7 Reasons I Wish I Started My Blog with WordPress

I don’t normally blog about blogging. But I wanted to share a few reasons I wish I would have started my blog on WordPress instead of blogger.

I started blogging for fun in 2014 and really started to post regularly at the beginning of 2016. I started my original blog using blogger, it was free and easy to set up. Now I wish I would have started using WordPress instead of starting on blogger, here is why.

7 Reasons I Wish I started My Blog with WordPress

Customization

I have found it to be much easier to make changes to my WordPress site than it was on blogger. With blogger, there are some basic changes that you can make to the layout without knowing how to code but the options are limited. Blogger also has gadgets that can help your site do different things, but I have noticed that WordPress plugins seem to work much better and there are a lot more options.

With WordPress I have not had to change the coding – I have found plugins for all of the changes I want to make. When I wanted to make changes to my Blogger site it seemed like I was editing code a lot (which takes a lot more time and doesn’t always work).

Organization

When writing, a post using blogger you can add labels to each post and it’s helpful but gets cluttered.

Using WordPress, you can put your post in a primary category along with minor categories if desired. You can also add tags that work similarly to labels.

I also feel like the dashboard for WordPress is a lot more organized than the dashboard for Blogger.

Search Engine Optimization

When I was using Blogger, and trying to optimize my SEO (Search Engine Optimization) I was able to add a search description for the post, and title text as well as alt text to my photos.

With WordPress, I’m using the Plugin Yoast SEO there are both free and paid versions. This Plugin has made SEO on my blog so much easier.

This plugin shows you what your post will look like when it shows up in search results, and you are able to edit the Meta Description (The little blurb that shows up under the title). You are also able to enter a Focus Keyword. My favorite thing about the plugin is that it has a content analysis and then gives you suggestions on how to improve your SEO. The plugin gives your blog post a green light if the SEO is good a Yellow/Orange light if it needs work and a red light if it’s bad.

Pinterest

With Pinterest, you can add a pin it button to both a WordPress and Blogger site; you can have rich pins on both platforms. So why did Pinterest make my list of reasons I wish I started blogging on WordPress?

Because at some point if you decide to switch to self-hosted using WordPress, you can end up with a bunch of broken links on Pinterest. This is really a pain if you change your domain and you have a had a pin gain a lot of attention and suddenly the link doesn’t work. There are ways to forward the link to your new site – but it is much easier to just start on WordPress.

Rent VS. Own

This was one of the deciding factors that made me switch from Blogger to WordPress. When you create a blog on blogger you are basically renting the space from Google. Google owns your site, you are just using it.

With WordPress, you own your blog/site. Owning your site does mean more work in the sense that you are responsible for your own site security and backup, but you also have a lot more freedom with what you can do.

Domain

With blogger, you can purchase and register a domain if you want a more professional web address instead of yoursite.blogspot.com.

With WordPress, you must purchase your own domain (If you get your hosting with Bluehost the domain name is Free for the first year.)

Storage Space

When you start a blog on blogger you are given about 1 GB of free storage space and I believe you can purchase more space from google if needed. With a WordPress site, you must purchase your own hosting space. I started using Bluehost in May and I have been very impressed. If You use a link from my post you can get the basic package for $3.95 a month and this includes a FREE domain name for a year.

Do you wish you would have started your blog differently?

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