to get your feet wet and can be then used to help the self-hosted site get indexed quickly.
So then, why are you blogging about Joomla?
I use blogger and I’m thinking on moving to wordpress, both have their advantages and disadvantages; both are free! The advantages of blogger is that you can add Google Adsense and other affiliate programs and not need to buy the hosting service like wordpress.org which mean you start earning money without spending a dime!
The only thing I like about wordpress is that it looks much professional and you also have more control in the appearence of you blog compare it blogger.
@Nelson Muntz: Yes, Blogger is truly a gift for those who can’t afford to get hosting (although with HostGator’s offer for $5 a month it is hard to believe that could be true).
If you know what you are doing, you can do a lot with Blogger as far as appearance.
The real trouble is when the site is doing well. If you don’t have your own domain name, you have spent a lot of work fixing up something that simply is in someone else’s yard. You don’t have final control over it.
I like wordpress.
If I have to go with free blog, then I would go for blogger. I have tried both, blogger and wordpress and found blogger to be better in all aspects. Free WordPress blog doesn’t offer plugins etc but blogger does offer plugins and is highly customizable.
And if I have to go for a self-hosted blog then WordPress is the best.
You’re always at risk with free blogs because if you violate their TOS then they might remove your blog without any notice, they won’t care if you are using it their blog for 2-3 years or more…they would just delete it and all your efforts go into waste. With self-hosted blogs, that’s not the case…so you can freely experiment with your blog.
@Darin from Nashville real estate: That pretty much sums up my feelings Darin.
One plus for WordPress.com is Akismet.
I would go for wordpress, because it provides the huge number of user-friendly plug-in. But I have heard that the content in blogger has been quickly indexing than the wordpress. I don’t know whether it’s true or not?
@Tessa from Free Planning Tool: I would agree that in the past Blogger blogs did seem to get indexed a bit quicker. Google is very quick at indexing site now though so I am no sure that still true.
Also, indexing and ranking are two very different things.
I personally believe that one should use WordPress instead of Blogger if they’re going to launch a free blog.
Mainly because of the fact that Google owns Blogger, but also because migrating from WordPress > WordPress is much more easy.
/Ron.
WordPress blog all the time.
Only blogger for fun and expriment.
Jack
Bil från tyskland´s last [type] ..Mercedes SLS trimmad
Hey there. I see you say that a self-hosted WordPress Blog is the way to go. That sounds great, but I was wondering if you could confirm just HOW customizable a self-hosted WP blog is?
I find that with Blogger I can change the look to just about whatever I like (if I take the time), but with WordPress I’ve heard you only get access to the CSS. Is this true? Or is it different for self-hosted WP?
Thanks for any advice. Great post!
JohnnyW´s last [type] ..My Woody Allen-athon- Part 1 1969 – 1975
I would really have to say that wordpress is the best one out there, simple and good looking. Its just great!
My vote goes for WordPress.com. You have much more opportunities to change themes, plugins and so on. But the best of the best is for sure to run a own hosted WordPress blog. Then you could do what ever you want with it! / Sven
I definitely vote for WordPress.org and not com. Obviously for the reason that you cannot do everything you want. But blogger is much better than WordPress.com, becuase you can put advertisement and other good stuff
Godis online´s last [type] ..Beställ godis online
Yep, wordpress is better than blogger.
I must defintly say WordPress in this matter, no question about it! I’ve tested both for about a year and in my opinion WP is more flexible, more user friendly and easier to create kicking layouts!
I have used both Blogger and WordPress.com and can say thay both where a pain, both had limits for example Javascript limitations and bad editor. I recommend like the author wrote, a self-hosted WordPress installation.
My vote goes for WordPress.com. You have much more opportunities to change themes, plugins and so on. But the best of the best is for sure to run a own hosted WordPress blog. Then you could do what ever you want with it! /
I’m just a new user of this two and still exploring how to use it effectively, So I think WordPress and Blogger are both important tools which are functional in doing things where the usage of these two is needed. I also believe that both of them work fine in Search Engine.
I like both wordpress and blogger but if I had to choose just one, I would have to go with wordpress as I really like the plugins and all the good looking themes. But I use both wordpress and bloggar and they are both very good.
I agree with those who say WordPress!
You can easily do more things with WordPress and you can install plugins and much more. Always WordPress.
Sara@Bantningsmetoder/Viktnedgång´s last [type] ..Hej världen!
Great post, i would choose WordPress. com, it’s because it provides a lot of user-friendly plugins and much more easy.
Anja´s last [type] ..What You Need To Give Your Arowana A Good Home
Been doing a lot of blog research, wondering what your take on Tumblr is…and if you still have the same opinion on these sites since you wrote this a while ago and things may have changed since then.
@Lizzy from Car Lease Broker Los Angeles: I don’t have any experience with Tumblr (not much in recent memory at least). I tend to think of Tumblr as more of a social network and not really a blogging platform. I would use it just like I suggested using WordPress.com – as a pointer to your actual blog.
All the “free” services for blogging have weak link in that you do not have the ultimate control over the site. They can always pull the plug on you, leaving you with absolutely nothing (using Facebook as a site for a business is probably even worse an idea). Ultimately, you need to have your real online presence on a site that you have control over the domain and the data.
With that said, I think Google’s Blogger is even stronger (for a free site) than it was when I made the original post. Also, Google makes it very easy to download your “data” from their services which could help you keep from being held ransom.
Thank You for this good article and please allow me to have the chance to show my satisfaction with HostGator web hosting. They have professional and quick support and they also offer numerous HostGator discount coupons.
Ohh, I like how you finished things in the recommendation part. It’s cool if you could use these two platforms to form an effective blog tandem that could help you become more visible in search engines.