Reasons Why You Can Choose Blogger as Blogging Platform

If you're trying to decide which blogging platform to use, I'm not going to tell you which one I think is best, because that won't be any use to you. Instead, am sharing with you reasons why you can choose Blogger/Blogspot as your blogging platform.

Blogger.com or Blogspot.com allows you to own a blog for free. It belongs to the search Giant, Google. Though,  there are other free platforms out there including typepad.com and wordpress.com (NOT wordpress.org), it is the most popular free platform and is very easy to use. For starters, blogger is very easy. If you can send an email, you can do a blog post.

Below are reasons why you can consider Blogger as your blogging platform:

1.  Free and Affordable

Blogger is available free for all Google users. Blogger hosts your blog for free, without having to worry about bandwidth and disk space limitations.  If you have a free gmail.com account, you can create a blog free of charge. You will only need time for updating your content.

Because my blog is hosted by Blogger, the only time I'll ever have to spend money on it was when I decided to change the address from www.ogbongeblog.blogspot.com to www.ogbongeblog.com. You can get this done with at least $10 and if you are a Nigerian, you can get it for N1,500 , though some guys might charge you more than this if they are to change it for you.

If you do not have money to change the address, you can still be using your .blogspot address, though it makes a lot of sense to change it and the earlier, the better.

In a nutshell, Blogger allows you to make a whole lot of money online without paying for hosting every year.

2.  The right tools

Blogger offers you the right tools:

==>  to write web content. If you can send an email, you can write blog posts.

==> to add photos and videos. You can easily insert pictures into your posts and very easy uploading videos or inserting Youtube videos into your posts.

==> to edit your template. You can change your template/theme with a click.

==> to share and bookmark your content. Blogger has buttons below each post which allows you to easily share your posts to Facebook, Twitter and Google plus. You can easily add floating share bar that will also allow you to stumble, digg and save your posts to other social bookmarking sites.

==> to engage your readers. "Google Friend Connect" allows you to create free newsletters. It also makes it easier for you to get followers for your blog and to follow other blogs.  You can also use it to create polls which makes it easier for you to know what your readers want.


3.  Reliable

It is the most reliable blog services online. Pingdom.com reported 0% downtime in 2010. Even if there is downtime, it will be rectified  asap because Google services also use Blogger and not wordpress. Mind you, if you are using a non- free blogging platform, eg wordpress.org, you must be very careful when choosing your web host or else, you might have yourself to blame should in case the hosting company get hacked or runs out of business.

As a Blogger user, you don’t need to set up a paid hosting account, worry about security patches or upgrades, or be concerned about system uptime and availability.

The fact that Google can take on hackers all around the world speaks volumes about how tough their defenses are. Leave system maintenance to the experts in Google and concentrate on just updating your blog. If any hacker threatens you, tell him to go and hack Google..lol  .If you do not mess up with your google password, no cause for alarm.

I can also say that for as long as I've used Blogger consistently (It has been over 2 years), I can only remember one time when Blogger was having trouble and it was fixed with alacrity.

Some will tell you that Blogger will shut your blog down. Yes, it is true if you engage in things Blogger doesn't allow but I am sure you are matured enough to abide by the rules. If you can, then, there is no cause for alarm. Just make sure you are backing up your posts though...


4.  It's Google

Because Blogger is a Google thing, they are always adding and updating features to make it better. They make changes based on feedback they get from their users.  You can also easily integrate with well other Google services, such as Google Adsense, Google Docs, Picasa ,Google Friend Connect, Feedburner, Google Analytics, and probably many others that I've forgotten to mention. All of this is available free of charge.

Recently, googlePlus1 counter was introduced into the new Blogger dashboard. If you are using a non-Google blogging platform, i doubt if you see such in your dashboard without having to install something.

You can always keep a close eye on "Blogger Buzz" so you won't miss out on anything new.

5. It's simple, but versatile

Blogger is made for both beginning and advanced users. It has a , WYSIWYG  ( What You See Is What You Get) editor which allows you to write blog posts with ease. There is also the Template Designer which makes it easy for me to change my template and customize it with only a few clicks, and I can view my changes instantly with the real-time preview. But I don't use the Template Designer much more than to make small changes to the text and colors, because I prefer to play with the code and create a custom template using the Edit HTML feature.

If you are not intersted in coding or don't know html, there are loads of free awesome templates you can instal to your blogger blog so as to make your blog look beautiful. If you don't like the default templates, there are lots of sites where you can download free templates. There are many premium WordPress themes available for FREE to use for your Blogger blog.

6. Easy platform for web developers

If you are a web developer, Blogger provides you with a different value proposition. If you pitch a Blogger-based solution to a client, you can provide services at a lower price point while still maintaining full creative freedom. Finally, you can easily transfer ownership and management of the blog to your client, or, continue to keep both of you as co-administrators.

Conclusion

Blogger if used properly can generate a good income for its owner. The basic rule would be to use your own domain and a great template.

Majority of probloggers started their blogging career with Blogspot/Blogger and many proBloggers are still using it too. One thing is certain, there is no blogging platform that will magically make your blog to be successful.  Just use whatever platform that makes the most sense to you.

Of course, Blogger has its problems, but it's always improving. It works great for what I need to do, and I think it's great for almost any sort of blogger.

If you are a blogger who wants nothing more than to develop a readership where the blog posts are the entire focus, go for Blogger or else go for wordpress.org hosted blog.

I would love to hear your thought on this....

Note: I can help you change your blogspot address to dot com and get it working same day. You can also hire me to work on your blog design for you. Contact me if interested.

Cheers!