Moving From Blogger to WordPress: Has the Time Finally Come?

November 19, 2012 by Daniel Sharkov|

Moving from Blogger to WordPress… It seems like WordPress is what everyone prefers these days…

Take a minute to do some research and you will see that a good percentage of the bloggers out there don’t really like the Blogger platform…

If you’ve been following me for long enough, you have already noticed that I often happen to defend the Google-owned service ( I even wrote the post: “ Blogspot vs WordPress: What Do Visitors Want and What Makes for a Good Blog“, which you might want to take a look at ).

And still a week ago, as an old-time Blogspot user,
I did the unthinkable – I moved to WordPress!

In today’s post I will talk about the two platforms and more specifically when Blogger is better and when you should go for WordPress instead.

NOTE: Me moving from Blogger to WordPress doesn’t mean the same is the right thing for you! Keep reading please…

Why Blogger is Good for Newbies?

Yes, Google’s platform does have its good sides, my dear Blogspot critics. Think about those days when you got into blogging and learned about that great piece of software called WordPress. Setting it all up and writing your first article wasn’t as easy, was it?

Setting everything up and starting to publish right away is something that Blogger does way better. The process is straightforward – no installations are needed and there is no need to deal with buying and configuring a hosting service. You also don’t have as much fancy functions, which for a guy, who is just starting out, would be more of a  headache than a facilitation.

You are just learning what blogging is and how it works You want simplicity and not a lot of things to go wrong You’d like to learn some HTML and CSS in the process (they allow for slight customization on your theme plus they are easy to learn and useful in the long-term)

If one of the above is true then the Blogger platform might just be the better option for now. And don’t take it wrong – you can still get thousands of monthly visitors.  I started this blog more than two years ago and didn’t feel the need to switch right until now!

Why Blogger Becomes an Obstacle?

As I said above, the two great things that you don’t have to deal with when you are on Blogspot are hosting and… WordPress.

In reality neither the first, nor the second is an unsolvable puzzle. But then again, all problems that arise in this early stage of a blogger’s career can easily kill the enthusiasm. And that might get you to quit faster than it took you to get started.

BUT…

Once you gain that momentum and once you get the feel for it ( it takes more than a month or two ), that is when you become a little uncomfortable.

If you have content that’s worth sharing and if you do a good job at promoting your posts, then sooner or later, you will get noticed. When that happens you will certainly start to pay more attention to the competition and the fancy toys they have access to…

At that point, moving from Blogger to WordPress, might just be the thing to do!

If You are a Serious Blogger, You Need Functionality

So yeah, as good as Blogger is for beginners, it simply loses edge on the functionality part.

For one reason or another ( probably because everyone criticizes it ) there simply aren’t enough widgets and plug-ins available to help you customize each and every aspect of your blog. Whereas when we talk about WordPress, plug-ins and flexibility are what comes to mind ( as you certainly have heard already ).

Time is always a factor and let’s be honest – every saved minute in playing the do-it-yourself game is a step towards more time for writing and promotion – dynamic tasks, requiring one’s attention day in and day out.
What that added functionality does is:

It saves you time by putting tasks on autopilot ( Automation? Anyone?) It gives you ( pretty much ) whatever you want whenever you want it ( all plug-ins are a Google search away ) It provides eye-candy for your visitors thus helping you keep them browsing your blog longer

Moving from Blogger to WordPress
has an added advantage – an advantage you might need or might not need, depending on how you’d like to use your blog. On to the next paragraph…

A Self-Hosted WordPress Gives You Freedom

The Blogger platform offers a way to monetize what you write – in the form of Google AdSense advertisements. However as I have talked about it in my article “ Affiliate Marketing: My Story and 6 Tips to Get You Going Right Now“, namely affiliate marketing i.e. promoting other people’s products and earning a percentage ( 50-60% in most cases ) of the sales is the best way to make some cash from your hard work as a blogger.

The problem with Blogger is that they don’t like that kind of monetization. Some two years ago, I actually had a blog, promoting various types of software. It was all going good at first until one day when my blog was simply not there anymore. Later it turned out the reason were those same products I was reviewing.

HOWEVER…

On Reviewz N Tips I got into affiliate marketing in early June and kept promoting until I did the move to WordPress a week ago – and all without issues.

BESIDES…

Back in 2011 when asked, Blogger’s staff replied that affiliate marketing was actually not forbidden. Their TOS on the other hand also doesn’t say much about it. So you end up not knowing what to think…

From that experience I’d conclude you can never be too sure. With a self-hosted WordPress, you simply don’t have to worry about that.

Moving From Blogger to WordPress - Conclusion

Before deciding whether doing the move is worth it:

Consider the money investment
- do you really need a paid hosting or can you go with what Blogger has to offer? Consider the whole process
– doing the whole move took me close to two weeks. Right now might not be the best time for such a long pause, especially if you are just starting and trying to build a name for yourself. Consider whether you actually need it
– if you haven’t yet began monetizing and you’ve found the right widgets and functionality, you probably don’t need WordPress just yet.Stay Tuned for More!

Hope you found the advice useful guys!

This post is the first part of three that I will be covering about the whole moving from Blogger to WordPress process!

Next post will cover all the steps I took to make the switch
– installing WordPress, importing my articles and fixing the issues that came with that.

Now It’s Your Turn!

On to you guys!
What do you think of the Blogger service – is it underrated or is the negative feedback well deserved? And what about WordPress – is it really the better option, what flaws does it have? Let me know your thoughts!

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