Argument for Sticking with Blogspot.com
When you run your own blog, it can be a difficult decision as to whether you should start out with a self-hosted or hosted blog. While it all depends on how much time and capital you want to put into it initially, there are also a few reasons why you should think otherwise.
Let’s presume that you have already established a site that isn’t specifically a blog. It might have the traditional format of a blog, but isn’t powered by a content management system (CMS), therefore it would take a long time to make the conversion to a blog solution, such as WordPress or Blogger. During the process, you would almost have to “rewrite” your blog, copying and pasting all the previous posts to the new platform.
Most of us would rather not have to deal with this, unless it would be a more permanent, proven move that could lead the blog to grow by leaps and bounds. For this reason, it would be a much easier approach to blog from Blogger, as some leading companies have continued to do.
Benefits of Staying with Blogger/Sharing Thoughts from Blogger
As previously mentioned, there are quite a few web-oriented companies that haven’t even setup their own blog on a custom domain, yet a sub-domain. Two that come to mind are Alexa and Associated Content. There must be a clear reason behind this, as it is quite painless to setup a sub-domain with Blogger or nearly any other platform.
- There are no additional costs or hosting fees associated with staying with Blogger. All the files are kept off-site, through the Picasa photo sharing and hosting service.
- It is extremely easy to maintain Blogger blogs, especially if you don’t want to create the full-fledged blog using other more complex systems.
- The company doesn’t have to be concerned about uptime. Unless there is a rare outage, Blogger has an uptime fairly close to one hundred percent.
- Built-in support for multiple authors allows you to focus on getting your ideas and any site/company updates out to your readers.
- You don’t necessarily need to know any form of coding or design – Blogger Gadgets allows these companies to add any necessary elements without looking elsewhere or having to deal with third-party widgets or tools.
Disadvantages
Although there are many advantages for both small and large companies when it comes to keeping your site on one of the *.blogspot.com domains, there are quite a few disadvantages. Remember that we are dealing with companies that have already developed a brand, and aren’t talking about starting a blog from scratch – more so, adding a blog to an existing brand.
- Less traffic and readers will visit the “blog” area of your site when you don’t focus as heavily on this area. As in the case of the examples provided earlier, my guess would be that they created the blogs simply to provide updates and a status of how the company is doing, rather than daily updates from a staff of writers.
- This approach is less conventional than having a blog setup as either blog.domain.com or domain.com/blog/, again leading to less readership over time.
- Listed under search engine results, many sites have a blog, which searchers might find useful. However, with a blog hosted off of your main server/site, it is more difficult for them to find your blog – it would probably listed further down the list instead.
Conclusion
Should you have started a site a few years ago (or didn’t think about adding a blog at first), adding one can be beneficial to your customers or readers. There are little excuses when it comes to starting with Blogger, and it is nearly as easy to create templates and integrate Blogger into your existing site as other platforms. Plus, it is simple to use and compatible, offering many features.
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I’m no guru when it comes to making blogs, and Blogspot.com or other blog services like WordPress really simplifies the process of making blogs. I find that a lot of people find my blog through Blogspot.com search.
It would be interesting to read some comparisons of advantages and disadvantages between blogspot and wordpress.
It may simplify the process, but in the longer run of things, spending $9 per year on a domain and $20 per year on hosting will give your blog a much better image.
Personally I can’t stand subdomain blogs… they just scream ‘spam’ to me…
i complately agree… i would love to have my blog on blogger rather than host it somewhere else… its too easy and managable…
Are you for real? It takes 10 minutes to set up a wordpress blog (or a few seconds if you have a hosting package with Fantastico), and WP is far easier to use than Blogger
mayb you are right.. but i have zero knowledge about wordpress.. so can’t comment on that
but ya you should take purchase a domain name.. because many people like simon will never visit your blog if its a subdomain.. n its true…the day i got a domain name for my blog… i got double the usual traffic…
Exactly. People are much more likely to trust a website with a proper domain, thus getting you better traffic and better comments, and therefore more trust. It’s a big circle that allows your blog to grow and grow
free blogger blogs is good and bad in the same time , i saw much famous blogs hosted there but sometime they move to a paid hosting and paid domains , but it will be good chance foe new bloggers to know how to do it
when you finish learning you can get your own hosting/domains , because you gained good experience ” some choose to continue with blogger ” .
The typical path for beginners is to start with Blogger and then much later move to paid hosting and using WordPress.
that i was telling , but some people stick with blogger even after they become famous ” not high percentage ” but at least there is famous bloggers use blogspot .
Sticking with blogspot does makes sense considering its importance.
I have 4 blogs using Blogger right now. Blogger is more easy to maintain compared to WP which requires more technical knowledge.
I think you shouldn’t use it. I’m sure blogger is fine for testing, but I like to control my property and not leave it in the hands of blogger.
bloggers who use blogspot don’t care about hosting and space + bandwidth so they continue using it , not look for more tools as wordpress , also blogger team always develop it .
I am using blogger,but I do have my own dot com,and hence my site looks like a self hosted one..So,I think a dot com hosted on blogger will be highly beneficial.
I gree with you that you can get the best of both worlds by using your own domain while your blog is still hosted by Blogger.
I haven’t notice any downtime using Blogger yet. I do spend $10 a year on a domain though because I don’t like the .blogspot.com subdomain.
don’t you think that paid hosting allow you to do what you want in your domain ( which you buy ) ? you can add sub-domains and pages ( foe example : install joomla in home page and add forum to it and blog too ) you can link them all . but with blogspot hosting you can do it ?
Great article. I usually go ahead and get off of the blogspot domain when I do my blogs. However, it is very tough to get a blog not on that domain started.
I started with Blogengine.net because my hosting company said that WordPress could net be installed on my hosting server. Recently, my Blogengine blogs stopped allowing me to log into the admin, so I have decided to move my posts to blogger blogs instead. Personally, I like the appearance of my blogger blogs better, and I don’t believe that Google is going out of business soon!
While nothing betters your own domain name and a paid hosting service, if you are serious about blogging for the long haul, additional blogs will become necessary when this alternative can be considered. The advantages are significant and are well presented by you.
Once you know what to do, it seems cost effective to do it right the first time when you are going to pay for hosting.
I agree. If you are trying to make a high traffic, high profile blog, it is best to start off right with your own domain and hosting. Just my opinion.
Definately… you’re much more likely to remember and revisit ‘domain.com’ than ‘domain.blogspot.com’. It just much more sense to me than spend the TINY amount on domain and hosting. If you can’t afford those, then you probably shouldn’t be a webmaster
Let me tell you. I could kick myself for not knowing about Blogger before sinking thousands into a web site that is not doing me much good. I will not get rid of it because of the cost. Blogger is giving me the exposure I need and it is so easy to manage. I am telling everyone I can about this site and hopefully they will take advantage of it like me and many others. Thanks again for your wonderful posts!
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Eddie
Not being funny, but can I ask how using Blogger got you more exposure? Usually it goes the other way, so just wondering how it helped?
Thanks
I would be interested to know this too. Do you just mean the promotion done by blogger? Also, I can see the strong domain being helpful. Are these 2 items what you are talking about?
Hi Eddie. It was different for me since I was already aware of Blogger since 2006 but did not see the opportunity that time.
you should remember too, that you can export your blogger content to other content management systems, such as wordpress, then redirect your blogger subdomain to your new domain if you decide you want to upgrade.
It’s actually not that difficult.
It is obvious that stickint to blogger is not worth. For god’s sake, it is $10 to purchase a domain and wordpress is free.
How about the cost of hosting? If you have no money to use at first, then you can’t afford hosting.
A self hosted blog can out rank a blogger blog easily. I think it is better to be in control of your marketing and link building instead of relying on a third party provider.
Having your own unique domain and hosting is definitely preferential to having a blog as a sub-domain, whether it be Blogger or WordPress. So if you are intent on having your blog as a money generating endeavours it definitely is preferential to have your own.
This is also a very good point. The highest price I’ve ever seen a subdomain blogspot site sell for is just $20, and that was PR3! :O
I am sure a PR3 with decent traffic would sell in the hundreds depending on niche. This is a good point.
Myabe if it had a proper extension, but because it was a blogspot domain it was deemed practically worthless and it went for $20!
Time and again I have been lucky to receive useful contributions from here. I am really obliged.
One more advantage – people searching for your products/etc will end up with only the sell pages at your domain instead of just random blog posts. I think that’s a pretty good one!
I prefer blogspot because of ease of use. Plus it’s totally free. I do have WordPress blogs but find that i rarely update them. Theres always a problem with the code or plug-in of some sort that can be very irritating. One good thing about WordPress though is some of their templates look very professional, which is a harder thing to find with blogger.
I agree with you., Bogspot is gaining acceptance and the “subdomain” problem is not really a problem since Google owns the product.
well it’s easy to code and modify templates and so customization is so easy compared to wordpress
As long as other people are willing to pay for WP themes and hosting, peoplw will continue to sell them anyway. Blogspot will be the option for those who don’t want to spend too much money on blogging.
I Love WordPress!
I think people should inevitably move onto their own site. You need to own and control your intellectual propery.
Since I am not very tech savvy, Blogger just seems like the best fit for me. I find it very easy to change all aspects of my blog, which is nice. I think for a lot of simple “mom bloggers” like myself, the simpliest platform for blogging is just the best choice. I like that it is very no hassle and easy to understand. But, all the previous commenters do bring out some valid points. This post has given me a lot to think about.
Blogger’s target market is the plug and play blogger who can worry more about writing content than SEO or popularity. WordPress is for the blogger who wants to expose his blog to more people. Both platforms exist for people to have a choice.
Strange, but I have noticed blogspot blogs ranking faster for which ever keyword you choose in the search engines. I guess you can give that an advantage. I recently ranked in one day for a 2-word keyword phrase. I think they are moving closer to blogspot now, I think.
Personally, I prefer blogspot or wordpress, because I know I would never sell or brand my blog as professional. Anyway, it’s good to read the pros and cons here.
Blogspot is great they have a great site and a lot of back links that is how they are able to help you rank for words so quickly.