A newbie blogger has to deal with many hurdles. But if you Choose the right Blogging platform, you have already overcome the major one. You may get confused with the various options suggested by Google search. Every platform that appears on the first page promises to be the best for a specific category.
Here is the comprehensive list that we have got for you (based on google search).

These are the conventional blogger requirements that we could come up with. You are free to compile your own list. On a standard ground, the most popular platforms are Wordpress, Tumblr and BlogSpot. In this post, we are going to compare two of them- WordPress and Blogpost. Sorry let me make it very clear, WordPress here means WordPress.org (the self-hosted version of WordPress) and not the WordPress.com (the free blogging site).

WordPress.com and BlogSpot both offer free blogging platform to start a blogging career. The word “FREE” associated with these platforms may get some eyeballs, but in the long run, you notice certain shortcomings. WordPress.org, on the other hand, provides nearly to perfect solution for all your blogging needs. Let’s find out why WordPress is better for you than BlogSpot.

WordPress Vs BlogSpot

Just a little google search will tell, you how many bloggers have moved to WordPress after starting their blog on BlogSpot. Let’s discuss the limitations of BlogSpot that WordPress eliminates.

1. Ownership of your blog

This is the main reason for many bloggers to choose WordPress over any other free blogging site including BlogSpot. Users want to have complete access to the content they publish on a blogging platform. With the self-hosting nature of WordPress, you get better controlling-power including timely back up of your website content. You are free to modify anything on your site be it the theme, design, plugin, structure, look and feel, etc. In addition, you can extend your website capability by adding e-commerce or portfolio. With WordPress, you get the flexibility to move all your website content to any other platform/CMS of your choice.

A prevalent problem that many BlogSpot bloggers have faced and reported is Google removing their blogs without any warning. At BlogSpot, technically you do not own your blogs and Google can delete them if

• They find inappropriate content in your blog.
• Your blog does not adhere to Google’s terms and conditions.
• People or spammers report your blog as spam.
• You have not logged in to your BlogSpot account for more than two weeks.

It’s scary to wake up and find your blogs deleted by someone. What if you have not taken any back up. That’s why we always recommend using self-hosted WordPress blog.

2. Monetization

BlogSpot has a built-in Google AdSense widget to support monetization through adds. It also facilitates other modes of advertisement, but you need to insert advertiser code manually into your blog through text gadgets.

WordPress provides many AdSense ready themes which enable you to quickly insert AdSense code to your blog. Moreover, you can also display advertisements in between your post contents using plugins. With WordPress, you get complete control and freedom to run banner Ads and affiliate links. WordPress also supports page wise advertising.

So, if you are serious about making some money; consider self-hosted WordPress to build your blog site.

3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Any blogger would like to optimize his/her blogs for search engines to get better traffic. Search engines bring organic traffic which is key to a profitable blog. Even though BlogSpot is owned by Google, it is not very SEO friendly due to following reasons.

• Requires manual optimization of the blog for search engines.
• Themes available are not SEO friendly.
• Needs major template changes to achieve better on-page SEO.
• Cannot include metadata inside blog which makes content optimization difficult for social media sharing.
• Permalink structure is not very SEO friendly.

SO, if you want better search rank, Blogpost admittedly is not a good option. WordPress is better equipped to make your website SEO friendly such as

• Specially designed themes (free and paid) to achieve better on-page SEO.
• Supports SEO plugin like Yoast which is a great way to optimize individual page/post by yourself.
• Supports metadata inside blog to optimize content for social media.

4. Themes and Templates

BlogSpot has limited theme options and frankly speaking they do not look professional either. The quality of themes available on the internet is substandard. Customization is limited to changing colour and layout. There are few widgets available on BlogSpot, but you need to code yourself if you want to customise them. So, BlogSpot has not much to offer to advanced bloggers.

WordPress is a clear winner when it comes to customization. It has more than 3000 free and paid theme options and widgets to choose from. WordPress provides you with FTP access; you can use it to alter template and change the look and feel of website theme. In addition to all that they have an excellent support system in place to help you customise your website. If you ever need a professional website, WordPress is your go-to place.

5. Plugin and Support

BlogSpot provides easy to use plugins for basic functionality, but they are limited in numbers. You need to edit the theme even if you need simple functionality like showing related posts or social media sharing. If you want to integrate essential features like Google Analytics, you will need to insert the code into the template.

WordPress is blessed on that front. It is home to hundreds of powerful plugins to modify and extend the default features. Whether you want to display ad or user subscription form, integrate an online store or create a portfolio, WordPress covers all your blogging needs. There are premium plugins to provide security, speediness, quality maintenance to WordPress users. On top of everything, WordPress has a strong community of developers, excellent documentation, forums and chat rooms to help you develop a supercharged professional website.

6. Reselling your blog

Suppose, due to any unforeseen reason you want to quit at BlogSpot. You will not lose any money as there is no investment involved but what about the sincere efforts you have put on creating meaningful contents.
BlogSpot does not allow reselling of blogs, and you should consider this point before starting a blog on this platform (or any free blogging site).
WordPress, on the other hand, requires you to invest a certain amount but, it also allows reselling your blogs. What would you prefer? Spending a little some or losing on your quality articles. I guess, it not a hard choice to make.

This post may look more biased towards WordPress. But, we have used both the platforms and found WordPress more suitable for advanced blogging. It indeed provides more features, updates, control and support than any other free blogging platforms.
If you just want a sprint on blogging; try BlogSpot, but if you are up for a marathon; go for WordPress without a second thought.

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