If you're just starting out and plan to make money blogging you should choose Blogger even though I think WordPress is a more powerful blogging platform.
It seems a little strange to not pick the best tool but I also believe in picking the right tool for the right job. As I'll explain, Blogger is better than WordPress if you're just starting out.
WordPress.com Vs WordPress.org
Before we get to why Blogger is better for beginning bloggers, it's important to explain the difference between the two different ways you can use WordPress.WordPress.com
WordPress.com provides a free blogging service. You can create an account and start using the feature rich WordPress software without spending any money.
The big downside however is that you cannot put advertising on WordPress.com. WordPress.com has a very strict no advertising policy. You can however use some affiliate links as long as they're not to some of the more scam infested sites such as clickbank, usercash, clickhop, etc.
Even if you're using an affiliate program like the one from Amazon, you can't use some of Amazon's more advanced linking methods due to limitations imposed by WordPress.com for security reasons.
WordPress.org
Your other option is to use the open-source WordPress software on your own webhosting account. This means you'll have to byy a domain name and pay a monthly web hosting fee. Domain names run around $10 a year, another $10/yr for Whois protection so your name and address aren't publicly available if you're running your blog from your home.
Web hosting from places like LunarPages and BlueHost is around $5 a month these days. Both services make it easy to install WordPress. You basically just click a few buttons. I've used both services in the past and they were some of the better hosting companies I used for small scales sites. If you use the links above I earn affiliate revenue.
Five bucks may not seem like a lot but when you consider that over 50% of bloggers reported they made less than $10/month (based on an old poll) odds aren't good that even if you earn money, you'll get to keep most of it.
Don't Invest Money In Your Blog!
I've helped some friends get started in blogging that were all gun-ho in the begining talking about how they wanted their blog to look, how it was going to be really cool. My advice to them was always the same. Just start writing. After a few posts some of them realized it wasn't for them. Luckily they took my advice and didn't spend any money.
Avoid Article Sites
There are some sites out there like HubPages and Squidoo that will let you put content online but they also take a portion of your earnings. As much as 40%. Considering how little you stand to make in most cases, you're better off keeping it all to yourself and having more control over your site.
Blogger.com is Free!
Like I said I consider WordPress to be nicer and more powerful than Blogger.com. You can also find better templates for WordPress than you can for Blogger but a lot has changed over the past couple of years and Google has made significant improvements to Blogger. The two biggest benefits of Blogger also far outweigh the negatives.
Blogger.com Is Completely Free
You don't need to buy a domain name if you don't want to, you'll just have a url that looks like blogname.blogspot.com. Which is fine and won't prevent you from attracting traffic or earning money. The content you put on your blog will have a greater effect on that.
By the way. If you do choose to buy a domain name have a look at NameCheap.com (affiliate link). I've used them for years. The prices are very good and they provide good customer service. I switched all my domains to them years ago and have been very happy.
You Can Use Ads On Blogger.com
You can run pretty much any ads on Blogger. The biggest benefit is that you can run AdSense ads on your blog. With AdSense you get paid when a visitor clicks on an ad (don't cheat they'll catch you). If you don't have a lot of people reading your blog however, you won't make much with AdSense, but it's nice to have that option.
Limited Content Restrictions
Blogger also isn't very restrictive on what you actually put up on your blog as long as you're not breaking any laws like promoting copyright infringement or worse. They even allow adult sites.
If your blog starts making significant money and you feel you might be able to get more out of using WordPress sign up with LunarPages or BlueHost and migrate your blog. Google makes it relatively easy to do so.
Blogger Scales
Google does a good job running Blogger. There is very little if any downtime and if you're blog starts to become really popular, their servers can handle the load. If you had wordpress running with a lower cost webhost, you might find that you're traffic is too much for them and they may request you upgrade to a more expensive webhosting plan. Blogger will scale your blog when it needs to.Blogger Is More Secure
I believe Blogger.com is also more secure. I have not heard of any Blogger sites being hacked while I've heard and seen many WordPress sites getting hacked. A lot of it is likely due to bloggers not keeping their WordPress installation up to date but with Blogger.com that's all taken care of for you.If your blog starts making significant money and you feel you might be able to get more out of using WordPress sign up with LunarPages or BlueHost and migrate your blog. Google makes it relatively easy to do so.
9 comments:
This is great information as I'm on the verge of starting a blog.
Thanks for this article. I have been running those two blogsites around in my head, trying to get a feel on which one is better for a beginner. I have been reading a lot about how Blogger will delete your blog on a whim and with no notice, and that has been making me nervous about using it.
But your article has clarified some things for me and given me additional information that I didn't know, such as being able to migrate your blog to Wordpress should your blog become really popular and you want to move it.
So, because of your article, I am back to thinking about starting with Blogger, again. ;)
Nice article. I am considering which blogsite I should use for my first blog, and your information is very useful!
I have been working to get my blog more popular, and it is getting a lot bigger. My eventual goal is to monetize it but Right now I am just trying to provide content and get more traffic. However I am using wordpress.com. Is this a bad idea? Is it easy to move over to BlogSpot or change servers or omsething at a later date? Or should I be using another service right now? Thanks for article!
Thanx so much for this article. Eventually something that an amateur can understand. I'm starting my blog using blogger, I've gotten a domaine name and written a few articles. I understand how the ads work now, but how does the links work in the articles, as you have mentioned with lunarpages and bluehost? And ist this the same as skimlinks?
I would really appreciate it if you have time to answer.
Thanx,
Danielle
I own A Positive Beginning and just recently I was thinking how maybe my blog platform wasn't right. I have blogger, which I've learned so much from, but because I see how so many people use wordpress, I feel the pressure to move onto it. I did give wordpress a try before, but my account was hacked, and I wasn't making money off of it, so I stuck with blogger. Maybe blogger is my calling? I haven't had any problems, so maybe for now I will just optimize the heck out of my blog and perfect it. Thank you for this post, it really helped me make my decision!
I think blogger is the best way to start blogging later we can easily move to wordpress too.
Many thanks for this info
Now novice easily understand between blog and wordpress . keep on publish different kind of useful post.