Blogger is an “OG” blogging platform.
I spent a few years on Blogger before running a WordPress Dot Org blog.
Unlike robust platforms, Blogger has virtually no learning curve.
But a free and easy to use platform has its downsides.
Blogger gets a bad wrap in certain circles. I have not been kind to the solution.
Blogger blogs look somewhat cheap. Successful bloggers rarely perceive Blogger users in a credible light. Technically you are not blogging on free sites because someone else owns the content. Users use free sites. Bloggers invest in their domain and hosting.
Yet the content management system gives aspiring bloggers a way to ride a bike with training wheels before stepping up to the blogging big leagues.
Weigh the pros and cons before deciding on the solution.
Pros
Ease of Use
Blogger is easy to use.
Anyone can fire up the platform to publish a new post in minutes.
New bloggers have little difficulty publishing content on the platform. Adding images, text and basic formatting to posts is easy peasy.
Blogging feels intimidating for beginners. Blogger simplifies the process.
Being a bare bones platform has its benefits.
Do you feel confused about Blocks? Do widget, plug-ins and themes make your head spin?
Publish content to Blogger.
Gain experience by using a seamless platform.
Get the job done without distracting bells and whistles.
It’s Free
No financial investment is required to get up and running on blogger.
Aspiring bloggers hesitant to invest in a domain and hosting can get a feel for blogging through Blogger.
For its monetizing potential, WordPress Dot Org requires a modest investment to go live. Blogger is a risk-free way to give blogging a test run before committing fully.
I used the platform as a beginner. Blogging on a shoe string forced me to pinch pennies.
Blogger is a smart solution for anyone on a tight budget.
Think of it as doing a trial run before laying down your money.
Google AdSense and Google Analytics Hook Up
Monetizing through Google AdSense is a breeze on Blogger.
Being owned by Google makes for seamless integration which is not the case through other platforms.
As an added bonus, setting up Google Analytics is easy on Blogger.
I ran into resistance attempting to set up Google AdSense on WordPress Dot Org. Ditto for Google Analytics.
Fast Load Time
Blogger benefits from the vast Google server resources.
No other free platform can beat Blogger for both load speed and up time.
I never had performance issues using the site.
Prolific bloggers can drive heavy traffic without affecting the user experience.
During a maniac stretch I published twenty posts daily to Blogger. The solution loaded lightning fast even though I drove up to 10,000 visitors daily on the platform.
Cons
Minimal Functionality
You get what you do not pay for.
Blogger offers bloggers minimal functionality.
WordPress Dot Org bloggers have powerful tools in their arsenal to enhance the user experience. Widgets, plug-ins and premium themes can earn credibility. Enhanced blogs generate sales too.
Google has no reason to invest in this starter solution for Bloggers.
Attracting loyal readers and converting community members into customers becomes challenging on a purely minimalist platform.
Don’t expect to find fancy widgets or powerful plug-ins to jazz up your blog here.
Little Monetizing Potential
Aspiring professionals upgrade from Blogger after gaining confidence.
Generating steady income is difficult with few monetizing channels at your disposal.
Minus setting up Google AdSense, I found it tough to promote products and services effectively. The basic platform does not organically instill trust because Blogger looks unprofessional.
Branding potential is severely limited. Bloggers go pro by standing out in a genuine way. Blogger is a cookie cutter solution.
Blogger themes come up short compared to other platforms. I found it tough to stand out from the crowd over there because I had a “me too” selection of themes to work with.
Easy to use blogs do not offer bloggers rich branding potential.
Expect to fit in on Blogger; not in a good way.
No Support
I have not come across a high level pro who blogs on this free platform.
Blogger offers little native support. Crowd sourcing support is almost impossible.
How can you address technical issues if experienced pros rarely use the platform?
WordPress dominates in this department with its massive pro blogger user base.
When it comes to Blogger you are on your own.
The Verdict
Blogger works well for new bloggers on a trial run.
Upgrade to WordPress Dot Org if blogging agrees with you.
Ryan Biddulph is the owner and creator of Blogging From Paradise Dot Com.
I never tried Blogger, Ryan. I discovered Weebly at a hostel in Ljubljana in 2011.
I used a free dot weebly domain.
It was easy to set up. The community was great. The 2 administrators were superb. Soon i was helping other get things running with bits of code.
They had a help file which nobody used. All the info was there.
Wade tried to get me off of Weebly as they owned my stuff and i would not be taken seriously.
I later bought my own domain. I ran it on weebly. But it still had the Weebly logo at the bottom which was inpossible to hide.
Then things started going wrong. Weebly apps (like WP plugins) started not working. The tech team support vanished. My 2 admin friends must have jumped ship.
I switched to Wp dot org. Was told it was a big learning curve. But on the contrary, was a breeze. being on Weebly taught me things!! But it was complicated to run. It was indeed unprofessional. Without adding heaps code it looked bad and the tweaks i made on WP had to be done with embedded code on all pages. Frustrating to say the least.
Generate Premium i heard has way more std options.
Interesting Weebly experience, Trevor.
WordPress Dot Org is still tops I think. I compare how easy it was – minus the caching plug-in problem – to activate my new theme then set up a professional looking blog seamlessly. Easy peasy, over all.
Free platforms give you what you pay for. Sooner than later, aspiring bloggers jump ship because things either fall apart or never grow beyond a certain point.
I think that WP overwhelms people with their plug ins. There are too many and bloggers are led into a false sense of need, that they need plug ins to run a decent blog.
When in fact you need just a few.
Many plug ins have conflict issues with other plug ins and the theme one is using.
Many use all these SEO add ons to do mostly pointless (in my opinion) things.
Weebly worked. Everyone laughed at me.
I only changed to WP cos the new owners didnt care.
Wp didnt increase my traffic.!!!!
But its a great for automating changes site wide.
The plug in issue is common.
Just because we have increased functionality never means we should use more than a few.
Good old fashioned content makes bank at the end of the day.
Great ideas and very useful evergreen advice for anyone getting started in blogging.
I’ll apologize for getting off an tangent, Ryan, but as you know I’m trying to get back into blogging. I was using WordPress before version 1.0 and even wrote some plugins years ago when they were still using Subversion for version control. I liked how it worked and it was simple. As I came back into blogging, I realized that there wasn’t a real good reason for someone like me to use WordPress anymore.
For 95% of people with blogs, WordPress is the way to go. I just wanted to do something different and stretch what I could do so I decided to go with Astro. It generates static webpages and then I deploy those static pages right to my site. I use Firebase by Google so it’s free for me to host it.
My workflow is to write the posts in Obsidian in a template and then build the site and then deploy. It requires more technical know-how but I like that I don’t have to worry about it getting hacked, it’s served fast, and it’s basically free.
We always need to pick a theme that works best for our needs Fort.
Your blog looks good to me.
Content is the deciding factor more than any other.
Publish practical content. Solve pressing reader problems.
Whatever platform or theme we use this is the priority.