New website advice? Is Blogger good enough?

[InterestedNow]

I'm about to start up a website and as far as I can see into the future, I think the most technical aspects of it will be that I'll have some YouTube videos, maybe some audio files, and perhaps some multiple choice quizzes on there (nothing too demanding). For the time being, I should be able to do all this through Blogger, right?

This is not necessarily so much an issue of cost (even though I don't really have that much money), but I feel that it would probably be easier to do updates more frequently myself if it's through Blogger. Does anyone here have any good experience on all of this?

I'm thinking that eventually if the website gets super cluttered, it may be better to not go through Blogger and instead go through another service that will allow things to run more smoothly. I'm not tech-savvy at all, and I'm going to Google "What are the pros and cons of Blogger?", but I figured I'd ask here first.

Any tips are appreciated. Thanks.

 

[NZA]

might as well use wordpress. they have plugins that can do almost anything you want and themes to help make the site look decent

 

[GoldenGlove]

I've never heard of Blogger.

I've used Wordpress, Squarespace and Wix. And a little Webflow. What is the purpose for the site? What kind of content are you looking to publish? Is this just a blog page basically?

 

[InterestedNow]

Thanks for the tips fellas. I'm not going to get too into detail about the site right now for obvious reasons, but it's mostly just centered around language learning and traveling (sounds like mostly a blog).

I would also like to be able to have tweets on there too (like a minute or two after a tweet shows up on Twitter from someone like Obama or Trump, I can go share it on my site as well), I just get concerned that since something like Blogger is so basic, it might not look as good when a visitor to the page looks at it. For example, if I had the same exact content, line-for-line and image-for-image and had one of my pages on Blogger and a duplicate on Wix, would the website visitor's experience be better on Wix than Blogger (better in the sense of things being more visually appealing and running smoother)?

@NZA and @GoldenGlove of course Ima want the site to look decent, but since it's not such a highly technical graphic-heavy content I'm not sure if I'd need SquareSpace and Wix (which I would have to pay extra for).

To my knowledge, Blogger is free and I'm not sure about WordPress, but I'm guessing that it's free too.

 

[The Intergalactic Koala]

might as well use wordpress. they have plugins that can do almost anything you want and themes to help make the site look decent

This...

Been using it for almost a month and enjoying every minute of it. Getting a bit of followers as well

 

[InterestedNow]

This...

Been using it for almost a month and enjoying every minute of it. Getting a bit of followers as well

Props on the advice. I just saw your website in your signature, and while I haven't checked it out yet, I do have the tab open. 2 quick questions:

1.) Is there a WordPress Premium, and are you on that, or simply using the unpaid version?

2.) I think with Blogger you can just link your website as a ".com" (as opposed to a ".blogspot.com"). It will still show as a ".blogspot.com" when it redirects, but that's only after it re-directs. Can the same be done with WordPress?

By the way, I just checked out my sister's website and all the way at the bottom it says that the layout was created by using templates from here: Blogger Templates
I never heard of it, but a quick look around makes it look good.

 

[Mr. Negative]

Is Thesis Theme still a thing? I haven't built a website in ages.

Thesis used to be >>>> Wordpress in terms of easy building and SEO optimization

 

[The Intergalactic Koala]

Props on the advice. I just saw your website in your signature, and while I haven't checked it out yet, I do have the tab open. 2 quick questions:

1.) Is there a WordPress Premium, and are you on that, or simply using the unpaid version?

2.) I think with Blogger you can just link your website as a ".com" (as opposed to a ".blogspot.com"). It will still show as a ".blogspot.com" when it redirects, but that's only after it re-directs. Can the same be done with WordPress?

By the way, I just checked out my sister's website and all the way at the bottom it says that the layout was created by using templates from here: Blogger Templates
I never heard of it, but a quick look around makes it look good.

1. Yeah the Premium version just helps with better building your site up and including the "com" without the wordpress portion being all in the domain. I'm currently using the free version since I mainly just post my blogs on there and do the partnership with Medium to get paid for my material (hopefully).

2. Wordpress works the same as blogger, but it's way better in design and sleekness. I honestly got more followers through Wordpress than Medium and Blogger (when I used blogger) combined.

 

[Mr. Negative]

only other advice I can give is wordpress and thesis are really all you need.... depending on what you're trying to do.

don't dig too much into it all, cause you'll get analysis paralysis and never do anything, constantly hunting for something to make things as easy and work free as possible.

find a website that you like, see what they're using and use it. Colors can always be tweaked.

 

[NZA]

when i suggested wordpress, i was assuming you had bought a domain and were going to pay for shared hosting. if that is the case, you can just install wordpress for free on your server and have an actual domain that doesnt mention wordpress. i only use wordpress installed on a server, i never do anything piggybacking off their own website, so I dont really know how good that will be for somebody who has serious intentions.

A Beginner’s Guide To Creating A WordPress Website — Smashing Magazine

this should give you the basics on installing WP and actually owning your domain

 

[Rell Lauren]

Yes, there is a premium version of WordPress. It's called WordPress Pro and a number of major media companies use it. If you're going to create a website and want a platform that's easy to use with support on standby, I'd recommend it. I didn't even know Blogger still existed as a platform.

 

[InterestedNow]

@NZA @Rell Lauren
I appreciate the information. I bought a domain name on GoDaddy.Com. I'm going to look at the basic Beginner's Guide for using Wordpress that was linked. My sister who uses Blogger did say that WordPress was known for having more widgets, but her information may also be a little bit outdated.

You say that there are some major media companies using Wordpress Pro. Do you have any links so I can see what they look like? Also, since I'm very far from major right now, do you think it would be easy to start with the basic WordPress and then if things start going smoothly and successfully just upgrade to Wordpress Pro (if needed) so that I can have a better look?

Lastly, it seems that Blogger was pretty much ignored in this thread and most of you are leaning towards WordPress. I know that may be because some of you have no experience with Blogger, but is it also that you guys tried it and just found it inferior to Wordpress per your own standards. I'm in the USA I don't know where the rest of you guys are, but I thought that Blogger was more popular than WordPress.

I do need to avoid the "analysis paralysis" mentioned earlier though, so for now I've narrowed it down to these two

 

[Rell Lauren]

@NZA @Rell Lauren
I appreciate the information. I bought a domain name on GoDaddy.Com. I'm going to look at the basic Beginner's Guide for using Wordpress that was linked. My sister who uses Blogger did say that WordPress was known for having more widgets, but her information may also be a little bit outdated.

You say that there are some major media companies using Wordpress Pro. Do you have any links so I can see what they look like? Also, since I'm very far from major right now, do you think it would be easy to start with the basic WordPress and then if things start going smoothly and successfully just upgrade to Wordpress Pro (if needed) so that I can have a better look?

Lastly, it seems that Blogger was pretty much ignored in this thread and most of you are leaning towards WordPress. I know that may be because some of you have no experience with Blogger, but is it also that you guys tried it and just found it inferior to Wordpress per your own standards. I'm in the USA I don't know where the rest of you guys are, but I thought that Blogger was more popular than WordPress.

I do need to avoid the "analysis paralysis" mentioned earlier though, so for now I've narrowed it down to these two

The New York Post is one of them. I used to work for them and was hands on with the CMS. I don't know if it's the case anymore, but the Guggenheim Museum used it as well. The plugins will vary from client to client.

Re: Blogger, it was bigger pre 2010. The platform isn't one that I've known to be used in professional circles. In comparing it to WP, I've found that WordPress is extremely user friendly. Doesn't take much training to get used to it.

 

[Rell Lauren]

@InterestedNow Some brands that use WP Pro:

40+ Most Notable Big Name Brands that are Using WordPress

Who Uses WordPress? These 100+ Famous Brands | CodeinWP Blog

The platform offers a ton of flexibility for a web designer especially when you know what modules you'd like to use.

 

[NZA]

@NZA @Rell Lauren
I appreciate the information. I bought a domain name on GoDaddy.Com. I'm going to look at the basic Beginner's Guide for using Wordpress that was linked. My sister who uses Blogger did say that WordPress was known for having more widgets, but her information may also be a little bit outdated.

You say that there are some major media companies using Wordpress Pro. Do you have any links so I can see what they look like? Also, since I'm very far from major right now, do you think it would be easy to start with the basic WordPress and then if things start going smoothly and successfully just upgrade to Wordpress Pro (if needed) so that I can have a better look?

Lastly, it seems that Blogger was pretty much ignored in this thread and most of you are leaning towards WordPress. I know that may be because some of you have no experience with Blogger, but is it also that you guys tried it and just found it inferior to Wordpress per your own standards. I'm in the USA I don't know where the rest of you guys are, but I thought that Blogger was more popular than WordPress.

I do need to avoid the "analysis paralysis" mentioned earlier though, so for now I've narrowed it down to these two

Homepage - Xbox Wire
PlayStation.Blog
Rolling Stone
The Walt Disney Company

you can go to a site to see if it is WP, and do control+u and it will show you some code, do control+f and type wordpress and if it is a WP site, you will see a mention of wordpress somewhere in that code

also, if you are installing it on your own server, you wont need to use WP premium. i have never paid for WP, i just install it for free on my own servers and either build out a simple site or pay somebody to build a more elaborate one. you can find a free theme and then use the theme wysiwyg editor to design it, but people who are good at graphic design and coding can do even more than that for you.

as for blogger, since i actually make my living off the internet, i dont know much about people just blogging as a hobby. blogger might be a good platform for that. i only know what people do for commercial purposes and WP is free and extremely flexible. if you are a total beginner, that link i gave will get you started. if you are a designer or coder, you can have your site looking amazing and with all kinds of functionality. anything you can imagine will probably already be a plugin. most are free or freemium. same with the themes.