I’ve been on WordPress for 4 months now and I really wanted to take the time to let y’all know about my experience with it. Some of you may be thinking about making the move and I hope some of this might help you one way or another.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that lots of bloggers made the move to WordPress in the last few months. It all started with the treat that Blogger could delete your blog any time they wanted to, but for lots of bloggers, including myself, it was just time to make the switch. I’m going to try to explain my reasons and why people keep saying ‘WordPress is just better’.
Firstly, I think the .com vs .org thing confuses lots of people. I know I was confused at first. WordPress.com is a free blogging platform, like Blogger. WordPress.org is for self-hosted blogs. Meaning you have to have a hosting account and pay a yearly fee for your hosting. You then own your blog and have complete control over everything. In my humble opinion there’s no point in switching to WP unless you self host. Here’s why: WordPress.com is fantastic but it’s limited. There’s tons of fabulous options but there’s tons of fabulous options on Blogger. The big deal breaker for me is that WordPress.com doesn’t allow you to customize your design html easily and there’s no plugins on the .com site. Some might think that WordPress.com is still better than Blogger but I honestly don’t think it’s worth the hassle of switching. Self-hosting is definitely worth it.
So why switch?
- The SEO options are amazing. I’m still learning but I’m really in love with them. I know Blogger has SEO options now but I haven’t looked into it. I can’t imagine that it would be as extensive as some of the WP plugins.
- Plugins, plugins, plugins. When I switched I really didn’t comprehend the awesomeness that is plugins. It’s really became my most loved thing about WP. Imagine just downloading something that will do all the work for you. It’s incredible and if you have no other reasons for switching, plugins should be enough reason. Stay tuned next week for a post all about plugins!
- Design aspects. There’s so, so much more.
Why I switched:
- I’ve been blogging for 3.5 years and it was really just time to grow my blog in ways that Blogger wouldn’t allow.
- I wanted to learn how to do WP design….and for that I needed a WP site.
Really, that’s all. Looking back it was maybe a rash decision that just happened to work out very well. I couldn’t be more pleased with WP. It’s definitely not for everyone. If you’re more of a casual, post once or twice a week blogger than a free site is probably a better answer for you, but if you want to grow your blog and get nearly limitless options then you should look into self-hosting.
If you have any questions about WP feel free to ask away!
I love WP and I was excited when I finally decided to switch. I never looked back! Mainly for the same reasons you mentioned.
I LOVE Pluggins… they are addicting.. I installed tons and deinstalled them when I didn’t like them. But still, they offer so many possiblities!!
The Design was something very important to me, but also the structure of the site. I just LOVE my Featured Slider and I know I wouldn’t want to live without it anymore!
DannyBookworm recently posted..My Reading Spot Featuring Lorie from Pure Imagination
I keep installing plugins and deleting them as well! I just want to see what they do.
I have really been thinking about this for a while. I still feel a bit unsure about it. I am nervous about learning a new platform I think. However, there really does seem to be advantages that are worth the move. I think I will wait until after the baby is born and she is a few months old. When I am ready to get back to full time blogging I will probably pay someone to make the switch for me! Thank you for taking the time to explain the reasons behind your switch. I am looking forward to your post on plug-ins too. I have heard a lot about them but I don’t really comprehend what they do and/or how they work.
Shannon@BooksDevoured recently posted..TGIF ~ Literary Vacations
There’s so many advantages! I really love it on WP, and I’m so happy I made the switch. I don’t blame you about paying someone. It’s very stressful!
I am not very tech savvy, so I think that Blogger is good for me for now. Maybe down the road when I learn a bit more about html and such things wordpress would be an option for me. I started as a wordpress blog, but the free one was really hard to use and didn’t have many options that I understood. Blogger is easy for me for the most part. This is a really great post though. I think that self hosted wordpress is definitely a good thing for those how know how to do the things they want with their blogs.
Amy @ Book Loving Mom recently posted..Cover Reveal: Just Breathe (Just Breathe #3) by Kendall Grey
Blogger is so great! I still have 2 other blogs on Blogger and I still love it.
Amen. I appreciate the previous article you wrote on making the switch. It really helped me a lot. I’m still overwhelmed by it all and still have tons of links to clean up. And I still have no idea how to work with SEO even though I have the plugin…lol
Smash Attack recently posted..TGIF: Literary Vacations
I’m so happy it helped! What SEO plugin are you using? I googled tutorials on how to set it up. There’s tons of videos that explain how to set everything. It was so helpful.
I’m using Yoast. I do think I will watch some videos…
Smash Attack recently posted..Smash reviews Inahle
yesss to plug-ins! They make life SO MUCH EASIER and I love with just one click, a plug-in can do so much for you. Can’t wait to read your post about them!
elena recently posted..(pretty girls make graves) review: fury by shirley marr
Lori, thank you for this post. I know it’s a commitment to join WP (self-hosting) and I’m seriously considering it. Talking through it with my hubby and whatnot. I will definitely come to you should I have questions.
Laura recently posted..Waiting on Wednesday 35
I actually started out blogging on WP, and then I found Blogger. I’m not good with html and stuff like that yet, so Blogger was just easier for me to design.
Stephanie recently posted..Review: Afterlife by Claudia Gray
I’m seriously considering switching to WordPress soon, and I’ve been looking all over for posts exactly like this. The con for me has been the fact that I’d have to pay for it, but I’m just finding more and more reasons that it’s worth switching. Thanks for adding your thoughts – you’ve convinced me a little more.
Anne recently posted..Book Review: Goddess Interrupted
Out of curiosity, now that I think about it, is there a way to keep your design when transferring? I recently redesigned, and I’d like to keep the same color scheme/header etc.
Anne recently posted..Book Review: Goddess Interrupted
There’s no easy way to keep your full design unfortunately. WP CSS and HTML are so different than Blogger’s so it doesn’t really carry over. There’s tons of really awesome free (and not free) designs for WP. Definitely more than Blogger. Plus, you can set most of the themes up with your own header and background and make everything match.
I did a post right after I switched that detailed how it went for me. I also link to a lady that will switch your blog & design for you, plus you get one year of hosting all for $80…I think. So you might want to check that out!
I’m a Blogger blogger still. I’ve been blogging pretty steadily since 2010, but started in 09. Although I have no technology skills whatsoever! I liked Blogger because the template I have is really nice and so far I haven’t had any issues, besides an almost scare when they said my blog was gone, but it turns out it wasn’t–I hadn’t always logged out and have had lots of virus problems so I marked it up to that being the issue.
I haven’t really comprehended the whole move people have been taking. I’m not technologically skilled, like I said, yet I’m a pretty regular blogger. Reviews take time to come in these days since I work pt, but I don’t know if I’m ready for WordPress. Someone was nice enough to make a blog button for me earlier this year or late last year, up until then I didn’t have one because I had no clue how to make one.
Thinking it might be best for me to just stick with Blogger for the time being though. If I ever get more skill in the technological aspect, I might consider switching, I just don’t know honestly. I’m not a well known blogger either, I don’t get many books for review unless I win one or actually request it from the author or publisher.
Sorry for my long comment! Talking to myself mostly and just trying to figure out what I should do!
Blogger is so fantastic and easy to use. I still love it. I probably would have never considered switching if it weren’t for wanting to learn about WP design. I think Blogger is still an amazing option.
Hi Lori, I have a question for you. My italian booksblog is on blogger but with a custom domain. I want to switch to wordpress but I want to keep my actual address, livingforbooks.com. Is there a way to do it?
Yuko86 recently posted..Cover Wars (71)
Yes, you can still keep your domain name. I kept mine when I switched. You just have to change where the nameservers point to. (That’s if you’re doing self-hosted, it might be a different process with wordpress.com)
I’m on Blogger and plan to stay put for now. I don’t understand html that well and like my design. So I don’t feel like I have a reason to leave at the moment. I don’t feel like, TO ME, wordpress is as easy to navigate as a reader. I have never found a wordpress site that felt “easy” to me. Perhaps this is because I read several blog posts and comment on them all at once vs. reading each post each day? I’m not sure. It’s nice when there is a box on the sidebar with the “Latest Posts” but even then, they only go back so far and sometimes I want to go back further than that. Sometimes there is a “Previous” or “Next” at the top or bottom of the page, which is the easiest thing I’ve found so far, but I haven’t found it on too many blogs. To each his own, really. I still will visit the blogs I love the same.
Also, I’ve heard the term plugin a zillion times but I don’t know what it means. I downloaded one for Windows Live Writer the other day but can’t find it on there and don’t know what it does. Hehe
THAT’s why I need to stay put at Blogger, I guess. I am comfortable enough there that I don’t need to rock my world too much.
Great post, Lori. You’re smart!
Asheley (@BookwormAsheley) recently posted..Let’s Talk On Book-to-Film Adaptations…
I hope you find mine easy to navigate. =/ lol I completely understand what you’re saying. I’ve never been a big fan of the designs that have featured posts, with just a ton of snippets from posts. I like a single column with all the posts in a row. Oh, and I have a previous & next button at the bottom.
If you’re on the main page.
I still love Blogger! It’s a great option for most everyone.
I can’t find your Previous and Next button! I’m gonna go look again.
Asheley (@BookwormAsheley) recently posted..In My Mailbox {19}
Oh I see! It says OLDER POSTS when you’re on the home page.
Asheley (@BookwormAsheley) recently posted..In My Mailbox {19}
Great post! I think I’m fine with Blogger for the moment. I really like it. Who knows if I’ll change my mind a year or two down the road though!
Nicola recently posted..Review: The Weepers: The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker (The Other Life #1)
The more I see posts about this, the more I’m interested in it. But I still have a big problem, which is the same problem I have with finding a blog designer: no one works with Tumblr. The main reason I would want to switch is because I’ve been wanting a custom design for like a year now. But I would need someone to do the switch for me and if no one designs for Tumblr, I doubt they will be able to transfer all of my posts and stuff to WP.org.
And what does SEO mean?
Amber/aLmYbNeNr recently posted..Bloggers of the Deep Blog Tour (Guest Post): Zoraida Córdova on Learning English
I recently made the switch from Blogger to wp.org and I might as well have been taking a leap off a cliff….in the dark. I didn’t have the first clue about self-hosting, DNS servers, CSS, template designs or plugins. The thing of it is that the book blogging community is so great about helping out those who aren’t as tech savvy. I mean it’s posts like these that help break it down into laymen terms, so thank you! I find these types of posts very informational and while I have most of my WordPress stuff down, I’m still learning every day.
Stephanie recently posted..On My Wishlist {4}
If I ever have the money or the time to learn, I’m going either pay someone to help me move to WordPress or make the move myself. I want to stick with my blogger blog for now but if the time ever comes and the Dynamic Views are pushed on everyone or my blog is deleted it would be great to just move straight over to WordPress and know that everythng is already there!
LOVE that post. I think I wrote about 500 posts about it, too. Heh. Hope more people’ll switch.
Patricia recently posted..My 2012 Challenge Updates
Thanks for the post! I found Blogger.com really confusing and WordPress is so easy to use
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