Blogger vs. WordPress

So, this blog is a free one through Blogger,, while my official site is a paid blog hosted using a WordPress platform. I thought I'd write a little bit about the pros and cons of each, since I've been using both platforms for well over two years now.

BLOGGER:

• So easy to use and FREE. Just login to Blogger.com with your Google account information and away you go.


• Get started right away. EVERY WRITER SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST A FREE BLOG. If you don't, then how can editors and potential agents find you? Get one!


• Plenty of templates. There are free ones offered through Blogger or try another. My Blogger template is from Our Blogger Templates and looks great.


• Great introduction to learning about CSS and HTML. I've uploaded my own header, fixed my own fonts, customized all the colors and made this blog my own. Understanding CSS and HTML basics is pretty important.


• Blogger Dashboard is easy to use. I change my site a lot and the Dashboard is simple and straight-forward enough for beginners.


• Can buy domain through Google domains. If you want, you can change your http://yourname.blogspot.com address to your own domain. I think it's $10 for the domain, too.


• One of the few Blogger drawbacks is the number of pages. I wish I could have more than ten!


• Blogger blogs LOOK like a blog. Not as easy to get that professionally designed look.

WORDPRESS:

• The free WordPress.org blogs you get are a good intro to WordPress. Set one up and see if you like the Dashboard layout.


• Unfortunately, WordPress free blogs are NOT customizeable the same way free Blogger blogs are. This was a big drawback before I bought my name as a domain.


• BUT ... once you buy your domain and your hosting, WordPress is absurdly simple to set up through your hosting.


• Extremely professional look without doing any funky coding.


• The SEO options through some WordPress themes are extraordinary. Definitely for the professional author who needs to be known.


• Sky's the limit as far as designing your own templates and themes. WordPress themes just look better than Blogger themes, too.


• WordPress Dashboard layout is not as easy to follow as Blogger, but it's usable and fairly friendly.


• You can have as many pages as you want and put them in any order.


• WordPress sites can function as your main website. You can code them to look like a website, too. I removed tags and comments on my main site to make it look more like a website.

So, it's up to you whether you'd like to have a Blogger blog or a WordPress blog/site. I wish I could merge Blogger's fantastically easy Dashboard layout with WordPress's professional look and SEO capabilities. Put the Blogger back end with the WordPress front end! Sort of like a blog centaur. :)

As you can see, I use both. I like Blogger as my play-around site, featuring lots of silly images and a few pages. But WordPress is my professional site I have listed on business cards, show to potential book buyers and such. You may prefer to have both, as I do!

Good luck. :)