BLOGGER.COM REVIEW: GOOGLE’S FREE BLOG PLATFORM
Since its creation in the late 1990s, the pioneering online blogging platform known as Blogger.com has helped countless people express themselves.
You may even say that Blogger, a self-publishing platform that preceded WordPress, was responsible for the hyper-connected social media lives we all take for granted today.
Blogger hasn't lost its edge despite being one of the oldest blogging platforms available. Instead of adding a ton of new features to clog up its interface or divert its attention, it has remained focused on blogging over the years.
Blogger serves its purpose well, despite the fact that there are other blogging systems and blog sites that are more complete. Make sure, though, that you are clear on your goals for your blogging website before you go in. Blogger is more useful for hobby bloggers and companies who don't intend to sell through their blogs because it lacks some capabilities that have come to be anticipated with other platforms.
THE BEST BLOGGING PLATFORMS & SITES COMPARED TO BLOGGER
As the finest free blogging platform on our top ranking, Blogger holds its own well against the competition. It has been around for over 20 years and is a low-risk approach to quickly distributing your material. You get all the essential blogging capabilities, as well as themes and customization options to make your blog uniquely yours. Additionally, it's a free site that allows you to monetize through adverts, so it's worthwhile to check out.
For each of these explanations, we listed Blogger among the top blogging platforms:
- The most effective blogging platform is WordPress with Hostinger.
- Wix is ideal for new users.
- The best blogging site for creatives is Strikingly.
- The best addition to your online store is Squarespace
- The best free blogging platform is Blogger.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF BLOGGER SITE
There are typically some positive and negative aspects to any internet platform and service. Here are a few things we appreciate about Blogger and a few places that could use improvement if you're in a hurry and just need a fast summary.
PROS
- Simple to use and get going.
- Free in every way.
- Just a Google account will do.
- Themes and themes to make your blog unique.
CONS
- It can only be used for a simple blog (unless you know how to code).
- Google might not support the platform, so you'll need to buy one if you want your own domain name for the long term.
- 100 blogs maximum per account.
BLOGGER SITE: THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE
Every blog hosting service has advantages and disadvantages. Before setting up your Blogger blog, take into account the following;
POSITIVE
- COST-FREE PLATFORM: When launching a new blog, Blogger is an investment that carries no risk. In actuality, there is absolutely no financial investment. WordPress and other blog hosting services charge a fee for the initial blog installation. The free platform also enables you to access many of the same blog capabilities that you would elsewhere and to start writing material right away.
- SIMPLE TO USE: If you're a novice and have never written or maintained a blog before, Blogger's minimalist platform is simple to use. It provides you with tools and practical features that make blogging for your business effective.
- GOOGLE ADSENSE AND ANALYTICS: Finding a free blogging platform that allows you to generate money with it is not always simple. With Blogger, you can take advantage of Google AdSense and Google Analytics so that you can make some additional money and constantly be aware of how your blog is performing with your audience. You can place advertising on your site with the help of AdSense, which also rewards you when readers click on the adverts.
- WEBSITE TEMPLATES: With Blogger, you don't have to construct your website from scratch. It includes templates that you can modify to meet your objectives as a business and your aesthetic preferences. Many images are included in its adaptable layouts, and if the templates don't suit you, you can even create your own layout.
- FEATURES FOR CUSTOMIZATION: Unless you want to make your customization extremely complex, you don't need to know how to code. Change your blog's colors, graphics, font, layout, and more using Blogger's theme editor. In this regard, Blogger functions fine as a standard blog but is less helpful if you intend to make more involved customized customizations.
- A CLASSIC THAT STILL WORKS: In 2022, Blogger, which debuted in 1999, still has a lot to offer. It still sees widespread use and provides both the opportunity to purchase a custom domain and a blogspot.com domain. Because of its established framework, it is simpler for others with less experience to work with and expand upon.
- INTEGRATES WITH GOOGLE: Since practically every business owner has a Google account, all you need to join up for Blogger and access its Google+ features is one. Many of Blogger's best services, such as AdSense, Analytics, and storage, are owned by Google. To make your blog posts more viral and accessible to a larger audience, you can even connect them to your Google+ account.
- FAST PERFORMANCE: Google handles performance because it is connected with Google. Blogger doesn't age by moving too quickly. Speed and performance help websites stand out when it comes to SEO, thus with Google's assistance, their performance raises their rankings in search engines.
- STORE BLOG ARTICLES AND PHOTOS: You can store and edit any photos in your blog posts using Picasa, which is also available through Google. You may access all of your photographs and even earlier blog entries that you may have decided to archive using this Google-provided functionality.
NEGATIVE
- MINIMALIST FEATURES: Unlike WordPress or other more recent blogging software, Blogger lacks many sophisticated capabilities. This can make it more difficult to expand your firm as much as you would like, but if you don't need a lot of bells and whistles, it can be advantageous.
- NO E-COMMERCE CAPABILITIES: Adsense is your only option, but you can make money with it. Blogger does not allow you to create an online store and sell goods and services. Other platforms do. That poses a serious disadvantage for some businesses.
- NOT MUCH CUSTOMER SERVICE FEATURE: Blogger doesn't truly offer phone, chat, or email customer assistance. Only on the Blogger Help Forum, where other users may ask and respond to issues, can you receive assistance. Because Blogger is such a straightforward platform, to begin with, it works for the most part, but occasionally you might run into a problem. Things get challenging if no one else can figure it out.
- EXCLUSIVELY DESIGNED FOR BLOGGING: Multiservice systems include Squarespace, WordPress, and Hostinger. They enable you to do a lot more than just start a blog, in other words. The converse is true of Blogger because it just focuses on blogging. This can be a benefit in that it excels at what it focuses on, which is blogging, but it also means that it excludes several features, tools, and capabilities that you can get on other blog sites.
- NOT MANY BRAND-NEW FEATURES: Blogger's features reflect its age. Although it has the fundamentals in terms of customization and layouts, it lacks e-commerce capabilities and gives you less control over your content than other platforms. In other words, it's not ideal for designing and setting up personal portfolios, and you can't even make a homepage with it.
HOW DO BLOGGER.COM AND BLOGSPOT VARY FROM ONE ANOTHER?
Google operates Blogger, a free blogging platform, with Blogspot acting as its host and domain name supplier. Your URL address's final component is a domain name. You will therefore receive a Blogspot URL if you create a blog on Blogger, such as www.secretclasstips.blogspot.com.
WHAT IS BLOGGER
One of the first free publishing platforms was Blogger. Among other things, you can use it to build a personal website or blog. Initially, Pyra Labs, a corporation, introduced it in 1999. Google acquired Blogger in 2003, and it later developed into one of the most well-known blogging platforms online. Millions of people have used it to develop blogs, make money, and advance their professions.
GOOGLE BLOGSPOT: WHAT IS IT?
Blogger's domain is provided by BlogSpot. Both services are free, owned by Google, and they cooperate to produce a smooth user experience. You'll receive a BlogSpot domain name when you first establish a blog in Blogger. Google provides a free domain name registrar, but you are free to choose a different one if you'd like.
BLOGGER OPTIONS AND PRICING
Even without e-commerce and other sophisticated capabilities for making money from blogging, Blogger is fantastic for new and hobby bloggers because it is free. Because there is less risk involved, the potential gain is almost certainly greater. If you don't like it, the only thing you lose is time.
You can consider Blogger's single free package as either a positive or a weakness. On the one hand, it simplifies matters. There aren't many options or financial constraints like on other platforms with paid tiers that offer various benefits.
WIDGETS
Since Blogger is a part of Google+, widgets on Blogger are referred to as gadgets. The potential of Blogger for your company expands when you have all these tools at your disposal. Adding gadgets is simple and only requires a few clicks utilizing the Layout tab provided by Blogger.
These devices provide you the choice of:
- Publish your articles on social media.
- Add testimonials from Google and Facebook to your blog.
- Add a chat feature to your blog.
- Embrace pop-ups on your website.
- Respond to commonly requested questions.
- Create forms and conduct polls.
- Showcase a picture or audio gallery so people may see your work.
With so many widgets at your disposal, Blogger makes it simple for you to interact with visitors and make necessary site updates. They provide you a lot more power than Blogger's platform alone, giving Blogger a leg up on other platforms that have a head start due to their extensive capabilities.
PICASA ALBUMS
Picasa Albums is a feature that comes with Google, thus having Blogger as a part of Google+ has still another benefit. It provides a mechanism for you to save your photographs in a location that is simple to get to so that you can quickly add them to your blog.
Before posting your photographs, you can modify them, however, you like using Picasa's image editor. From your admin panel, you may access them, tag people and places, and share them on social media. Picasa makes it incredibly simple to add images to your blog, which makes it easier to get your blog and business seen because images are a fundamental component of SEO.
GOOGLE VIDEO AND BLOGGER
When it comes to managing your business online, video is one of the most crucial engagement factors. You may easily add movies to your posts by using Google Video through Blogger.
Both YouTube videos and videos from your own gallery can be embedded using Google Video. By making it simpler to connect material from other platforms, you will have to do less effort overall. Even videos from your phone can be uploaded.
BLOGGER STATISTICS
In order to give you the data you need to optimize your site, Blogger has its own Stats tab in addition to Google Analytics. These tools enable you to see:
- Views of pages over time.
- Blog traffic Pages per session.
- Session length.
- Bouncing rate.
- Driving force.
BLOGGER TEMPLATES
One of Blogger's best tools for sharing information quickly is its library of templates. They provide you with a fairly basic style to work with, but you may modify it to fit your persona and corporate image.
There are only seven available themes, which is fewer than major platforms like Squarespace and WordPress. To make sure it works for you, you can modify your template to make it unique to your company.
While it's not necessary to know how to code in order to set up a blog, it can be useful if you want a highly sophisticated bespoke blog. Blogger allows you to change the site's terms, but if you're not familiar with CSS and HTML, you might want to leave the code alone.
BLOGGER REVENUE/EARNINGS
One of Blogger's most alluring qualities for a free blogging platform is that you can still make money with it. You can use Google AdSense to place adverts on your site that bring you money when readers click on them.
This tool enables your business as well as hobby bloggers to generate some extra revenue flow, but first, you need to get your blog recognized. Your audience won't see or click on your advertising if there isn't consistent new and returning traffic, which reduces their value for your revenue stream.
HOW TO SET UP YOUR BLOGGER SITE
The process of setting up a blog on Blogger only requires a few simple steps, and thanks to Blogger's user-friendly dashboard and interface, you can create the perfect appearance for your blog without any design knowledge.
Here is a quick tutorial on using Blogger.
CREATE AN ACCOUNT
To use Blogger, you must have a Google account. You'll need to make one if you don't already have one.
CHOOSE A TITLE FOR YOUR BLOG
Make a URL (web address) for your blog. If the URL you've chosen is not accessible, you might need to fiddle with this step. Adding a number to your text will enhance the likelihood that it will be read if you run into trouble.
Your display name must be verified. The title of your blog will be presented to readers under this heading.
Once you click Finish, you can begin blogging!
CONTROL AND MANAGE YOUR BLOG
Once your blog is set up, you'll have a ton of tools at your disposal to help you manage it.
As you can see, you can use this dashboard to manage posts, monitor metrics, moderate comments, and experiment with themes and layouts once you've begun blogging. Additionally, you can check to see if your blog has brought in any revenue (more on that later).
You may view how your blog will appear in its unpolished state by clicking View Blog.
Make a blog Entry. The next step is to create your first blog. Blogger will enter Create mode when you click New Post in the top left-hand column to accomplish this.
You are given a clean blank page on which to write anything you wish. Along the top, you'll find the standard word processor choices like bold, italics, bullet points, font type, and font color. The ability to include emojis, links, photos, and video content is also available.
When you're happy with how your blog is coming together and are ready to publish it online, simply hit Publish, and it will go live on your Blogger site.
TEMPLATES AND THEMES FOR BLOGGER
You may arrange and personalize your blog in a variety of ways using Blogger's templates and themes. You may customize the template by adding items like a Wikipedia gadget box and an About Me section, then moving them wherever you like by choosing Layout in the left-hand column. With Blogger's drag-and-drop functionality, you can complete all of this very quickly.
Your blog can also have a variety of different themes. There are several options available to you, ranging from a straightforward text-only blog to a dynamic blog with photos.
IS THE BLOGGER SITE SECURE? WHAT ABOUT ITS HOSTING?
As Google's servers host Blogger, you don't need to worry about setting up hosting. Additionally, you receive an SSL certificate, indicating that your website and data are safe from online dangers.
Because of these characteristics, Blogger is a highly alluring choice for those establishing their first blog.
BOTTOM LINE: BLOGGER REVIEWS
One of the first web publishing platforms was Blogger. It offers both novice and seasoned users alike an excellent approach to building up blogs, is quite easy to use, and is absolutely free. Google's Blogger is a wonderful place to start if you're interested in blogging. In fact, you may start right away if you already have a Google account and a Blogger account.
However, it has its limitations and is basically only suitable for creating simple blogs. You might want to investigate some alternative blogging platforms, such as WordPress, or even drag-and-drop website builders if you want additional possibilities to construct blogs or websites that are more complex.
But Blogger is a great choice if you're just getting started.