Q&A Tuesday: WordPress vs Blogger & Hosting Your Own Blog

by Jeff 7/8/2008 9:16:00 AM

questions and answers Welcome to another edition of Q&A Tuesday, the post where you ask a question of me and I ask a question for all of you! Today's question has to do with the differences between WordPress and Blogger and whether you should host your own blog.

Your Turn

Today's question comes from Aaron (who didn't leave a blog URL. Aaron - shoot me a message if you want a link to your blog!). He writes:

I am using Blogger, would you suggest using WordPress blog to run my bog? I really do not have a preference. I have a few others who are using word press, but I wasn't sure there was a huge difference. However, if there is a difference I would definitely switch.

Great question Aaron! Blogger is a good place to start if you have no idea about what this whole blogging thing is all about. It is simple and easy to use. If you only plan to have a small blog that gets updated infrequently and don't care about getting much traffic, then Blogger might be a way to go.

But who wants that! We all want our blogs to grow huge and attract tons of visitors, right? In that case, I highly recommend WordPress. It is the most popular blog engine for a good reason. WordPress is far more powerful than Blogger and allows you to have much greater control over your blog. Here are a few reasons why I really like WordPress more than Blogger:

Tons of existing themes - There a thousands and thousands of blog themes for WordPress. You can search the net and find one that suits you and it could be a long time before you run into another blog with the same theme.
Gigantic collection of plugins - WordPress is HIGHLY extendable with its Plug-In architecture. Already powerful as it is, WordPress can become even more powerful by installing any number of plugins. The All In One SEO Plugin, for example, makes your blog more search engine friendly so you rank high on search results!
Huge user base - Tons of people use WordPress. If you ever need help with your blog, there will be no shortage of people who can point you in the right direction.
Open source software - The code for WordPress is Open Source, which means there is a large group of developers that are always working on making it better. If you are tech savvy, you can even dive into the code and change things around yourself.

Another reason I dislike Blogger is the very annoying navigation bar at the top. Too many times I visit a Blogger blog and the damn page is stuck waiting for the navigation bar to load (or it has too many widgets on the page, but that is a topic for another day!). I have talked with a number of big name bloggers that openly admin that they simply ignore all requests and never link to bloggers with free Blogger accounts. Being linked to by a big name blog is the best way to grow your blog! You should do whatever you can to avoid pissing off your users and people who might want to link to you. Having a Blogger blog does not help your case.

If you are not ready to pay for a hosting account yet, I would suggest starting with a free WORDPRESS blog at WordPress.com. Only use this until you get the hang of it. Once you know what you are doing, you really should have your own hosting account to host your blog. It is not as scary as you might think. Simply go to GoDaddy.com, get your own domain name, sign up for the cheap Linux hosting account for $4 bucks a month, and have them install WordPress. I am not kidding...the whole process can be done in about 15 minutes (or less). When you have your own domain name and host your own blog, you will be amazed how much more seriously people take your blog. If you don't like paying the $4 bucks a month, just slap some Google Ads up there and pretty soon the blog will pay for itself (and then some!).

Good luck. I hope this has helped some of you beginners out there!

My Turn

In real life I am a software developer and would like to start focusing on some of my strengths in up coming posts here at BuzzMyBlog.com. I am planning to do a VERY extensive, multi-part tutorial on WordPress. I will cover topics like installing WordPress, using PHP, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and theme design. My goal is to write the tutorial from the perspective of a total beginner. I firmly believe that anyone can and SHOULD learn how to customize their own blog. My tutorial will guide you through this step by step. I am starting to put together an outline now, but my question for you guys is this:

What specific topics would you like to see covered in this tutorial? What would you like to learn more about?

I appreciate all of your comments and feedback. Be sure to sign up for my RSS Feed so you don't miss out on some of the amazing tutorials I have planned!

Thanks!

Jeff

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Tags: blogger, wordpress, hosting, tutorials

Q & A

What Do You Expect From Your Blog?This post takes a look at the different types of blogs and what you can expect from them.Q&A Tuesday: Blogging as a Tool For Your BusinessThis edition of Q&A Tuesday focuses on blogging for business.Monetizing Your Blog - Step 2: Growing Your ReadershipPart two of my blog's monetization strategy.

Comments

7/9/2008 2:47:47 AM

Griz - If you set up a redirect to your new blog, you'll still get all the traffic generated by your old blog.

If you import all your old content into your new blog, it will be quicker to earn page rank.

You can have your old blog redirect to your new blog. But still publish new posts on BOTH blogs. That means any traffic generated by the old blog will still come to your new blog, but the old blog won't lose PR. Do this dual post until the new blog earns the PR you want.

Its a pain, but it should work!

Jeff

7/9/2008 3:17:06 AM

Blogger also enables you to publish to your own domain via FTP, but I agree... WordPress.org on your own domain gives you the most control. You are also building backlinks for your own domain.

Using WordPress.com can be quite limited, especially when you want to customize the code, add plugins, insert ads, etc. If you already have a domain, go with WordPress.org. It is not as hard as you think, especially with the famous 5-minute installation process.

Hendry Lee

7/9/2008 3:25:54 AM

Great topic Jeff - I covered something similar a couple months ago.

When I first started "Blogging" I used the Blogger platform. I started off with the .blogspot domain; later I purchased my own domain through Blogger's Google Apps. When I found out how much better WP was then Blogger I was extremely frustrated.

In order to take my blog to the next level I needed WP's platform - this is where the headaches started kicking in.

I had to get my own hosting plan; when I did I pointed my blog to the new host's servers before I imported my posts into WP(newbie mistake), and in effect I wasn't able to import any of my posts whatsoever into WP - Ouch! This lead to me pasting them one by one.

I was fortunate enough to find out about WP early into my first blog, and didn't have to worry about PageRank or re-directing traffic because there wasn't any.

In a nutshell, the process was extremely frustrating and a definite setback, but overall it was worth it.

Luis Gross

7/9/2008 3:28:48 AM

Wow, great tip Luis! Thanks!

EVERYONE - Remember to to import your old posts BEFORE changing any server information!

Jeff

7/9/2008 4:44:06 AM

I am with Heddy. I would love to switch over to WP. But 3 years of Blogger archives, posts and a decent Google PR have held me back. WP is a far superior product. Is it worth it, after 3 years with Blogger to make the switch?

Grizzly Adam

7/9/2008 6:25:27 AM

How timely that you're posting this now. I just bought my domain and have plans to move from blogger to self hosted WP. What do I want to read about on the topic? How to maintain my links and google rating (4) after the switch. I don't want everything I've done for the past four months going down the toilet.

H.E.Eigler

7/9/2008 6:31:45 AM

Great post Jeff, thanks!

I just wanted to add my two cents worth re Blogger vs WordPress

1. WordPress gives you the option of pages - something Blogger doesn't allow, and many folk find this useful for things such as: about, contact, etc.

2. I too recommend to clients that using WordPress.com to begin with is a good idea, and for about $10 a year, WordPress will redirect to your own domain - perfect way to start (assuming you don't need to put up ads immediately).

As for ideas on what to write about, have you considered talking a little about FTP? It is daunting to many new bloggers, and explaining how it works in plain English would be brilliant!

Lid

7/9/2008 6:41:29 AM

Heddy - Good luck with the new blog! Unfortunately, I don't think there is a way to transition PR. I think you just need to pull that bandaid off and get it over with. You should be able to import all of your posts into new WP blog. Then you can set up an HTTP Redirect to anything from your old blog goes to your new. It will likely take a few months to get the PR back though unfortunately. I will look into this more though and let you know if I find more options.

Lid - Thanks for the suggestions and additional tips! I will be sure to cover FTP.

Jeff

7/9/2008 6:57:09 AM

I think that blogging really got started as a free way to get online, many bloggers are hesitant about hosting their own blog, paying for themes or spending any money whatsoever to promote their blog. I think this is a big mistake. Of course, I'm assuming you are trying to make money from blogging.

But I think hosting your own Wordpress blog is important if you want to take blogging seriously. There is a lot of competition out there,a nd I don't think the freebie options are going to cut it, when push comes to shove.

I have to admit, I just started blogging and didn't have to worry about changing from a free service to a paid one. I understand their concerns, but still think the change is worth it in the long run.

Edward Lomax

7/9/2008 8:10:32 AM

Hi Edward, thanks for your comment.

I don't think anybody should have to PAY to have a blog. Instead of using the limited free services, it is possible to have a VERY inexpensive hosting plan that pays for itself with minor advertising. In reality, you're not going to make tons of money with Google ads until you start getting thousands and thousands of visitors. But it is easy to earn enough to pay the minor hosting fees.

I DEFINITELY don't think people should pay for themes either. It is not difficult to learn how to customize your own. I am going to focus on this in up and coming blog posts.

Jeff

7/10/2008 10:23:23 PM

look forward to some of your extensive posts. I reference your DIGG post a lot and have found that little piece of code helpful.

cuzzy

7/14/2008 5:20:33 PM

One thing I would like to read about as you go through the WP tutorial is commenting on the various options and why one may be better than another.

Why would a three-column theme be better or worse than a two-column theme? What are the drawbacks and benefits of a magazine-style theme? What would be the best type of theme to start with?

There are many choices needed to be made when first establishing a blog which can affect the blog for a long time that it would be interesting to hear from those who have already been down this road why something might work better than a logical alternative.

Thanks for your enlightening posts - [ Jeff ]

Jeff R

7/14/2008 5:27:33 PM

Thanks for the input Jeff. I've got a lot of good things planned. I look forward to seeing you around!

Jeff

8/3/2008 3:13:06 AM

Thanks Marilyn! I look forward to seeing you around.

Jeff