Two blogging platforms? Which one is for you?
Ok, you may be asking first, what is the difference?!
Blogger: Owned by Google, free account, has the ".blogspot.com" in your domain, easy to learn, you don't need to pay for hosting, you don't own the content and Google can shut it down at any point, not as sophisticated.
Wordpress: (aka .org NOT .com). You must buy your own hosting and domain (tons of companies out there to do price comparisons), there is a learning curve, the plugins can be overwhelming but once you get them figured out you have a lot of customization and capabilities, you own the content, and more flexibility in design/layout.
What platform is this blog?
This blog is a blogger blog. Why? I wanted to have one of each! I wanted to be able to reference blogger codes and layouts while helping clients.
What platform is your Speech Time Fun blog?
When I started, I didn't know what I was doing and I started with a blogger, designed it myself (was pretty ugly), and learned how to just write and get an audience with it. I didn't know if anyone would read it and also blogging wasn't as huge back then too. Once my audience grew and my business too, I decided to take the plunge. After 3 years on blogger, I paid a blog designer to do the layout and transfer of content. Totally recommend paying someone to do it!! I wanted to stand out more. I wanted more layout and design options. I wanted the potential to be able to house content and maybe even have a store one day on my site. You can only do these things with a Wordpress blog. Was it a learning curve, yes but one that I would recommend to anyone that wants to really utilize their blog to grow an audience and showcase their brand.
What should you consider when making the decision?
Cost! This is a huge factor! Can't afford to pay a monthly expense for hosting, then don't! Also, the cost of getting a Wordpress blog designed is higher as well.
Time! Do you have the time to learn an elaborate platform? Do you want to learn all of the plugins that are out there so that you can fully utilize Wordpress? Do you want to learn all about SEO and all of the capabilities there are on Wordpress?
Heart! Do you love blogging? Is it your passion? Consider a Wordpress site. If you don't love it and feel like it is a chore, consider Blogger!
Where are you in your journey? Are you a new TpT seller? Are you still learning your brand, style, and growing your audience? Are you still struggling to fill your store with products? Don't go crazy right now designing a thorough website. You can easily have a Blogger site to use as your hub/central location. You want a place where people can go to find more about you. What kind of teacher are you? How are you like your reader? How can they relate to you? You can accomplish this on ANY site, blogger or wordpress. Trust me, I did it for over 3 years!
Want more to read on this topic? I highly recommend this blog post from Meagan of I Teach What's Your Superpower. Click HERE to read it! She knows her stuff since she is also a blog designer!
My last recommendation!
If you do decide to stay on Blogger, please please do my a favor...and buy your domain! You can easily have it be redirected to your blogger site (I did it with this site!). Why is this so important? You want to own it and claim it quick. You don't want someone else taking it, just like any other social media name! Also, if you wait to long, "someone out there" can find out that there is a blogger site doing well and buy is that the price goes up. This happened to me with my Speech Time Fun blog. It was not fun trying to get that domain. I was stalking all domain companies waiting to see if the price fluctuated. I even had friends stalking it too. A friend actually saw the price go down and I jumped and bought it! Don't let this happen to you. It also looks more professional and is easier to remember to have a .com without the .blogspot.com
Want to learn more? Watch my video below!
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