Continuing from part one; here is a list of Blogger pros and cons. I’ll refer to the new Blogger here, which just came out of Beta recently:
Blogger pros
- For many people, it’s their first ever taste of web publishing. Create an account and you’re on your way to write your first post and get it published on the web.
- Makes it easy to apply for Adsense. It is easier to apply for Adsense if you do it through Blogger, because the Adsense guys seem less inclined to scrutinize your application via Blogger. Your account gets approved within 1-2 days.
- No worries about server problems, hosting problems, hacking problems…etc. Blogger manages all that for you. All you need to worry about is making quality posts.
- Google indexes Blogger blogs pretty rapidly, since Google owns Blogger. Just get a few backlinks and you should get indexed fairly quickly most of the time.
- The latest Blogger now allows you to setup your own custom domains and have Blogger forward your existing Blogger blog to your domain. Read more about it here. This is perhaps the biggest change in the new Blogger.
- Good simple wysiwyg editor, apparently more reliable than the current WordPress one. IMHO, although very basic, it seems to form HTML well. Also allows for fast direct image uploading into the post and even allows for Hindi writing (other languages should be on the way).
- One of the best free ways of setting up a quick site on any profitable topic and sending traffic to your other sites.
Blogger cons
- The latest Blogger is still having a few niggling issues. Here is the blog maintained by Blogger about those issues. Most issues are to do with FTP publishing, archives and browser compatibility.
- Difficult to import external widgets or plugins into Blogger because authors have to tailor their widgets specifically for Blogger, and Blogger doesn’t have many widgets or plugins like WordPress to start with, although this could change later on, with new widgets being developed. But WordPress is still way ahead on this.
- Limited theme/template options to choose from. If you look at the selection at Blogger, you will understand why it’s quite limited. Plus, they look similar.
- Site is slow to load. No doubt due to the traffic on Blogger. Then again, an Alexa ranking of 15 is tough to beat.
- Blogger can and does delete your blog if they don’t like what you’re saying or if you’re using automated blogging software, which I wouldn’t recommend as well. I’ve heard of people losing their whole blog collection at Blogger, so its best to always bear that in mind.
To surmise, WordPress is great for setting out on your own, and having as much control over your blog and domains, as you possibly can. You are only practically limited by your imagination. Blogger is great for newbies who don’t want to get their hands dirty with technical aspects and the latest improvements such as setting up your own custom domains on Blogger, means that it will continue to be a very important section of the blogosphere for a long time to come. Ultimately, the choice of which one to use is largely determined by individual taste.