Wordpress vs. Blogger. Your Opinions?

by esr
13 replies
In the last few days, I've dived (dove?) head in to learning about putting up a blog. I'm seeing a trend and before I create more work for myself, I wanted to ask the Warriors what they think.

I am using Blogger. I have always heard they rank better with Google because of Google owning Blogger.

However, the trend I'm seeing is, Wordpress appears to have lots more features, or "plug-ins" I guess they're called.

The most important one I've noticed, so far, is that with Wordpress, you can input an infinite number of "ping" sites, ultimately getting you more traffic.

Other than submitting to one blog directory, Blogger doesn't say much about pinging.

So, if someone came to you and asked which is better for business purpsoses, Wordpress or Blogger, what would you tell them?
#blogger #opinions #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author emha
    wordpress more powerfull for seo, but blogger more easy for newbie. so Im vote Wordpress
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  • Profile picture of the author mikecowles
    Wordpress is superior for marketing for many reasons. It's more customizable, there's no advertisement for other blogs on the top of every page(!), you can have it on your own domain/server (www.mydomain.com/blog) which is much easier to remember and looks more professional, etc., etc.

    Go WP!

    ~Mike Cowles. <><
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  • Profile picture of the author Jared Alberghini
    Blogger - great for complete newbies to get their feet wet.

    Wordpress - after you have dried your newbie feet off, this is the next step, get your own domain and host your own wordpress blog.

    As for the 'Other' option in the poll... well, there are way too many other choices that would take pages upon pages to discuss, so let's just say, any application you want for your website is out there.

    - Jared
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  • Profile picture of the author vuedoolor
    Is there anyone out there who can explain what the heck a plug in is and how to set up a wordpress blog without the use of geek terms? I need directions so easy that even a 6th grader can follow. My goal is to set up my first blog with wordpress and I will get it done even if it kills me. I bought hosting with host gator a wk ago and buying my domains from godaddy so i've already got them link together. Now all i need is some simple direction on how to set up a wordpress blog. Is there any video tutorials on how to do this?
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  • Profile picture of the author The Pension Guy
    A plugin is a small piece of code that adds a feature and/or functionality to the default WP installation. The developers of the software try to keep the core engine (script) not too bloated, so many additional features are provided by the hundreds of plugins.

    Self hosted WordPress is the way to go. They have an extensive online documentation at codex.wordpress.org: look for the Installation section!
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  • Profile picture of the author davesharp
    For newcomers blogger is the way to go as it's very easy to use and you can always remove the navigation bar if you want to, and host it on your own domain if you want.

    People say wordpress is better but to make the most of it does require some level of technical expertise. There are some blogger blogs that rank very well and at the end of the day it's the content you post, and how much of it, that will determine the success of your blog and not which blogging platform you are using.

    All the very best,
    Dave
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  • Profile picture of the author Tim Dixon
    When you say 'compare Blogger to Wordpress' I am assuming you're really comparing Blogger to the hosted version of Wordpress on Wordpress.com (rather than the version of Wordpress you host yourself from Wordpress.org)

    One of the biggest differences in that case is going to be that you can use Blogger for commercial content and displaying Adsense ads, whereas on Wordpress.com you can't.

    In fact unless you're very careful about the content and where it links to on your Wordpress.com it could be shut down fairly quickly.

    Nevertheless it has it's uses and is an excellent way to get some of your content links onto high PR pages (unfortunately as nofollow these days).

    If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the 'Tag' pages on Wordpress.com that show the latest blog posts for different tags and see what PR some of them are.

    So in that context, if you are a newbie who wants to try out setting up a blog and making some adsense/affiliate income without spending any money whatsoever, then I would set up a blog on both.

    Blogger to add reviews etc. and commercial content and Wordpress.com to add non-commercial content with some discreet links to your Blogger blog.

    I think they allow a more blatent link to your 'money' blog or site on your About Us page by the way.

    Tim
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    • Profile picture of the author esr
      Originally Posted by Tim Dixon View Post

      When you say 'compare Blogger to Wordpress' I am assuming you're really comparing Blogger to the hosted version of Wordpress on Wordpress.com (rather than the version of Wordpress you host yourself from Wordpress.org)

      One of the biggest differences in that case is going to be that you can use Blogger for commercial content and displaying Adsense ads, whereas on Wordpress.com you can't.

      In fact unless you're very careful about the content and where it links to on your Wordpress.com it could be shut down fairly quickly.

      Nevertheless it has it's uses and is an excellent way to get some of your content links onto high PR pages (unfortunately as nofollow these days).

      If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the 'Tag' pages on Wordpress.com that show the latest blog posts for different tags and see what PR some of them are.

      So in that context, if you are a newbie who wants to try out setting up a blog and making some adsense/affiliate income without spending any money whatsoever, then I would set up a blog on both.

      Blogger to add reviews etc. and commercial content and Wordpress.com to add non-commercial content with some discreet links to your Blogger blog.

      I think they allow a more blatent link to your 'money' blog or site on your About Us page by the way.

      Tim


      That is interesting Tim. I've never heard anyone say that the hosted version of WP doesn't allow for Adsense. That would be one big feature for the newbie who, as you said, wants to make some money without a lot of work and any money out of pocket.

      So, it would seem, after reading all the posts, that a WP blog on my own domain is the way to go.

      Great info. Thanks to all.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tim Dixon
    In fact, this is what they say on the Features page:

    Advertising To support the service we may occasionally show Google text ads on your blog, however we do this very rarely. You can remove ads from your blog for a low yearly fee. In the future you'll be able to show your own ads and make money from your blog.

    Tim
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  • Profile picture of the author mostphere
    Hello..

    I vote for WP of course, it fast indexed, easy to gain rank, RSS feed. For small niche, just a couple of articles at EA can really boost the blog to the first page.

    Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author Razvan Rovinaru
    Wordpress is much better for SEO and is easier to use and more customizable than Blogger. Also, the idea that Blogger blogs rank higher and get indexed faster than Wordpress blogs because Google owns Blogger is just a myth.

    I am using Wordpress for 90% of my sites and they have always been indexed fast and achieved good rankings after promotion. From a ranking point of view, it's all about doing the best possible promotion whichever blogging platform you use.

    Wordpress just gives you more control over your blog.
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  • Profile picture of the author MarcusXavier
    I prefer both since both can be have their place in my arsenal.

    As far as customization and freedom goes, WP wins hands down.
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