To help us clear some of the air and talk about the benefits of Blogger, Kristyn and I got together to dicuss the benefits. She's talking all about WordPress, I'm focusing on why Blogger is best. Let's get started!
Here is why I Kristyn loves WordPress and she wishes started on this platform first:
You own your content and you get to manage a website.
Yes, Blogger is free and hosted by Google. But, I actually love that I get to manage my site. I am in control of the hosting services (A Small Orange is amazing). I learned what a cPanel is and I have actually gotten to play with things in it – like the function.php file when my site decided to not work when I messed up something on it. Super fun.
The designs are mobile responsive
I know that you can get a mobile responsive site on Blogger, but it's not automatic. With Genesis, you can easily scroll through my blog on any device and it will look the same. No scrolling side to side to read my blog on your phone. You are welcome.
The plugins
This might be considered a perk of WordPress, but these plugins are completely fantastic. They can speed up your site, help you with social media scheduling, secure your site from people trying to hack it, to recipe cards, to optimizing everything…the list goes on and on. The plugins that I use are all intentional to help my blog run faster.
The ease of changing up your menu and sidebar
To switch up my menu (at the top of my blog), I can actually do a bunch of different things up there. I can add any category or page to the menu and I could switch things around. I can also move my header over and put the 2nd menu up higher. The sidebar is just as easy to move things around. Nothing is ever stuck in place and I feel like I can change things around or add things as needed.
Google Analytics
I use WordPress stats, but I also have a plugin for Google Analytics. This is linked straight to my account and makes it so easy to see how my blog is performing. I don't have to log into GA separately to see those real time stats. I love that it's a plugin and directly in my dashboard. It's awesome to have that flexibility.
Now let's talk Blogger. I've been blogging for almost three years now at Helene in Between. Sometimes I feel like I have the hang of things, other times I wonder what the heck I'm doing. I feel pretty confident in my blogging skills, but there's always been one thing up for debate: Blogger vs. WordPress.
I'm a Blogger girl. I always have been. When I first started it was a “Duh” decision. It felt like the most advanced, cheapest, and easiest to use platform out there. Now, parts of that statement is true, but WordPress has become a huge competitor.
Despite all of WordPress' bells and whistles, here's why I still believe Blogger is best:
It's easy to understand
As far as a blogging platform goes, Blogger is very straightforward. You can immediately jump in and understand how to post, edit, and import pictures and how to gain followers.
Design
Designing in Blogger is more simple than WordPress. Of course, it's nice to have a blog designer but when you're just starting out, you can adjust the website to your liking.
Blogger is owned by Google and Google is basically God. Am I right?
Stats
Your blog's statistics are simple and clear. You can see easily how you got traffic.
Comments
Free
Google Adsense
Which platform would you choose?
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Now I have a blogger to introduce you to, in fact, she is the perfect person to talk to today, since she switch from WordPress to Blogger! It's Alanna, from Alanna and Company. She's a dog lover, D.C. girl, foodie, avid book reader, and all around awesome lifestyle blog. Today I have her on the blog today to discuss her blog and life!
really depends on where you are from Canada. I was from Toronto which I
call the most American-like Canadian city. I think the biggest
differences I noticed are the accents (ya'll come back now!), milk is in
cartons and not bags, it's called soda and not pop, and that Spring
lasts more than just one week.
2. Why did you start your blog?
love writing funny lifestyle posts. I wrote a funny post about
quarter-life crises a little while back and I was cracking myself up
while I was writing it. Second favorite are DC posts! I love my city.
5. If you could offer one piece of must-have advice to an aspiring blogger, what would it be?
and network! Blogging has a great community and has helped me to feel
more confident about my writing and how to make my blog great!
