Blogger Vs WordPress - What's Right For You?

By Simon Bunker

Which blogging platform should I choose?

When it comes to choosing a platform for your new business blog, it can be a daunting task. There are so many choices available, all of which have various plus and minus points. Two of the most popular choices are Blogger and WordPress. In this article I aim to help you make decide which is the right platform for your business blog. Before we do that let me just offer a little background information on both Blogger and WordPress.

Blogger launched on May 9th 1999 by a small company called Pyra Labs. At the time it was one of the earliest tools dedicated to online publishing or blogging. In 2003 the company, Pyra Labs, was purchased by Google and over the following years the platform was migrated solely to Google owned and operated equipment. As it stands Blogger is one of the most highly trafficked domains in the world.

WordPress started in 2003 with the original goal of improving typography found in everyday web writing. At the time little did they know that WordPress would become the single largest self hosted blogging/self publishing environment in the world. Millions of sites are using the WordPress engine to power their blogs and websites across the world.

Ok, so that is the background to Blogger and WordPress. So, which one is right for your business blog?

How much do they cost?

I am going to start with the financial aspects as that is something that most businesses are concerned with. The good news is that both Blogger and WordPress are free, completely free. You don't need to buy a license to use them or pay any ongoing subscription costs. However, WordPress comes in two forms. Hosted and self hosted. Hosted is self explanatory, in that your blog will be hosted on WordPress servers, but with Self hosted WordPress you will need to purchase a web hosting package to host your blog. Blogger however is completely hosted and does not provide a self hosted option. For the remainder of this article I will be referring to the self hosted version of WordPress. So, in summary if you are on a very tight financial budget Blogger is the cheaper option.

Can I use my own Domain name with these tools?

In short yes you can. WordPress as its hosted on your own hosting will give you full control over the domain name addressing. Blogger will also allow you to point your own domain at your Blogger blog, however all your content will still be hosted on the Blogger servers and it will require some technical know how to get set up.

Can I customise my blog?

WordPress will allow you to fully customise the look and feel of your blog. There are thousands of WordPress themes available or if you are conversant with HTML and CSS you can create a custom theme which matches your business website, alternatively you can hire a web designer to design you a custom theme. Blogger does have some templates available but these can be quite limiting and because it's hosted you will not be able to fully integrate the site into your business website.

Do I have control over my content?

With WordPress most definitely. As the site is on your web hosting you will be able to back up and safely store your content should a problem ever strike. You will also be able to control what content goes onto your site. If you choose to use Blogger you need to be aware that your content is stored on servers owned by Google and you have very little control over what happens to it. This may not be a huge problem but it is something that you must consider when making your choice.

Summary

In summary both Blogger and WordPress are ideally suited to a business blog albeit with some limitations. If you want a quick and easy blog platform that's all managed for you then Blogger would probably be the choice, however do be mindful of the control that you are relinquishing. If however you want a blog that you have full control over and have access to all the customisation tools then I would recommend that you rel=nofollow [http://simonbunker.co.uk/get-blogging]get blogging with WordPress.

About the Author:

Simon Bunker is the owner of Technology Consulting firm Samba Consulting http://www.sambaconsulting.com. Samba Consulting provide technology consulting services specifically tailored to the small business owner. The services offered by Samba Consulting include Blogging, Social Media,Affliate Marketing and all things online. If you are a small business owner or new to running a business and need some impartial advice on the best technology to use in your business please do visit the Samba Consulting website.