Why I Love WordPress But Won’t leave Blogger?

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  Prince Molak, July 17, 2013 @ 5:20 pm Reply

  I prefer WordPress to all other type of blogging cms,thanks Pawane for this wonderful Post
  • 

    Pawan, July 17, 2013 @ 7:34 pm Reply

    Hey Prince,

    So good to see you buddy. I’m glad that you like the article. What would you prefer? Blogger or WordPress?
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  Emmanuel, July 17, 2013 @ 5:47 pm Reply

  Hmm, this is an interesting debate. Blogger is one one platform where most bloggers learn the basics of blogging from. I did the same but it has now become the norm of wordpress being for the pros.
  Weighing both sides, I think blogger tops all. They security is simply superb.
  • 

    Pawan, July 18, 2013 @ 1:03 am Reply

    Hey Emmanuel,

    I have slightly different point of view. I know blogger is best for beginners and for those who don’t really are interested in SEO and customization stuff yet I myself love using it. Since, I give good weight to the SEO, I recommend WordPress for pro users and blogger for beginners who are not concerned about SEO etc stuff..
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  Holly Jahangiri, July 17, 2013 @ 5:49 pm Reply

  “Like” vs. “Love” – Mom says, “I love you unconditionally, forever – but I don’t LIKE you very much right this minute, and if you ever shave the dog and talk back to me like that again, you can spend a week in your room!”

  “I like my Facebook friends a lot – so long as they stay on their side of my PC screen. Really. No, you can’t come over to my house for dinner. No, I won’t adopt you, marry you, or have your babies – I LIKE you – I don’t LOVE you!!”

  Sorry – that’d make a great blog post all by itself, huh? (You could’ve just linked to the entries for “like” and “love” at Dictionary.com, by the way!)

  I was just telling Abhi I laughed out loud at this: “You don’t need to be a coder or knowledgeable person to start using WordPress. Installing WordPress through cPanel is the task that you can complete within 2 minutes. Yes, that’s right. Exactly within 2 minutes.” You and he and I live in a rarified world where many people are as comfortable with technology as with holding a coffee cup. But for most who don’t code, and all who aren’t “knowledgeable,” just finding cPanel takes more than two minutes. Trust me on this – self-hosted WordPress is not for the technologically faint-of-heart. This may be mostly true of WordPress.com (which I think IS easier, these days, and better suited to novices than Blogger, which USED to be the easiest thing on the planet, until they tried to be all things to all people and make it so folks didn’t have to know HTML to do HTML – but don’t get me started).

  You ought to also scare your audience silly by informing them that SOME “free themes” contain encrypted advertising (best case) or malware (worst case), and perhaps recommend some sites/developers that are safe(r) to use than others. Of course, you did kind of scare them off the whole notion of grabbing a theme off the back of a truck when you said they might still NEED to understand HTML and CSS (these folks don’t even know what that IS) and added “A small mistake of missing simple semi colon (;) would drag your blog in big mess.” Yep, they’re running for the hills, now.

  I think that for real novices, a comparison of WordPress.com and Blogger would be good. I love WordPress, mainly because I’m a bit of a control freak, like to experiment and play with HTML, CSS, plug-ins, etc. and know a bit about security. I’m no technophobe. I’ve got nothing there that’s much worth stealing, and my domains are registered elsewhere with dual authentication set up. But this paragraph alone would blow most of your target audience’s brains into itty bitty pieces. I recommend self-hosted WordPress to novices who have the potential and need to grow, and who are not afraid of trying stuff they don’t understand – you know, the folks who know that the universe won’t implode if they hit the wrong key on the keyboard. I don’t recommend it to the nervous. Once they outgrow Blogger or WordPress.com and get bored and are ready for a bit more fun, then we’ll talk.
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    Pawan, July 17, 2013 @ 7:27 pm Reply

    Hi Holly,

    Well, it took me couple of minutes to read and understand what exactly you’re saying. Let me just get to these points on by one.

    The definition of knowledgeable differs from person to person. Everyone has their own piece of definition and I don’t mean to cut it down. The whole idea behind the sentence –

    “You don’t need to be a coder or knowledgeable person to start using WordPress. Installing WordPress through cPanel is the task that you can complete within 2 minutes. Yes, that’s right. Exactly within 2 minutes.”

    is to tell the audience that the basic knowledge and small initial research is enough to get you through the installation of WordPress through cPanel. There are plenty of resources available on the internet that will guide you to install it. You need to understand the procedure and it’s literally “very easy” (Ok! Not 2 minutes installation for everyone but don’t kill me for that sentence ).

    The idea of saying “you can complete the installation within 2 minutes” is that it is actually easy to install WordPress provided you’re doing enough research beforehand. You simply went ahead and took the “2 minutes” out of the whole discussion. So, once again, I actually meant that you can do that easily and there is no need to panic for that.

    I’m not well aware of the WordPress services and hosting provided by WordPress.com(or .org as I’m not very sure) and therefore I would stay away from commenting on that.

    Well, now the second point. Yes! I’m scaring them and I hope I’m not wrong in doing so. I’ll explain my point here though I didn’t talk about the encrypted links and malware in above discussion.
    There is no problem in using free themes as long as they don’t have automated backlinks generated in footer (or anywhere). Its acceptable till the time it is pointing the developer’s website. But, if it is pointing at something different out of your niche, it looks weird.

    Not me but Google will find you and kill you!

    I didn’t recommend any particular developer. The link in the article is pointing to my own blog where I’ve collected few wonderful blogger themes. I thought it is very much related to that section and would be useful for everyone.

    Off course, they may not know what the CSS and HTML is but there are some who know that. So, that next text block belongs to them.

    I’ve also tried to convey the same message of using WordPress. WordPress offers better control than blogger. However, I still like blogger. Not because it is free but because it is still simple to use at beginner level.
    • 

      Abhi, July 17, 2013 @ 9:55 pm Reply

      Hey Pawan,

      I hope you are not disappointed or offended by the “not completely agree” comment from my very good friend.

      If you flip pages of my blog book to back, you’ll see tons of those long different comments and our conversation. Participation in sharing your views and commenting on blogs proves that you are not just after building back links or getting the CommentLuv juice. It is simply great.

      I have learnt so much from these type of conversations and especially debates (LOL) where one agrees and other one doesn’t.

      I am really happy to see your good reply. Completely agree with you, I started blogging from blogger only, and yes, it’s very simple to use at the starting stage.

      Thanks for your great thoughts on this topic and for combining them into a guest post for my blog.
      • 

        Holly Jahangiri, July 17, 2013 @ 10:22 pm Reply

        COMPLETE agreement feels good for about five seconds, but hardly leads to conversation and massive blog comments.

        COMPLETE disagreement (unless it’s very civil and amusing) is also tiresome after a while.

        Either way, though, a boring post doesn’t lead to either – I’m sure Pawan gets that.

        Pawan, thank you for the very thorough reply, too!
    • 

      Holly Jahangiri, July 17, 2013 @ 10:19 pm Reply

      Abhi can tell you from firsthand knowledge – I don’t apologize for making anyone read and look stuff up. I should’ve been a teacher. I’d be one of those awful ones everyone dreads, but looks back on fondly – some 2-3 decades later when they realize they actually learned something. (Kind of the way kids are about vegetables, but I like to think I’m a little more amusing than broccoli.)

      I used to write manuals. You know, that documentation nobody reads before using a product, then everybody says “sucks” when they can’t do something (mind you, they usually still haven’t actually cracked open the manual at that point)… So trust me when I say that a person who is “not a coder and not a knowledgeable person” isn’t doing the kind of research you assume.

      They’re either terrified of trying it, or they’ve already jumped in with both feet and are now begging you to fix all their WordPress problems.

      On the other hand, for the techno-curious novice who is unafraid of minor screw-ups, setbacks, software glitches, databases, and a whole bunch of reading on how to set file permissions and edit hidden files (e.g. .htaccess) and wants more control over their blog and their photos (this was the BIG one for me) than Blogger offers, I would definitely also encourage them to try WordPress (WordPress.org is all things related to the free, self-hosted version of WordPress, by the way; WordPress.com is the free, hosted-by-WordPress.com itself). Same platform, just that the WordPress.com one is a bit more limited and easier for the novice you’re describing at the start of this post. It’s also a great way to see if you like WordPress at all, before investing in a hosting account.

      Me, I just dive in with both feet, yelling “Cowabunga!!!” and deal with the messes as they happen. But having walked people through installation, setup, and use… it’s not THAT easy for everyone out there.

      I agree with you the Blogger (and WordPress.com) are good for beginners. I still have blogs on both (largely used, now, for teaching others and backing up my own stuff if my main blog crashes or I kill it accidentally…)
      • 

        Pawan, July 17, 2013 @ 10:53 pm Reply

        Hey,

        That took me another half an hour to sit back, relax and understand each word out of your sentence.

        Let me first answer Abhi.

        No, I’m not at all offended by that buddy. Not everyone will agree to me and I was well aware of this when I chose this topic to write. If anyone doesn’t completely agrees. I would be giving 110% (Holly, please consider it as 100% otherwise there would be an another debate on those extra 10% ) of myself to answer such comments.

        Coming back to the Holly’s comment,

        This is what I’ve said in the sentence.

        “You don’t need to be a coder or knowledgeable person to start using WordPress. ”

        Now, tell me, do you need any knowledge of coding to “start using WordPress?” (The knowledgeable here refers to the knowledge of coding; pardon me if you got it other way round.)

        To Abhi again – It’s really an awesome experience to interact here man. Especially with Holly, I’m learning good stuff out here.
        • 

          Holly Jahangiri, July 17, 2013 @ 11:56 pm

          Ahh, well, that does clarify a bit – I took “or” quite literally, and assumed that by “knowledgeable” you meant “not ignorant.” I know plenty of Ph.D.’s who are not technophiles.

          And plenty of coders who don’t like being driven to the dictionary every five minutes…

          I’ll let you in on a little secret, though – only fair, after putting you through all this, Pawan (and you being such a good sport about it) – I rarely want to debate statistics or math. Language and writing is my thing – I love the logic of programming, but if I never had to work another math problem without a calculator and simple instructions, I’d be happy. I’m well aware that mathematics is a “language” with its own vocabulary, syntax, and customary usage – but my brain seems to be missing the codec. So, 100%, 110% – let’s not split hairs. I’m just thrilled you gave such a thorough reply and not, “Thank you for your too long comment.”
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          Pawan, July 18, 2013 @ 1:06 am

          It was great to learn through the comments Holly. Abhi has rightly mentioned that such type of discussions has allowed him to learn and grasp more.

          Thank you for putting your honest views. I love that.

          Regards,
          Pawan
        • 

          Holly Jahangiri, July 18, 2013 @ 5:26 am

          Always happy to help, Pawan – and as Abhi can attest, I don’t know how to be other than honest; I joke around a lot, too, but I’m never intentionally mean. If something I write could be interpreted as kind or unkind, pick the former, please!
        • 

          Holly Jahangiri, July 18, 2013 @ 5:27 am

          P.S. I take that back – I do KNOW HOW to lie (I write fiction). I just think that, on the whole, life’s too short to bother (and my memory’s too short to do it reliably) and people generally prefer it when you’re honest.
        • 

          Pawan, July 19, 2013 @ 9:14 pm

          Aha! No Holly.

          I don’t really interpret things so early.

          So, chill and enjoy your day dear.
        • 

          Holly Jahangiri, July 21, 2013 @ 2:13 am

          Hoo boy. Abhi?
        • 

          Abhi, July 19, 2013 @ 9:21 pm

          Then that is really a very good thing brother. I am glad you are enjoying here on my blog. It is really interesting to participate in debates and listen to what others have to say which sometime is completely opposite to our opinion but with exact reasoning. It has happened with me many times.
      • 

        Abhi, July 19, 2013 @ 9:19 pm Reply

        Well, even I started on Blogger, you know, I have edited HTML of my blog ton of times and even I have provided this service to others and earned hundreds of dollars.

        So the point is, if someone is interested in learning more and more, then he or she can definitely get to know things fast.

        I have understood lot of things in WP as well, like those permissions thing and all.
  • 

    Abhi, July 17, 2013 @ 9:50 pm Reply

    It’s been really long since I saw a comment of yours in Holly’s style.

    It’s been long but you are still the same, noticing tiny parts of English and Grammar which can change the sentence grammatically if we check it very strictly. haha…

    Thanks for the visit and the comment. I am sure, Pawan, also would have enjoyed it.
    • 

      Holly Jahangiri, July 17, 2013 @ 10:07 pm Reply

      Hey, it’s what I do… it’s what I live for…

      (I really hope you read that in the voice of Ursula, the Sea Witch.)

      Honestly, trying to outfox the dragon and the bee in that last contest was fun, but left me a bit burnt out on blogging and commenting at all, for a while. I’m sorry. Hi.

      What do you mean “Pawan also would have enjoyed it”? (I’d worry about him and think an anvil fell on his head before he could read it, if I didn’t see his reply up there already!)

      (Pulling on running shoes and RUNNING – laughing maniacally all the way…)

      P.S. Am I going to get three requests to swear to God I’m not a spammer if I reply to a third level of nesting?
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  Ryan Biddulph, July 17, 2013 @ 7:12 pm Reply

  I use both and love both dude. Great insight here, as I learned a few things

  Blogger helps you post quickly; WP a bit clunky in my opinion.

  If you have to start with 1 I say go with blogger. Much easier for a beginner to dive into posting, publishing and inserting images, etc.

  Thanks!
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    Pawan, July 17, 2013 @ 7:32 pm Reply

    Hi Ryan,

    Exactly. I still like to use blogger and the main reason for that is it simple to use at beginner level. If you don’t want to concentrate much on the customization (and perhaps SEO), blogger is still the best choice for me.

    Thanks Ryan.
    • 

      Holly Jahangiri, July 18, 2013 @ 12:07 am Reply

      You can see from the dates here that I have really been neglecting my Blogger blog – largely because HTML and CSS are fun for me (Blogger even lets you use these, but it can get in your way and say, “No, I’m not going to let you use THAT here, try again.”)

      http://hollyjahangiri.blogspot.com/

      I started blogging on Blogger, though, back shortly after the folks at Pyra introduced it. In fact, back in the late 1990s or early 2000s, I was still figuring things out, and a tech columnist with the HindustanTimes read my blog – my attempt to define “blogging” for myself – and quoted me as a “veteran blogger.” I really felt like I’d hit the big time!

      My main reason for going with self-hosted WP was to control my content and my own images, and not rely on another third-party site (paid OR free) to properly manage these things for me. But as my knowledge has increased, WP gives me more room to get creative and play. See http://jahangiri.us/2013 for the more recent blog.

      I do agree with you, Pawan – Blogger’s a fine choice and I’d recommend it to beginners. You want to know if you enjoy blogging and you want to get more “knowledgeable” before paying for hosting, I think. Once you’ve got a bit more experience and a better comfort level with blogging in general, then WordPress is probably the best choice.
      • 

        Holly Jahangiri, July 18, 2013 @ 5:28 am Reply

        ::twiddles thumbs waiting for the Moderator::
        • 

          Holly Jahangiri, July 18, 2013 @ 8:45 pm

          Ahh, there you are, Abhi! Good evening!
        • 

          Abhi, July 19, 2013 @ 9:22 pm

          You were in spam. You know the bouncers. They don’t recognize you know, you should come here more often. haha..
      • 

        Pawan, July 19, 2013 @ 9:19 pm Reply

        Yeah, blogger is always my first choice when I don’t really want to control things like SEO and customization.

        However, when I stumbled upon WordPress, I realized that it offers much better control over this area.

        That’s when I decided to differentiate my blogs. I differentiated my blogs on the basis of SEO and customization factor.
        Those which needed better control over these factors were moved to WordPress.
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  Suresh Khanal, July 17, 2013 @ 8:03 pm Reply

  Hi Pawan, You’ve done nice review and comparison of both the most popular blogging platform.

  Whenever I share about some useful plugin in my blog, I get comments by blogspot bloggers feeling sad. Though Blogger blogs are good, but to be able to blog freely, a self hosted WordPress is a must.
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    Pawan, July 18, 2013 @ 1:08 am Reply

    Hi Suresh,

    Thanks a lot buddy. I too have experienced similar feedback especially with beautiful set of themes offered by different WordPress developers. They seem to be missing that on blogger.
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  Mubashir, July 17, 2013 @ 8:41 pm Reply

  I was using Blogger before 6 month. I switched to WordPress due to its versatility and easiest CMS system. For WordPress is no.1 CMS blogging software.
  • 

    Pawan, July 18, 2013 @ 1:09 am Reply

    Hey Mubashir,

    I too started my journey with blogger. At some point in time, you realize that you can’t continue with blogger and you desperately need WordPress. That’s the point when you start thinking about serious blogging. Right?
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  shameem thaha, July 17, 2013 @ 10:13 pm Reply

  Hey Pawan,

  Well written post between i started with blogger later switched to wordpress because its makes the work easier
  • 

    Pawan, July 18, 2013 @ 1:11 am Reply

    Hey Shameem,

    Well, my first blog was also based on blogger. Its very common among everyone as we tend to go ahead with free stuff before going for actual things.

    Blogger taught me good lessons and that’s why I’m probably here.
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  Nirmala, July 17, 2013 @ 10:24 pm Reply

  Very nice post Pawan,

  I started my blogging path with blogger platform and earned a lot. Recently i moved to the wordpress domain and it is really good.

  As you told, my knowledge was zero about wordpress before 6 moths, but now I learned some useful stuffs and important plugins related to it. Plugins makes the life of the bloggers easier.

  I feel that the bloggers can get good exposure with wordpress blog when compared to blogger blog.

  Thanks for writing the nice post for us, keep doing it.
  • 

    Pawan, July 19, 2013 @ 9:32 pm Reply

    Hi Ma’am,

    So glad to see you here. I also started with blogger and continuing to use it for blogs which are not really focussed on SEO and customization. These are the blogs which I start for testing etc.

    How old is MyMagicFundas? Looks pretty awesome to me.
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  qasim, July 18, 2013 @ 2:41 am Reply

  Hi Pawan,

  Thank you for this detailed comparison between blogger and WordPress, I understand exactly how you feel, As I started my journey on Weebly, I liked using Weebly very much and I am still recommending it for some uses as it really has a great and easy to use interface and can be used for businesses. I reached to a step where I was exactly liking Weebly but lobing WordPress, I was afraid that when moving to WordPress I will loose all my work and I will not be able to manage my WordPress blog and to pare the cost of hosting the blog, then I paid someone (freelancer) to move my blog from Weebly to WordPress and I am glad that I did. And now all I can see that I can’t Image a blogger how are using anything different than WordPress.
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    Pawan, July 19, 2013 @ 10:00 pm Reply

    Hey Qasim,

    First of all, thanks a lot for expressing your views. I’ve used weebly for 2 days. That was about 1.2 years back. Although it is good as a startup I don’t really think it would fit in perfectly for blogs. I’m unaware of the recent developments but correct me if I’m wrong.
    • 

      qasim, July 20, 2013 @ 5:37 pm Reply

      Hi,
      You are not, it’s not for blogs at all, what I meant it’s best fit for business website that don’t attach blogs as it’s easy to use.
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  Ambika Choudhary Mahajan @ gemini tattoos, July 18, 2013 @ 7:00 pm Reply

  I started with WordPress. And I am glad I chose it over Blogger.
  There is no denying that WordPress gives you more options and a greater control over your website than Blogger.
  Which explains why we see very few people migrating from WordPress to blogger, while there is no dearth of people who leave the latter for the former.
  • 

    Pawan, July 19, 2013 @ 10:06 pm Reply

    That would have been really tough na Ambika ma’am? Starting with WordPress is really not that easy task especially when you’ve zero knowledge about it.

    I personally feel that those who migrate from WordPress to blogger are the ones who are unable to pay their next payment cycle of hosting package. There could possibly be small percentage of those who wouldn’t have got how to use WordPress. Again, that’s an assumption from my side.
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  Sriram, July 18, 2013 @ 7:52 pm Reply

  As like others, I too started with Blogger and later migrated to WordPress. Just want to say you WordPress is awesome than blogger but in terms of security I’ll go with Blogger.

  Thanks for the useful post Pawan.
  • 

    Pawan, July 19, 2013 @ 10:07 pm Reply

    Exactly my point Sriram.

    If you want better control over your posts, customization and SEO, it’s good to go ahead with WordPress.
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  Akshat Bhanchawat, July 18, 2013 @ 10:16 pm Reply

  Well, as all other, I also used blogger and at that time I do not like wordpress. But my friends insisted me to migrate still I didn’t. One day I came across a blog and find that it is made on wordpress and have so many options. From that day, I started using fordpress, first for trial and then I became addicted to it and migrated to wordpress… I love wordpress but also agree with Sri for Blogger’s Security. Gr8 Post.
  • 

    Pawan, July 19, 2013 @ 10:40 pm Reply

    What’s that with fordpress? I hope that’s WordPress and not fordpress. Jokes apart! I’m also using WordPress (and blogger too) on most of my blogs and I must say that you’re completely right about it.
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  Nick, July 18, 2013 @ 10:37 pm Reply

  I think that WordPress and Blogger have different targets and have their audience (or usage).
  • 

    Pawan, July 19, 2013 @ 10:42 pm Reply

    Hey Nick,

    Would you please elaborate more on what you just said. What do you mean by different targets and audience?
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  Deepak Singh, July 23, 2013 @ 10:00 pm Reply

  I just love WordPress coz No one can beat WordPress Blogs in Search Engine Optimisation(SEO) as it uses well-written code and Search Engine Powerhouse Google just loves this.
  • 

    Pawan, July 24, 2013 @ 8:01 pm Reply

    Yeah man. WordPress gives better control when it comes to search engine optimization. I would once again highlight what I’ve said in one of the comment above. I use blogger when I’m not focused on SEO and theme customization.
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  Maketta, July 27, 2013 @ 12:26 am Reply

  I was made to leave blogger because they shut down my site. I know everyone likes wordpress. However, I like the website builders. With them you can start out for free and then choose to upgrade. I plan on upgrading as soon as I take care of some financial problems. I think you should go with what is best for you. Some people say you don’t really own your site if you are not using wordpress.org. I see it differently though because you still have to pay for hosting. Without hosting your site cannot be online. You can own a site but with no hosting what’s the point because no one will see it. I just think you have to go with what’s best for you.
  • 

    Pawan, July 28, 2013 @ 3:49 pm Reply

    Yeah, that’s one more disadvantage of using blogger. Google can delete your blog anytime but they don’t really delete it unless it is violating their terms and conditions. Did you violate any?

    Website builder are good when their is a specific requirement of building business website. When it comes to blogging, website builders aren’t as effective as these CMS platforms.
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  Maketta, July 29, 2013 @ 12:42 am Reply

  I was in network marketing at the time and I had wrote about different products. They were from the same company but different products. I see blogs on blogger all the time that would qualify as spam and they are still up. I was really upset about that but I have moved on. I have to disagree with you about website builders not being effective as blogger. They have so many resources and tools you can use and they also allow you to edit things that you may not have. I believe it depends on which one you choose. I have used blinkweb and there’s was very limited but I am using Ucoz for my internet marketing blog and Jimdo for my natural health blog and I am pleased. Jimdo is a little bit more learning curve but so is WordPress.org I’ve heard.
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  Abhijith V M, August 3, 2013 @ 4:20 pm Reply

  I just moved my blog from blogger to a self hosted wordpress site. Now Im getting more traffic and search engine visibility.
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  Muhammad Ali, August 5, 2013 @ 8:57 am Reply

  Hi Pawan,

  Well written article …. i started with blogger later switched to wordpress because its makes my site CMS look and work made easier
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  anis rehman, August 29, 2013 @ 12:22 am Reply

  hey abhi and pawan. I had no guidance first and i started blogspot and now i became very well in that. Now how can i leave that. Pleas also inform us with blogger techniques, seo tips and plug ins
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  Chris, September 20, 2013 @ 12:03 am Reply

  I use the blogger platform for maintaining my blogs for 6 years now (on and off). The thing is i find wordpress blogs to have a more professional look and i’m seriously thinking of moving to the wordpress platform. I agree that having a blogspot blog seems simpler but they should really work on their plugins/widgets.

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