As I had told earlier in my previous post, I have been blogging for past one year. That was in blogspot (or blogger; which is the latest name, I am not sure). But, have seen the WordPress platform and also tried to install it on a server. I was impressed by this software from the first sight itself. In this post I am trying to enumerate the different features of both WordPress and Blogspot.
Blogspot
- Good one for newbies. Simple interface to start with.
- You need to have the assistance from a 3rd party to track the performance of your blog. Note that outbound links will reduce the PR (if you are so concerned about it).
- Incorporating Google Adsense ads is much easier. I think this was one way by the intelligent Google to attract people to blogspot. The majority of income from a click on an ads goes to Google and we, the publishers get peanuts.
- Comment notification by e-mail is just another useful utility in Blogspot. And this feature was used extensively by Malayalam comment aggregators like ‘Marumozhikal‘ and erstwhile ‘pinmozhikal‘
- Labels are a new thing to blogspot users, came with the upgradation to Blogger 2.0
- The templates available are very few and among them only few looks good and professional.
- Another feature in Blogspot is to blog through e-mail. By setting a ‘Mail-to-Blogger Address ‘ in blogger settings, you can blog from anywhere using e-mail. This is useful when the blogspot site is inaccessible due to some reason or other (like banning).
WordPress
- Even WordPress is manageable for newbies. Except for some controls, I think everything else is ok.
- Without having a third party software, you get a lot of statistics. Like the referrer URL, number of hits, hits per day etc which help you to track the performance of your blog.
- You can’t insert Google ads into this version of WordPress. BUT, you can do it, if you install wordpress on your server. This is one place WordPress faces setback. Maybe it is their policy not to entertain Google to earn income at the cost of my (WordPress’s) server space and resources. WordPress will get more users if they allow this. (I am least affected, as Google had banned me from Adsense program for malpractices, he! he! he! he! , “Chathiyan Chanthu“ )
- I am not so sure about any comment notification facility, though I started getting Alert! mails for comment moderation. But, those mails are not as clean as comment notification mails from blogspot. I am not complaining though, as the information included in those mails are very useful in dealing with trolls and anonymous buggers. A good feature in fact, but troublesome to newbies.
- Labels are categories here in WordPress and it is not new for WordPress bloggers. Infact before Blogger 2.0, this was one reason most blogspot users find to migrate to WordPress.
- The templates available here, in this server are limited, though you get a hell lot of templates if you are installing Wordpress platform on another server. There are also different kinds of plugins or add-ons (or whatever it is) for your WordPress blog, which will make you WordPress blogging more convenient. And, that is one reason for calling WordPress more ‘flexible’ than Blogspot. But, unfortunately you need to have WordPress on another server to use these plugins.
- Blogging via e-mail is not possible by default. I don’t know whether there are any plugins available to help you in that. If you know any such plugins please comment on it. (EDIT:- Blogging via e-mail is possible in wordpress.com, sorry for the wrong info I posted and please excuse my ignorance.)
- Blogs at WordPress (in this server) are available via https:// (Secure http). Some more privacy, helpful sometimes when Wordpress site is blocked. Its really a nice thing to have this encrypted connection.
- This basic installation of WordPress in this server also gives a different blogging experience. It tracks the inbound clicks, out-going clicks, other stats.It even tracks the comments I made with this wordpress account.
- Tag Surfer is just another cool feature of WordPress which enables you to surf related blogs with similar tags you made in your blog.
The Verdict
Undoubtedly we can say, WordPress is the best especially when you are not blogging for money. WordPress performs at its best when installed on another server. Though, blogspot has its own advantages like ‘blogging through e-mail’ , I go for WordPress for its versatility. And, that is one of the reasons why I opted for WordPress to start my English blog.
And the blogspot bloggers need not worry. In WordPress, there is an option to export their ‘blogs with comments’ into WordPress platform.
UPDATE :- This is another review by smmellott , Google Blogger vs. WordPress. Check that too.
UPDATE:- Read this article, Of Blogging… and About it! by Amit Haralalka
if you want ads, blogspot’s the place for you. it’s better than self-hosted wordpress in that sense as you can earn money for free, while hosting wordpress on your own you still have you pay some fees.
i like wp.com because of tag & blog surfer, and also the community spirit it fosters through these features and via the wordpress forums, where anybody can volunteer to provide blogging support to wp.com users.
Hey, think you forgot to mention about the flexibility of the blogger’s look and feel. you could transform it the way you want. don’t really think wordpress is that stretchy
What ever u say, i’ll say Blogger roxx and gives u much more freedom than anything like livejournal or wordpress. The inbuilt templates in blogger suck and all know about that! But there are millions of freely available templates with which you can edit the looks of ur page!
nice analysis but not sure of it
coz i prefer ibibo for revenue for writers
u work hard u get money
so it would be a nice option
Few days ago i read one comments. “If you wants to earn money you have to spend money”. You know everything is not free.
Again on my point of view, if you want to blogging here just cooooooooool place(wp) and if you want to earn money through blogging(blogger) which is one step faster from WP on that way, and thus many people use blogspot. Yah! you are right. If WP allow thrird parties add, i think WP get much more poularity. But, it’s upto depens on WP authority.
Finally, I love WP. I can’t stay without WP. WP all the best and thanks to all developers.
Thanks
Thats a good comparison! thanks. I debuted in blogspot recently. I mainly talk about my travels! well.. I do not think i blog for for money, and I have not added adsense! Btw I am not interested in most of it vs peanuts ratio!
I am with wordpress.. always
its the best
Hmm…
Blogger too got a lot of cool IIIrd Party templates, can be used without changing the server. Blogger too got an option to change it to custom server and then it becomes more customizable. WordPress is not that customizable, they are disabling lot of things, may be because of Security reasons. But I dont like it. One example is, they wont allow you to enter custom flash widgets, custom scripts etc.
One main feature I like in WordPress is this comment box. No need to click on a ‘Post a Comment’ link. But in blogger too it is possible, using some custom scripts. For a new blogger they may find it difficult.
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ippo daily blogginf aayallo!
im sticking wioth blogger for now. was thinking for sometime if i wanted to try wp. after reading ur post, i dont think so.
i have been using wordpress for the past one month and quiting it for blogger would mnake me nostalgic
by the way i can open ur blogspot page through mozilla and through IE i see only boxes ..which font are u using??
Blogger.com is the BEST. But all old bloggers including johntp.com, johnchow.com, use WordPress
Hi! Thank you so much for mentioning my blog posts on my review of Blogspot vs. WordPress (and others). I’ve finished the series (part 1: the test Part 2: the results Part 3: the others). And if you want to read these, I have moved to a new blog (a self-hosted wordpress blog) and this is the new link to the first of my posts on this: http://clear.bluedei.com/2007/07/14/google-blogger-vs-wordpress/
[...] Here is another look at these 2 blog engines. Also, read my next post for info on using Google Analytics for tracking [...]
Blogger is better because it allows you to monetize your blog where as here in wordpress… any form of monetising your blog like displaying ads, displaying affiliate links, and even writing a sponsored post are prohibited.
WordPress earns a lot money from its bloggers but bloggers cannot earn from being a member of this site. That’s unfair.
I just signed up for wordpress. I added my adsence code by clicking the code button and then inserting my adsence code into my article. I do not think it is right it is not shpowing articles. How do I make money with my adsence account using wpordpress can anybody tell me. I have absloutely no idea and it would be nice if someone would explain it to me in easier terms. I am so new to the whole computer experience. It took me 3 months just to figure out how to even use adsence. The only way I know how to add my code is by going to spot that can do it for me. I have not idea about editors or anything anyway can some one tell me how I can make money using wp.com thanks you my name is marianne email msawers@telus.net