I would say Wordpress is the platform most bloggers choose to use. It definitely does have it's advantages and I will admit, Wordpress does offer more in the way of design and function features etc.....However I don't use Wordpress and thought I'd share a few insights into the blogging platform I use.
When I set up my own blog over 10 years ago, I just googled 'how to set up a free website' or something similar and blogger popped up. I followed the instructions and set up my first site. It was super easy and I haven't switched or looked back. For me, blogger has a lot of advantages and it does everything I need it to.
5 Reasons To Choose Blogger
1 - It's FREE
Blogger is completely free. You don't need to pay to set anything up, storage is virtually unlimited (I have over 2000 posts on one site and haven't had to buy any extra storage) and you can use a free blogger theme/template. The biggest thing for me is not having to pay anyone for hosting. I have saved £1000s over the years because of this.
You can choose to pay for some aspects if you will. I would recommend buying your own domain name which is around £13 a year (and this means your website will look like www.northeastfamilyfun.co.uk rather than www.northeastfamilyfun.blogspot.co.uk). I buy my domains via 123 reg and they have instructions on there how to set this up.
You can also pay to buy a blogger theme from a designer or etsy. These are generally very easy to install and simply the case of uploading the theme file you have purchased with one click from your dashboard. I bought a theme for my North East Family Fun blog (around £35 one off) but all of my other blogs just use a free blogger theme.
2 - It's Easy to Set Up
Blogger is so easy to set up. Simply visit https://www.blogger.com/ and click 'new blog'. You can set up several blogs from one profile if you wish. Click on the 'theme' section to select and customise a free theme and the 'layout' tab to customise the layout. Then just hit 'new post' and get posting.
3 - You Can Easily Monetise
Blogger is free to use and you can start earning money straight away - you can install google ads (and later something like Mediavine) and add affiliate links from the second you set your website up.
4 - You Are Hosted by Google
I often see Wordpress users complaining about their host or that their website is down. With google, this very rarely happens. In fact I think it has happened once for a few hours in the whole 10 years I've been blogging. Google know what they are doing.
Likewise, WP users will often say that WP sites rank higher than blogger sites on google search. I have no idea why Google would penalise their own product like this and I can hand on heart say that this is not the case. I have no problem ranking with google and if anything, it gives you an advantage as with blogger you actually have to know how SEO works rather than relying on a plugin.
I use an Android phone and google photos. Every photo I take with my phone is automatically synched with google photos which is automatically synched with blogger. I just need to click 'add photo' and I can instantly browse my phone photos and add them in one click to my blog post from my desktop/laptop or any device.
Sometimes there is a rumour that blogger is going to be discontinued as a product. But again, this could be the same with any host etc..... It won't just disappear overnight and if for whatever reason it does stop, I can switch to another host without too much difficulty.
Finally, I have noticed a few people say that google own your website and it could disappear at any second. This is the case for any website regardless of your host. I know plenty of WP users who have had their website held hostage by their hosts or lose them altogether. Yes, there is a risk but there is a risk with any website. You can download your content and back up regularly but I do think the risk of losing your site is minimal.
Honestly, google search is where I get most of my website views from and therefore earn the most money from. To me, it makes sense to use a google product.
5 - It's Easy to Use
I find Blogger to be really easy and intuitive to use. It's easy for beginners. You can just type your blog post and add images and links. It's not tricky at all. If you did want to customise you can go down the coding route and add code etc.... but I'm not technical and don't really do this. It's an option if you need it though.
I had ZERO technical knowledge when I started my first blog and I have never taken a course. It's really easy to use and anything I don't know, I just google and there is usually multiple blog posts and videos with the answer.
If you're thinking of starting blogging, I can highly recommend just having a dabble with blogger first. Why not? It's free and you have nothing to lose.
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