How to Start a DIY Blog – Blogger vs WordPress

August 27, 2015 separator Blogging

How to Start a DIY Blog - Blogger vs WordPress

 
Question: Have you ever thought about starting your own crafty blog? Seen something on Pinterest and thought, “I could do that better?”

Maybe you have some amazing ideas rattling around in your head just waiting to blow up the internet. I love blogging and totally think you should go for it. So I’m starting a new series called How to Start a DIY Blog. Consider me your cheerleader. 

How to Start a DIY Blog

Blogger vs. WordPress

How to Start a Blog in Under an Hour

One-Minute Blog Makeover

My Favorite Blogging Resources

Photography 101

Blogger vs WordPress

I’m going to be sharing lots of tutorials, insights, and tips, and lessons I’ve learned along the way, but I think the best starting point is to pick a blogging platform. There are plenty of options out there besides Blogger and WordPress, but those are the two big ones and the two I have experience with, so let’s start there.

P.S. Throughout this post I’m referring to self-hosted WordPress (wordpress.org not wordpress.com).

Blogger vs WordPress

Shrimp Salad Circus is now a WordPress blog. I was on Blogger for 4.5 years and honestly wish I had switched much sooner. That said, I think that it’s important to find the best platform for you and for your goals and needs as someone who might be new to blogging.

So let’s explore some of what I consider to be key factors in choosing a blogging platform:

How to Start a DIY Blog - Blogger vs WordPress Comparison Chart

Pros & Cons of Blogger or WordPress

This is a topic I’ve explored a little bit in the past, back when I still on Blogger. I have a two-post series that goes into each platform a little more in-depth than you’ll see here:

Why I Use WordPress

I want to provide you all the information you need to make an informed decision for yourself, but you’re probably wondering what made up my mind at the end of the day, right?

  • Add-On Options – After years on Blogger, I got tired of seeing all the great plugins and extra functionality that I was missing out on, which was a big part of it. I love that with WordPress I can just click a button or two to install a social sharing widget or backup plugin without having to spend hours Googling code and customization. It has really saved me a ton of time.
  • Ownership – I was also a little bit nervous after hearing about a few different blogs that were shut down with zero notice or warning. Those women lost all their photos, posts, and months or years of really hard work. I’ve been blogging for about six years now, and I’d be absolutely devastated if anything happened to my posts.
  • Professionalism – There are beautiful, incredibly professional-looking Blogger blogs all over the place. Mine didn’t look too shabby, if I do say so myself… But WordPress is just built for growth in a way that I don’t feel like Blogger is. I can add contributors, customize menus with important pages, automate spam filtering, site content backup, and security, and a lot more.
  • Security – I’m not talking about protection from hackers here. I love Google, but they can make me really nervous sometimes. Remember when they axed Google Reader, and the whole internet mourned? Well, when I finally left Blogger, they hadn’t done any significant updates in ages, which made me feel like the platform was pretty low on their list of priorities. I’d hate to have had all my eggs in that basket if they decided to shut it down one day, you know?

Feel free to let me know what questions you have, and I’ll be back next week with a guide to Starting a WordPress Blog in Under an Hour!

41 comments

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  3. I’d like to thank you for the efforts you have put in penning this website. I am hoping to check out the same high-grade content from you in the future as well. In fact, your creative writing abilities has motivated me to get my own blog now.
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    1. So smart – good for you!

      When I started I just wasn’t think long-term at all and didn’t feel like investing even a few dollars. Now I know that would’ve been wiser in the long run. 🙂

  4. I’ve been having the inner struggle about whether or not to switch from blogger to wordpress for years now. I know I need to do it eventually. and the thought of loosing all my work unexpectedly is scary, but the thought of having to transfer everything over is daunting too! Do you know of anyone who is particularly great at doing blogger to wordpress transfers?

    Paige
    http://thehappyflammily.com

    1. Paige, your site is beautiful and super clean (unrelated but YAY!). I’d say if you’re contemplating it, go for sooner rather than later.

      I personally was too scared to do it myself because I was afraid I’d lose something important — or EVERYTHING important — in the move, so I paid somebody to do it. I remember it was under $200, not terrible. I wouldn’t recommend the service I used, though, simply because I had a lot of posts, and they struggled to move everything over, and a lot of my photos continue to be hosted on Blogger. When paying for the service, I was expecting ALL my photos and content to move with me to WordPress. They were really nice and definitely gave it the old college try, but as it stands, my photos on Blogger would disappear if they shut it down, so it’s not an ideal situation.

      I’m asking around and will let you know if I hear about anyone recommending a migration service!

  5. I wish I would have had this post when I started blogging! Would have saved me a year of being on Blogger. Great tips, pinning.

    1. I know, right? I spent sooo long on Blogger, and while it worked for me for a long time, the fact that I waited so long to move made it a lot harder to transfer everything!

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