Blogger vs. WordPress....Is WordPress really better? And how hard is it to switch after you've started at Blogger?

[Emily Ludlow]

Hello supportive book blogger friends!  If there's already a discussion on this, please let me know.  I couldn't find one, so I thought I'd start my own.

I began my book blog in Blogger because it was what I already knew (I had a personal blog there) and it seemed super easy to use.  I've begun having issues w/formatting my posts to look the way I want and I've heard from a couple friends that WordPress is supposed to be so many times better in so many different ways.  Is it?

In your opinion, is WordPress a better platform and is it easy to use?  Have any of you switched over from using Blogger to using WordPress?  I currently have a domain name, but it just forwards to my "blogspot" address and people are mostly following my blog using that "blogspot" address.  I'm guessing I'll have to start all over / get my current followers to "follow" me again if I decide to make the switch.  I'm still under 100 followers, so maybe it wouldn't be a HUGE deal....

Any thoughts?  Anyone know if I'll still be able to use the "google friend connect" public follow option while using WordPress?

Thanks, in advance, for any help!!
-Emily (Super Reader Girl Reviews)

[Mary Salvato]

I am on blogger and would like to switch to wordpress or at least get my own domain name (to be more professional) but I dont know enough about it. Also I dont want to lose followers, comments, etc. Any thoughts?

[Shesten @ I Heart Monster]

You can buy your own domain name right in Blogger. They use Go Daddy, and you can add free Google Apps to get your email and docs at your new domain name. It's under Settings > Publishing. Good luck!

[Farnoosh]

I LOVE Wordpress and honestly can't believe I used to use blogspot with all its limited functionality and structure. Wordpress is intuitive, fully supported by a huge community of blogs and programmers and while I have spent hundreds of hours messing with it, I think you can learn the basics quick and you can easily import your archives over and then just tweak them for a little format if that....I don't recommend blogspot to ANYONE not even a true beginner blogger....You want that professional look and wordpress inherently gives you that.....good luck!

[Emily Ludlow]

thank you, Farnoosh! I'm so glad to hear that you can easily import archives. I was wondering about that. You may have started tipping the scale back towards WordPress...

[Farnoosh]

You are very welcome. I am pretty passionate about Wordpress. It has liberated me (no exaggeration) as a blogger, a writer, and a creator.....go for it....the support is immense and the sooner you start on the right platform, the better....good luck.

[Emily Ludlow]

Some great feedback so far! Anyone else want to weigh in? Have you tried Blogger and switched to WordPress? What are your thoughts?

[Rikki]

If you host your blog yourself - which you obviously will, since you have your own domain - I'm certain every badge you want to put up will work. All you need to do is use a text widget and paste the code for the badge.
I used to have a blogger blog, but switched to wordpress a long time ago and never regretted it. Way more templates, fully customizable, you can do anything you want with wordpress and there are so many awesome plugins for it, the possibilities are endless.

[aletterformat.com]

In everyway Wordpress is far superior than blogger.

[Melanie ray]

Actually, I haven't had any problems with that, like most always said I would. I just got google connect and some other widgets that weren't supposed to work on Wordpress. They all have secondary options you can use, so my google connect doesn't look as 'impressive' but it works.

I have never used blogger though so I can't give a definitive comparison.

[Marty Shaw]

Hi Emily.

I won't lie - I use Blogger because the price is right (free), but it is starting to show signs of improvement. If you scroll to the bottom of the Dashboard page, you'll find a link called Blogger in Draft. Click that and you get a lot more to use, including being able to set up a 3-column blog without having to dig into the HTML, which is what I had to do when I started.

Still, while Blogger is getting better, I've heard rave reviews from WordPress users so that might be the way to go. Keep in mind one thing...wordpress.com doesn't allow affiliate ads; wordpress.org does.

[Emidy Shadmand]

I haven't used Wordpress very much at all, but I really love Blogger. I'm used to it, I changed my layout to suit my needs, and I love the Google friends connect. Wordpress may suit many people. but I would never think of switching over.

[Enbrethiliel]

+JMJ+

I never think of switching over, either. Perhaps it's my own loss, but Blogger feels like home. I've been on it for seven years!