Blogger Versus WordPress

The Blogger versus WordPress conversation is certainly nothing new. If you’ve been researching how to start a blog, Blogger and WordPress are most likely 2 of the platforms you’ve heard of nearly everywhere because they are 2 of the most popular blogging platforms. 

A blogging platform is a software or service that you use to seamlessly publish your blog content. Essentially, it is the foundation of your blog, and it dictates the overall look of your website. It also contributes to the functionality of your blog dashboard and provides the underlying code of your blog. 

Blogger and WordPress each come with their own set of benefits and drawbacks. Before we dig deeper into the pros and cons of each platform, let’s briefly describe both. 

What is Blogger?

Blogger is an online platform that makes it easy to build a blog. You can literally create a blog in minutes because the main features are so simple to learn right away. 

What is WordPress?

WordPress is a full content management system (CMS). It is designed to help you create online content in the form of a website. You can use WordPress to create any type of website, but the platform started out as a blogging platform. From there, it evolved into a platform that lets you create a beautifully designed website for free. 

Blogger Versus WordPress

Among the most popular blogging platforms are Blogger and WordPress. Choosing a platform for your blog often means deciding between the 2. Today, we will compare the most important features so you know what to consider when making the choice between Blogger and WordPress. 

Which Fares Better When it Comes to Flexibility? 

With Blogger, you can publish blog posts or GIFs to attract readers and grow your brand without having to worry about site maintenance or paying for anything other than a custom domain. In exchange, you lose most of the control over your site. 

You also have little control over the appearance and functionality of your site. For example, you can't change the layout or change the order of your content. You also can't create custom post types or pages either.

WordPress gives you more control over the design and functionality of your blog. You can choose the colors, fonts and overall layouts of your blog. You can also create, edit, schedule, update and otherwise manage your content. 

When it comes to flexibility, WordPress is the clear winner.

Which has the Better Plugins? 

Blogger has some limited 3rd-party widgets you can install by adding additional code to the HTML of your site or directly within the body of your posts and pages. Instead of plugins, Blogger recommends using gadgets, which are tools that allow you to do things like insert AdSense ads, display an archive of your posts and improve the search functionality of your site. 

On the other hand, WordPress is the king of plugins. It offers the most versatile and expansive collection of 3rd-party extensions. With over 55,000 free plugins in the official plugin directory and thousands of premium options available in 3rd-party marketplaces, there are seemingly endless WordPress plugins available.

WordPress's vast selection of plugins gives you unlimited customization options, so it's a better choice if you want total control over your site. However, it also means there is a lot more to learn, especially compared to Blogger. If you would prefer a simpler blogging platform with limited functionality, Blogger may be a better choice as the gadgets are less overwhelming than the myriad of WordPress plugins.

Which Platform Provides Better Templates?

Blogger provides 12 template designs, some of which come in different color schemes. These are easy to install and customize. Blogger lets you customize the colors, text, and background of your posts, pages, navigation, sidebar, and links. 

WordPress is best known for its themes, not its templates. A theme is a collection of template files and stylesheets that modify the display of your site. A template defines the layout of a singular page while a theme establishes the design of an entire website.

Like Blogger, installing and customizing themes on WordPress is easy, but WordPress takes a lot more time to install and customize templates than Blogger. This is because WordPress offers a more advanced level of customization. 

If you want a lot of control over every aspect of your site, WordPress is a better option. However, if you are just looking for a concise platform, Blogger will be just fine. 

Which Provides More Value for Money?

Your budget will play a major role in whether you choose Blogger or WordPress. Blogger is entirely free, meaning you don’t even have to pay for hosting, an SSL certificate or any of the available templates. 

You won’t even have to pay for domain registration if you’re OK with using a Blogger subdomain. So, as long as you want to start a basic and simple blog, you cannot beat free.

If you are hoping for a custom domain, then you’ll have to purchase and connect it. A domain from Google or another domain registrar like GoDaddy typically costs about $12 per year.

Beginner bloggers love how Blogger doesn’t even run ads on your free site, so it's a great choice if budget is the primary concern. 

WordPress is also free to use, but costs are associated with building and managing a site on this self-hosted platform. You will need to pay for domain registration, hosting, and any premium themes or plugins you choose to install.

Depending on the type of blog you choose, a WordPress site can cost anywhere from a few dollars to a few thousand per year.

Overall, you cannot beat Blogger as free is free. Basic Blogger sites offer template choices and some free gadgets without seeing ads on your site and providing a reliable blogging experience.

How is the Overall Blogging Experience?

Blogger has an interface that is sleek, modern, and easy to figure out. Once you sign in with your Google account, you will feel confident building your site right away. 

WordPress has a bit of a learning curve before you will be entirely comfortable, but you will be taking full advantage of the blogging platform before you know it. You will be installing plugins and custom scripts to your WordPress website in no time.

Blogger has its limitations, but the platform does offer a more accessible and more straightforward blogging experience.

Which has the Better SEO?

When you use Blogger, all of the built-in tools from Google are available. Google Analytics is one of the most powerful search engine optimization (SEO) tools available. It shows you what your audience is looking for and can help you develop keywords to implement into your content. 

WordPress does not have all of the built-in features as Blogger does, but 3rd-party plugins are focused on SEO and do a great job of improving your rankings. 

In our opinion, Blogger and WordPress are tied when it comes to SEO. This is because, while Blogger offers the advantages of Google Analytics, if you leave the Blogger platform to go elsewhere, you lose your rankings, followers, and anything else that’s connected to your site. 

Which Platform has Better Support?

Because Google runs Blogger, users expect a higher level of support, but this is not the case. There are some documentation files to be found, but they are pretty limited. 

WordPress is user-friendly but not necessarily easy to learn. There are tons of online materials and forums to help you to dig through, but there is no dedicated support staff if you get stuck. 

Overall, WordPress has far better support just by the sheer amount of resources that are easy to find online.

Know Your Purpose

When it comes to blogging, it helps to know your purpose. If you want to reach out to a large fan base and keep track of your visitors and statistics, you might not use the same platform as the blogger who simply wants to stay in touch with friends and family. 

Our overall take is that Blogger is ideal for casual blogging, while WordPress is more for professionals or those who plan to grow their audience over time.