Regardless of being one of many oldest running a blog platforms on the market, Blogger has but to lose its contact. Through the years, it’s maintained its concentrate on running a blog, reasonably than introducing a bunch of latest options to muddle its interface or scatter its focus.

Whereas there are extra complete running a blog platforms and weblog websites on the market, Blogger serves its function properly. However earlier than you soar in, be sure to know what you need out of your running a blog web site. Blogger lacks some options which have come to be anticipated with different platforms, so it’s extra helpful for passion bloggers and companies that don’t plan to promote by their weblog.

Evaluating Blogger to the Greatest Running a blog Platforms and Weblog Websites

Blogger stacks up properly in opposition to the competitors as the most effective free running a blog platform on our high record. It’s been within the recreation for greater than 20 years, and it’s a low-risk option to get your content material on the market quick. It offers you all the fundamental running a blog options, together with templates and customization to make your weblog your personal. Plus, as a free platform, it permits you to earn a living by adverts, so it’s price trying out.

For all these causes, we included Blogger on our record of the most effective running a blog platforms:

1. WordPress with Bluehost – Greatest running a blog platform for many
2. Wix – Greatest for rookies
3. Strikingly – Greatest running a blog platform for creatives
4. Squarespace – Greatest complement to your on-line retailer
5. Blogger – Greatest free running a blog platform

To get a better take a look at the place Blogger suits in amongst our different high picks, try full-length opinions of our beneficial running a blog platforms.

Blogger: The Good and the Dangerous

Each weblog internet hosting platform has its upsides and disadvantages. Right here’s what you need to take into account earlier than you create your weblog with Blogger.

The Good

Free platform: Blogger makes for a low-risk funding when beginning a brand new weblog. In reality, there’s no monetary funding in any respect. Different weblog internet hosting providers like WordPress make you pay to begin your weblog. The free platform additionally means you can begin creating content material instantly and get lots of the similar weblog options you’d elsewhere.

Simple to make use of: Blogger’s minimalist platform is simple to navigate when you’re a newbie and have by no means created or maintained a weblog earlier than. It offers you sources and useful options that make for environment friendly running a blog to help what you are promoting.

Google AdSense and Analytics Included: It’s not at all times simple to discover a free running a blog platform that allows you to earn a living with it. With Blogger, you may reap the advantages of Google AdSense and Google Analytics so that you at all times know the way your weblog is doing along with your viewers and might pull in some additional money. AdSense, specifically, permits you to put adverts in your weblog and pays you when guests work together with them.

Web site templates: Blogger doesn’t make you do all the web site constructing work your self. It comes with templates that you may customise primarily based on what you are promoting wants proper all the way down to matching your aesthetic. Its versatile layouts include a lot of pictures, and you can too design your personal structure if the templates don’t give you the results you want.

Customization options: You don’t want coding information except you wish to get actually advanced along with your customization. Use Blogger’s theme editor to vary your weblog’s colours, pictures, font, structure, and extra. To this finish, Blogger works properly as an everyday weblog nevertheless it’s much less helpful when you plan to do extra elaborate customized adjustments.

An oldie however a goodie: Blogger began in 1999, and it nonetheless has loads to supply as we speak. Many companies nonetheless use it, and it affords a blogspot.com area in addition to the choice to purchase a customized one. Its skilled platform makes it simpler for folks with much less expertise to work with and construct upon it.

Integrates with Google: All it’s good to enroll with Blogger and get its Google+ options is a Google account, which nearly each enterprise proprietor has. Google holds a lot of Blogger’s finest options, together with AdSense, Analytics, and storage. You possibly can even hyperlink your weblog along with your Google+ account to make them extra shareable and attain a wider viewers.

Quick Efficiency: As a result of it’s built-in with Google, Google takes care of efficiency. Blogger doesn’t present its age by velocity. With Google’s assist, its efficiency boosts its ranks in engines like google, since velocity and efficiency make web sites stand out with regards to website positioning.

Retailer posts and pictures: With Picasa, which you additionally get by Google, you may retailer and edit any photos in your weblog posts. This function comes with Google, too, and it offers you entry to all of your pictures and even older weblog posts you may need chosen to archive.

The Dangerous

Minimalist options: Blogger doesn’t have many superior options such as you’d discover utilizing WordPress or different newer running a blog platforms. That may make it more durable to do as a lot as you need with regards to enterprise enlargement, nevertheless it works to your benefit when you don’t need many bells and whistles.

No ecommerce options: You may make cash with Adsense, however that’s your solely possibility. Different platforms will let you arrange a web based retailer and promote services, which you’ll be able to’t do with Blogger. For some companies, that’s a serious draw back.

Not a lot buyer help: Blogger doesn’t even have any buyer help by cellphone, chat, or electronic mail. The one help you will discover is within the Blogger Assist Discussion board, the place different customers can submit and reply questions. For probably the most half, it really works as a result of Blogger is such a easy platform to start with, however each from time to time, you would possibly come up in opposition to one thing you may’t determine. If nobody else can determine it out both, it makes issues tough.

Solely targeted on running a blog: Different platforms, like Squarespace, WordPress, and Bluehost, are multiservice platforms. In different phrases, they allow you to do much more than simply create a weblog. Blogger is the other in that it focuses on running a blog alone. That may be a bonus in that as a result of it focuses on running a blog, it does that exceptionally properly, however that additionally means it leaves out options, instruments, and capabilities that you will discover with different weblog websites.

Not many new options: Blogger’s age exhibits in its options. It does have the fundamentals with regards to templates and customization, nevertheless it’s not a full content material administration system, doesn’t supply ecommerce, and you’ve got much less management over your content material than different platforms. In different phrases, it’s not nice for portfolios that you simply wish to arrange and design your self, and it doesn’t even allow you to create a homepage.

Blogger Pricing and Choices

Blogger is free, which makes it nice for rookies and passion bloggers, even with out ecommerce and superior money-earning options. It comes with little threat connected, which implies the reward is sort of undoubtedly better. The one factor you lose when you don’t like it’s time.

Blogger solely has the one free bundle, which you’ll be able to consider as a power or a weak spot. On one hand, it makes issues easy. There aren’t any massive decisions and no budgeting issues like with different platforms with paid tiers that provide totally different options.

Alternatively, the restricted choices generally is a detriment for what you are promoting. With out different choices and upgrades, Blogger can restrict your progress. Which may not be a difficulty when you’re not planning to develop too quick or when you simply need a spot to indicate your trade information, however with all of the hats that enterprise house owners must put on, it may be simpler to make use of a running a blog platform that accommodates all of them, reasonably than Blogger’s minimalist expertise.

Blogger Widgets

With Blogger, widgets are known as Devices, since Blogger is a part of Google+. With all these devices at your fingertips, Blogger’s prospects open up for what you are promoting. They’re simple so as to add in just some clicks utilizing the Format tab, the place Blogger will give the choice so as to add devices. These devices provide the choice to:

• Add your posts to social media accounts
• Embed Google and Fb opinions in your weblog
• Create a chat possibility in your weblog
• Permit popups in your web site
• Reply incessantly requested questions
• Conduct surveys and create varieties
• Show a photograph gallery or audio participant for folks to view your work

With so many widgets out there, Blogger makes it simple so that you can interact your viewers and replace your web site as wanted. They offer you rather more functionality than Blogger’s platform by itself, and it helps Blogger catch as much as different platforms which have a leg up due to their complete options.

Blogger Picasa Albums

Picasa Albums comes with Google, which implies this function is one more benefit of Blogger being a part of Google+. It affords a option to retailer your pictures in an simply accessible place in an effort to plug them into your weblog in seconds.

With Picasa’s picture editor, you can also make any adjustments you wish to your pictures earlier than you submit them. You possibly can attain them out of your admin panel, tag folks and areas, and share them on social media.

As a result of pictures are an website positioning staple, having Picasa make it really easy so as to add pictures to your weblog implies that a lot much less effort in getting your weblog and what you are promoting seen.

Blogger with Google Video

Video is likely one of the most essential parts of engagement on-line with regards to operating what you are promoting. Having Google Video by Blogger permits you to shortly add movies to your posts. In consequence, your viewers will get to know you higher and is extra more likely to work together along with your posts and what you are promoting—that features shopping for your services.

With Google Video, you may embed YouTube movies in addition to movies from your personal gallery. The function makes it simpler to affix content material throughout platforms, making much less give you the results you want total. You possibly can even add movies out of your cellphone.

Blogger Stats

Blogger has its personal Stats tab, in addition to Google Analytics, to make sure that you’ve gotten all the data it’s good to optimize your weblog. These instruments allow you to see:

• Pageviews over time
• Weblog site visitors
• Session period
• Pages per session
• Bounce charge
• Visitors supply

Every of those elements helps you refine your weblog and website positioning in order that extra folks come to your web site. When this data, you may enhance your posts and advertising method so that you simply create the content material your viewers wants.

With a easy stats web page like Blogger’s, you get sufficient fundamental information to maneuver ahead. Nevertheless, mixed with Analytics, you obtain a extra well-rounded method that allows you to dive into the main points of what you are promoting.

Blogger Templates

Blogger’s templates are one among its most useful sources if you wish to share your content material quick. They begin you off with a reasonably easy structure that you may customise primarily based on what you are promoting picture and persona.

The collection of templates is smaller than different platforms, like WordPress and Squarespace, with solely seven to select from. Nevertheless, you may alter your template to customise it to what you are promoting to make sure it really works for you.

Whilst you don’t want any coding information to arrange your weblog, it could possibly assist if you would like a extremely superior customized weblog. Blogger permits you to regulate circumstances to your web site, however when you’re not well-versed in CSS and HTML, you could wish to go away the code alone.

Blogger Earnings

For a free running a blog platform, one among Blogger’s most attractive options is that you may nonetheless earn a living with it. It means that you can use Google AdSense to place adverts in your weblog that generate income when clients work together with them.

This function helps generate some additional money movement for what you are promoting—in addition to passion bloggers—however first, it’s good to get your weblog seen. With out common new and returning site visitors, your viewers received’t see or click on in your adverts, which makes them much less helpful to your income stream.

How Blogger Ranks

Blogger made our high picks for its ease of use and its steadiness of free providers alongside its options. It makes an amazing newbie platform, nevertheless it’s middling when it comes to what it has to supply for enterprise progress.

Nonetheless, it’s not a foul option to begin what you are promoting weblog. You possibly can discover all its templates, customization options, widgets, and extra on a easy platform geared towards what it does finest. It doesn’t include the flowery instruments {that a} full CMS would possibly, however that may play to its strengths.

To see extra high running a blog platforms in comparison with Blogger, try our high picks.

Abstract

In case you’re on the lookout for a easy platform that allows you to put out your content material with out a lot fuss, Blogger may go properly for you. With Blogger, it’s a good suggestion to know what you are promoting objectives earlier than you soar in, so that you don’t find yourself disenchanted when you hit its ceiling too quickly. Nevertheless, even when that occurs, you’ll know you didn’t waste cash on a short-term platform. We advocate Blogger for startups and companies that want a no-frills platform for his or her weblog as they construct authority.