Which Blog Platform Shall I Choose?

Newbies to blogging often ask the question “which blog platform should I choose?” and rightly so- there are loads of options available. I’m going to help you out and simplify the choice down to the two most popular, Blogger and .

Blogger

Blogger is a free hosted blog service run by Google. If you’re new to blogging and would rather poke your toe in the shallow end of the pool before you dive in the deep end, then Blogger is probably your best choice.

The Pros

• Easy to navigate and use

• Quick to get started

• Hosts your blog and files for free

• Many themes and widgets to customize your blog

• Easy to drop AdSense into it

• Google loves it

The Cons

• You don’t own your blog. Blogger could delete it at anytime.

• Viewed as more unprofessional

• Stuck with a xx.blogspot URL (unless you buy a domain name)

• If you feel your site outgrows blogger in future then you’ll end up moving, burning all your bridges regarding page ranks and links in the process.

Just to clear up something in case you get confused, there’s two versions of WordPress- and . The difference being is is hosted (like Blogger, but more limited unless you pay) is downloadable to host on your own server.

The Pros

• Extremely customizable

• Hosted on your own server, you have complete control over it.

• Thousands of plugins

• Viewed as the more professional choice

The Cons

• Need to find or pay for your own host

• More complex to set up compared to the ease of Blogger

• Need to be slightly more tech savvy to make the most of it

So there you have it, the pros and cons of each one laid out before you. Successful blogs have been created with both, but in the general eye, I’d say is viewed as the more professional and powerful choice. If you’re a newbie though and just want a sampling of the blogging scene I’d recommend giving Blogger a whirl.