Wednesday, June 17

Battle of Blog Hosts: Blogger vs WordPress

As far as I know, there are two popular blogging hosts in the blogosphere: Blogger and WordPress. Well, I prefer using Google's free platform called Blogger.com. It's the easiest way to publish a web blog. Basically, it takes less than 5 minutes to create one. But there are a lot of users who also prefer WordPress due to the unlimited customization opportunities offered such as themes, plug-ins and more.
So which is the best? Which offers the greatest blog hosting service? Shall we switch into another blogging service or shall we stick from where we first published our blog?
Here are the things that I've found out about the two most popular web blog hosting services across the web:



Service: Blogger
Owner: Google, Inc.
Creator: Pyra Labs
Launched: July 31, 2000
Alexa Rank: 8

PROS

1. Easy to Use and User Friendliness - Since then, Blogger.com has been awarded for being the user-friendliest blog hosting service in the world wide web. In less than 5 minutes, I could start creating a new blog with a nice layout design and start posting my articles instantly.

2. Safety and Reliability - Bloggers have no worries when they register their blogs with Blogger.com. From web hosting, server problems and malicious attacks by hackers across the web, Google is there to aid publishers.

3. SEO or Search Engine Optimization - Blogger.com is owned by Google. And what is the most popular search engine on the web? I'll spell it for you: G-o-o-g-l-e! So basically, if you wish to be indexed rapidly through Google, grab some backlinks and trackbacks with reputable sites and Google shall crawl your blog immediately.

4. What You See Is What You Get or WYSIWYG Editor - A great way to publish blogs, it allows users to publish and edit their posts instantly, even you are not HTML savvy!

5. Money Making Opportunity - Blogging for money has never been easier through Google AdSense. When you register your blog through Blogger.com, you can instantly apply for an AdSense account easily and be approved in less 48 hours.

CONS

1. Limited Widgets and Plug-ins - Since WordPress is known for having unlimited customization opportunities due to millions of plug-ins available exclusively for them and Blogger doesn't have many widgets or plug-ins just like WordPress, many users prefer WordPress.

2. Copyright and Ownership - Publishers should be careful when using the platform because Google has the right to delete your account without any warning if your posts violate their Terms of Service.

3. Limited Templates - Check out Blogger's list of templates and you'll discover that there are only few available for use. And they actually look the same. Blogger.com users should download more templates through other websites if they want to customize their blogs.


Service: WordPress
Launched: May 27, 2003
Alexa Rank: 662 (wordpress.org), 18 (wordpress.com),


PROS

1. Have Your Own Site and Domain - As long as you are paying your domain and hosting service, your blog/website is completely yours. Good thing: you can publish whatever you want, whenever, wherever. You don't have to care about ToS violations anymore.

2. Customization - With WordPress, the sky is the limit in terms of customization. Its flexibility features attracts lots of bloggers. You get tons of themes, additional plug-ins and a user-friendly CMS (Content Management System) that makes your blog act like a real, professional looking website even if you are not an expert in PHP.

3. Easy Installation - with the script library called "Fantastico," WordPress can be set up with a 5-minute installation and also, with the manual process through uploading via FTP

4. Great Community - Millions of WordPress users participate through web forums so users might get support with their questions and inquiries in using the WordPress platform.

CONS

1. Requires Extreme Effort - Yes! And if you are not a technical person, then WordPress is not good for you. Newbs might experience a lot of confusion and distractions regarding on user interface although developers are trying to make WordPress user-friendlier with every update.

2. Plug-ins are HEAVY - A lot of WordPress plug-ins are very resource intensive, eating up a lot of server resources that makes your site load too slow which is very annoying to visitors and readers.

3. Money is a Requirement - Yes! WordPress is free to use but if you want to be a WordPress.org publisher, you should have your own domain and hosting service which will cost $20 or less. There are a lot of free domains free to register on the web. There are also free hosting services available but the services are not that good compared to paid hosting services such as HostGator, JustHost and Monster Host

ksm&

If you like this post, you may want to subscribe to the Kebism - The Personal Blog of Kevin Michael C. Garcia RSS feed. You can also subscribe by e-mail and have new articles directly sent to your inbox. Thank you!

13 comments:

Hoobert the Awesome said...

first. first!!! nyahehe.

blogger all the way. pero dati nung 3rd year high ako, ang pinaka-first blog ko, WP ang host. :)

IJ Styles said...

Basta ko.. kikita nang pera dun ako.. nyahahaha! pareho ko ginagamet yan..

Blogger = para sa Linkwheel
Wordpress.com = " " "
Wordpress = 4 my Blog

keb said...

Really .pOot!? Good thing, but panu ka nag transfer to Blogger? Hey IJ! Asan ang pera mo? ASA..

Anonymous said...

As a WordPress user, you have part of the story.

WordPress.org is a pay site, thus offers more options. I use it as part of my business site, but don't pay b/c it's part of my host's package.

WordPress.com is a FREE site that I use as my personal blog. The downside is less options, and one pays for upgrades.

Personally, I select WP over blogger because of the many templates they offered, which I thought were further developed that what I saw on Blogger. Then again, it comes down to personal preference.

By the way, I see Basic Blagonomics as one of your links. Not surprising, David is a blog beast! I'll have your link on my site soon!

J.D. Lim said...

Hindi naman ata as in they 'own' our blog. technically, they own it because we use their platform. pero ayon sa nabasa ko dun sa TOS nila, dun lang ata sa mga parts and services na bahagi nito but as for the content you put in your blog, you own it 100% percent.

keb said...

Thanks for the correction! JD!

Rad said...

Great post Kebby.

I wish blogger had more widgets and customization options as I do like the user friendliness they offer for publishers.
The Wordpress community and seemingly endless plugins almost made me go with them, but the price and ease of use of blogger kept me there.

It is a personal preference I think, some people just prefer the Wordpress style over Blogger.

Great comparison Kebby

ACRYLIQUE said...

i like them both.

user friendly ang blogspot. parang nokia.

pero pareho lang sila friendly users. :)

abe mulong caracas said...

nung una kong subukang mag blog, wordpress ang nirekomenda ng officemate ko. kaso ang tagal mag register, may ipapadala daw na confirmation sa email at kung ano pang cheche bureche.

sinubukan ko ang blogspot, one click! edi dito ako!

Unknown said...

nice post..

pero i am much used sa bloger kaya i dont think, lilipat pa ako..

ANIMUS said...

blogger ako since birth!hahaHahah

IJ Styles said...

Blogger SUCKS!
Wordpress also SUCKS!

IJ = ROCKS!

HAHA!

keb said...

IJ = sucker

Post a Comment

Earn Online Thru PTC

Earning online is very easy. I've already tried this method, and it really works! It's safe, user-friendly and virus-free! It's what we call "PTC"  or Paid To Click program. It's the online method, where members view/click advertisements for a short period of time (usually 30 seconds)...Read More!