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Top 10 Reasons Why Source Blogger Moved to WordPress
Perform a Google search on Blogger vs. WordPress and you’ll see many debates arguing which blogging format is better over the other.
For most, making the switch to WordPress is a no-brainer, especially for Source Blogger. Here’s why:
1.) Blogger template blogs have no “real” navigation. As much as I tried different methods to expose new readers to some of my older content, the bounce rate remained higher than I would have preferred.
In addition, Blogger blogs do not offer a categories section. Some readers would prefer to read more articles on link building than SEO. And some would rather read more articles on making money online and affiliate marketing than blog promotion or social media marketing.
Without this, your blog appears to be a list of unrelated, disorganized content.
2.) The modified Blogger template was looking very unappealing and dated. Plus, the subscriber box is hideous.
3.) The site loaded extremely slow and was beginning to shoot error messages to Internet Explorer users who did not having the right debugging setting.
4.) The site’s appearance was not conducive to browsing from hand-held devices.
5.) In the world of “blogs on blogging” a more professional theme was required for the purposes of credibility.
6.) The WordPress theme I chose contained more SEO options for individual articles. (The Ultimate Blogging Theme)
7.) WordPress offers more themes, more plug-ins, more advanced tools, and a superior commenting format.
8.) The content on Source Blogger was 100% wholly owned by Google.
Even when I chose not to run AdSense on Source-Blogger, it made no difference. It is their template and hosted on their server. Google explicitly states they can shut down your site without any warning or provacation.
I had done too much work on Source Blogger to have it confiscated by Google!
9) Maintaining the same font throughout an article is difficult for some reason. If you look in your Blogger template, you’ll see that font is based on a “font family”.
So, once you’ve published an article, several paragraphs would have different font and have to be corrected. It was a pain in the…
10) I have been unable to publish dozens of articles I have written about WordPress!
For those that may be unaware, since I do not discuss this often, I have other blogs on topics such as small business/entrepreneurship/franchises, the stock market, economics, and accounting.
Are you yawning yet? Exactly, that’s why I don’t market those sites to Source Blogger readers.
These sites are running on a WordPress.com format.
In Closing – Was Blogger Really All That Bad?
Functionality was very easy. Widgets could be dragged and dropped at will. And some could argue that SEO is just as good on a Blogger blog. (I would have to disagree, sorry.)
In the past few months, Google has offered many improvements to their template inventory.
In my repertoire of blogs, I also have a blog on interracial dating, black/white culture, and discussions on race that has one of these newer blogger templates. Come take a quick look, the site is entitled Interracial Love Magazine.
So, what do you think about Source Blogger making the switch? Are you considering the same for your blog?
By the way, here is the old Source Blogger site.
25 Comments
Make the switch. You stated the "facts" and I for one have a not so good personal experience with Blogger..My flagged blog was hosted by Blogger and it was too late when I found out that they own my site and there were so many restrictions.
I'm glad I switched to WordPress but not so lucky because I lost a lot of great unique contents..
No doubt that bloggers chooses WP as their blog format. I do believe in 10 reason you provided and specially the no. 7. Name it WP could provide it to you.
Yes, I've been considering moving my blog to wordpress, but am reluctant to do so since it seems to be on the face of it pretty dam complicated and tedious. Having to frequently update the version and or plug-ins along with the fact that I know next to no code or skill with regard to customizing widgets etc.
Many people thought that moving to WP is a hassle or complicated. Only if they really tried, then they would know how easy and worthwhile it is
Your site is cutting off the comment box. All I could see was “add a comment”, name, and Mail (required). “Website” and the comment box itself were not visible. Looks like the subscription options were moving up the page. The only way I was able to post this comment was by hitting enter, and then the back button. This made the comment box appear. I’m using windows 7 and IE 8 as my browser.
It just covered the comment box as I was typing! Hitting “tab” from the Mail form scrolled the page down to allow me to finish my comment. Seems like a CSS issue. Just letting you know. Otherwise site looks great.
As for wordpress, it’s the way to go if you pay for your own server. If you want to blog for free, then blogspot is fine. There is a learning curve, but the skills you learn are marketable. You can charge a fee to set up other blogs, and possibly make additional money from the hosting affiliates.
@ Turnip,
Thank you for confirming this. This has been a heated issue since I chose this template earlier in the week. I have been to hundreds of other WordPress sites over the years and have not noticed this issue. Have you?
Above the comments, there is an “Add Yours” link that seems to push the column down to the comment form, but I do not feel it works 100% of the time, nor do I feel that readers will use the link. Using the Disqus or IntenseDebate plugin does not solve bypass the problem either.
I took the liberty of sending an excerpt of your comment inside my latest “trouble ticket.” I hope you don’t mind.
Thanks.
Jeffrey Baril, Source Blogger
I’m glad I read Chow and started with WordPress. Christ all mighty you had some problems Baril.
I actually wrote a post on this subject because a person just starting out had chosen to go with Blogger. Its here: http://promovieblogger.com/hosted-website-blogging-service-great-debate/
@pcd2k BTW, there are other choices besides WordPress to choose from. I compiled a list of them all here: http://promovieblogger.com/movie-tech/ They are at the bottom of the page under the heading “Popular Online Publishing Platforms”.
ProMovieBlogger recently posted..7 Reasons Why RedBox is a Good Movie Renting Alternative
Blogger can be a real pain. I hate the blogspot commenting system if one of your readers makes a spelling mistake you can’t edit the comment and you have to delete it.Also most Blogger blogs unless the publisher changes the settings need a blogger account to make a comment.I think using WordPress can really help you brand your blog better and it’s good to see you have made the switch.
roezer recently posted..Fixing Internal Server Error 500 WordPress Apache
Thank you, Roezer. I, for one, don’t think the Open ID setting on the Blogger commenting system is really that big of a plus, Do you?
I guess the advantage overall of Blogger is the advertising advantages for blogs that don’t deserve the cost structure of a self-hosted WordPress site with a professional theme.
And when compared to WordPress.com, having a normal-structured (not Blogspot / non WordPress.com) URL, which is around $10.00 annual for both, Blogger wins here too – with full opportunity to download themes, advertise, and no limitations for HTML additions.
Source Blogger
Source Blogger recently posted..Tips for the New Blogger: Saving Money
I have never managed to make a comment with open id most people are not even sure what it is.Then you change your theme and the open id is gone they should replace it with login with twitter or facebook connect.I do miss being able to move around widgets like in blogger WordPress widgets sometimes can drive you crazy when it comes to widgets.As for the hosting I would prefer to pay for a private host and know my content is safe as you said about blogger in point number 8 Google can just unpublish your blog and all your content is gone.
roezer recently posted..Don’t link Bait, Link Mate A-listers Suck your Google Juice
I am really impressed with the new theme and am glad you are making the move to WordPress. Just one problem. My feed reader took me to your old site for your latest post and I got hijacked to another site. So I was unable to leave a comment on your latest post: Does Google Hate My Blog? Keyword Research Gone Wrong.
This is the second time this has happened to me when I visited. Really getting frustrating.
Blog Angel a.k.a. Joella recently posted..Comments Are The Pebbles You Toss In The Pond
Hi Ms. Blog Angel!
I’m actually in the process of phasing out source-blogger.com as to not cause a conflict. The feed should not be operable.
Tell me about your experience. You said you were directed elsewhere. Where?
I have been trying to contact everyone from the old site source-blogger.com to make the switch. Please re-add me to your reader…
and let me know how this works for you.
It has NOT been a smooth transition to WordPress. There was no robots.txt file, the comment form was cutting off, I had problems showing the full-feed RSS, and all the articles that were transferred need to be edited… over 150 of them!
Grrr!
Source Blogger
Source Blogger recently posted..Tips for the New Blogger: Saving Money
Moving to WordPress is a strong decision and I second your opinion!
When I moved to WordPress 2 years back… I didn’t have an idea on which was better… or why… but now I can say lots of clear advantages like:
. Better SEO
. Complete control
. More advertising revenue
. Scalability of WordPress
Over all good enough reasons to move to WordPress
Harsh Agrawal@blogging tips recently posted..Phyrra.net Migrated to WordPress
Recently, I too have shifted from Blogger to a WordPress.com themed blog. After shifting i got a doubt whether WordPress.com allows us to have AdSense or not??
sumanth recently posted..50 Creative Google Doodles
@Sumanth
How are you? Thank you for commenting.
WordPress.com has been extraordinarily protective of remaining ad/spam/internet marketing free… (unlike Blogger?)
If I’m not mistaken, WordPress.com will place AdSense ads on your site from time to time and not share any of the AdSense revenues!
In order to apply for a AdSense account on WordPress.com, I think you have to exceed 50,000 pageviews per month. 50k is a lot, isn’t it?
If you are fortunate enough to have that kind of traffic volume, you still have to share 50% of your earning with WordPress(.com)
So, to make a long story short… either make the move to WordPress.org, and maintain a self-hosted blog there, or return to Blogger.
If it were me, I’d try WordPress.org. The functionality and potential to execute advertising strategies is boundless here.
Thanks again!
Source Blogger
Source Blogger recently posted..Tips for the New Blogger: Saving Money
I also wish to make the switch to WordPress too, but I’m scared over the whole the process. I have limited time yet.
Hi Melds,
The process is actually very simple. And what if I told you the functionality and integration is much easier on WordPress than Blogger?! Hard to imagine, right?
The only thing stopping you from taking your blog, which I visited, to a true, professional level is you. You have to overcome that fear. Research a good theme. Understand the hosting process. And look at images of the WP admin panel. WordPress makes it easy for you. Don’t be intimidated. You can do it!
Oh, one more thing… Make sure to click the “CommentLuv” below the comment box to automatically include your last post!
Jeffrey Baril <> Source Blogger
Source Blogger recently posted..Tips for the New Blogger: Saving Money
Hii Jeffrey ..am fine..and thanks for taking the pleasure of replying me..If that the case of wordpress.com i should shift to wordpress.org in near future..Recently before starting my blog i searched for the procedure to start wordpress.org and failed to get one..so i shifted to wordpress.com which i found easier to start..So If you please mention how you shifted your blog to wordpress.org ,i will be very thank ful to you and it will be very helpful to me…..Thank you in advance..
sumanth recently posted..50 Creative Google Doodles
I am also using wordpress and I am happy with it. It’s easy to use and perfect for my niche.
Hi Jeffrey, Congratulations on making the move!
I have a question. How much did you have to pay for your domain? I know that’s kind of personal but you have such a great domain name and I’m just curious to know if you had to pay through the nose for it.
I’ve been dragging my feet on migrating to WordPress for a few reasons, but the primary one is that I was waiting for Thelonius. Now that it’s here – I’ve run out of excuses!!
My next move is to get a good domain name, that’s short and easy to remember (but not too expensive)!!
Thanks for going over the 10 reasons, and the comments here have been great.
Ileane @ Ms. Ileane Speaks recently posted..Introducing WordPress 3.0 (via WordPress.tv)
Welcome back, Ileane…
I’ve been watching videos on other updates on 3.0 and the new Thelonius theme.
The domain for sourceblogger.com was fortunately available. I was concerned that wanting to abandon source-blogger.com for sourceblogger.com would be a problem, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Now, the theme… that was a different story… I paid a decent amount. It’s the Ultimate Blogging Theme by the “kid blogger,” Carl Ocab. The horizontal, above the fold, 3-box layout is unusual break from the norm of the traditional two/three column typical template. Plus, the user-enabled slider allows reader to flip through 5 featured posts. A great way to give exposure to older, archived articles whenever you want to.
You have full control of everything. And the focus is on subscribing, building lists, and advertising. How could you go wrong with that?
I have 3 blogs that have existed on WordPress.com for about 3 years, but knew that WordPress.org was the logical destination for Source Blogger.
The transition has NOT been seamless though. And you know me… I will be writing about it!
**Think long and hard about the type of content you are going to have on your new site, how you want to be regarded in blogging circles, and exactly who your target market is. This will make SEO and advertising so much easier for you.
Let me know about the new Thelonius theme when you have the new site up and running. While you are setting things up, I could take the emphasis off having to publish new content off your hands with a guest post.
That’s if you think my content is worthy?! (chuckles)
Jeffrey Baril <> Source Blogger
Source Blogger recently posted..How To Get Digg To Write For Your Subscribers – For Free!
Just a question about point 10. Do Google penalize the Blogger users for writing something about WordPress?
Vince recently posted..Helping Your Audience- The Key To Blogging
Hi Vince,
Let me tell you… You can write article after article about Blogger blogs… on a WordPress theme.
But, for some reason, writing about WordPress on a Blogger blog just lacks the required credibility.
That was the reason for not publishing more WordPress articles on the old, Blogger template source-blogger.com site.
There is a common bond between WordPress site owners… almost like a brotherhood.
Now, as far as Google penalizing me for disparaging remarks, although we have the first amendment, Google Search is their territory.
It’s just me, Source Blogger, though… I don’t think they have much to worry about! Do you? LOL
Source Blogger recently posted..How To Make Your Blogger Blog Load Faster
I suppose your main reason is that Google can shut down blogger blogs for unknown reasons. For me that is a major concern. A competitor can often complain about your blogger blog and get it shut down zap. Sadly, one of my worries with word press is that it uses mysql data base to store your news. This causes me major concern. Often web hosting companies with shut you down if you use too many resources.
I don’t know why,,, but until now, I still like blogspot and not wanting to use wordpress
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