Are you interested in increasing your involvement online in terms of content creation? Do you have views and opinions you would like to share with an audience? If you thought yes to even one of these questions, this article has you in mind. At this point, you must be wondering how you can do either of these. Well, the answer is blogging. No worries, it is not as complex as it sounds.
Simply put, blogging entails creating content for a site (blog) where you get to post this content (blog posts) for your audience to read. An informal tone is normal when creating content for a weblog. Therefore, all you need to share your thoughts with your audience are these self-published online write-ups. However, blogging without properly setting all you need up can get quite messy. Here in this article, we will review one of the top blogging platforms that make blogging easy; Blogger.
Blogger.com: What is it about?
Blogger is an online blogging platform that Google acquired in 2003 after its first launch by Pyra Labs in 1999. Although Blogger is the platform on which you post your blogs, the site hosting and domain name (the name that appears after www. in your URL) are made available by Google Blogspot.
Blogger is among the first free websites of its kind. By signing up with Blogger, you receive a digital/identity certificate, the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate. This certificate is a part of HTTPS which pretty much secures your site against online threats. On this blogging platform, you gain access to powerful and efficient links. These links are good for link-building across your posts. Implementing effective backlinking is sure to rake profits in somewhere along the line.
Pros and Cons of working with Blogger
Pros
Starting your blog up with Blogger is straightforward. All you have to do is sign in, choose a display name, then create your page URL. Next, you must confirm your display name and complete sign-up by clicking Finish. It is that easy. Such ease makes it especially good for beginners as it does not require prior digital skills
Content creation is made easy as Blogger has a workable layout that millions of users can easily find their way around.
Blogger offers you its services at no cost and requires no more than your Google account.
Available templates and themes are adjustable to suit you.
Cons
Immediately you are past the beginner stage, blogging with Blogger becomes quite limiting. Once your needs go beyond blogging, you should consider getting some coding skills. For instance, if you need to create a website, you would be starting almost from scratch.
The thing about receiving services at no cost does not extend to customized domain names and some other third-party services. In other words, to integrate these, you have to pay.
Blogger has a limit on how many blog posts it accommodates per account, this limit being 100.
Why should you give blogger.com a shot?
Blogger offers everything to make your blog anything one would seek. Here are some instances:
In setting up your blog page, you need an attractive theme. This is vital as it would make visitors to your site want to see more. Your page theme should also suit your style and pass a bit of the message your blog posts carry. How does Blogger help with this? Blogger offers an array of easy and ready-to-use templates. They all come with a variety of background images and a flexible layout. These make customization quite easy.
Did you realize that a domain name is paramount to a successful blog? With a domain name, readers who visit your site easily have something to remember your blog page by. It goes beyond just that as it also gives your weblog this professional look. Does Blogger have anything to do with getting your site a domain name? I'm glad you asked. Blogger makes the process of getting your domain name simpler. With fewer clicks than normal, Blogger can get you a free domain name from blogspot.com. Purchasing a customized domain name that sets the theme of your blog in the minds of viewers is just as easy.
Now, what do you gain from using Blogger?
With Blogger;
You get to earn money while doing what you love. Blogger through Google AdSense displays relevant ads on your blog, and you get paid for every click from readers.
You can stay relevant. Blogger’s built-in analytics displays which of your posts gets the most reads. You also get to know where the majority of your readers come from, and with a tad bit of research, know their interests. With this information, you can channel your content to pique their interest. Linking your blog up with Google Analytics directly provides better-detailed analysis.
You can save some personal favorites among the multimedia you include in your blogs. Blogger enables you to store these on Google without a cost. You could equally save some of your blog posts this way.
You can also gain that extra experience and knowledge through Blogger's video tutorials available on YouTube.
Your blog can be about more than just creative writing. You can market your goods on your blog and make it easy for interested readers to make purchases. To do this, all you have to do is integrate your weblog into your PayPal account. When this is done, you can add the PayPal button on your blog for easy payments.
Blogger In Comparison with other Blogging Platforms
Blogger is, of course, not the only blogging platform available online. Other blogging platforms include Tumblr, WordPress, Medium and, Wix. Now let us consider which is a better alternative in doing what.
While giving you all you need for a professional-looking blog, Tumblr incorporates the social networking outlook. If you seek something containing more social and visual content then you could try Tumblr as it would make good portfolios. Getting your blog circulated might also be easier due to available communities. However, the length of your content must be short as Tumblr is a micro-blogging platform, unlike when using Blogger.
The website building limitation does not hold with WordPress. As a blogging platform, WordPress has undergone a lot of improvements so that it now has an array of features available to bloggers. Although most of the features of WordPress are available in paid versions, it also has a free version. However, unlike Blogger’s completely free start-up and hosting, WordPress requires a monetary investment. Its paid hosting is necessary if you are looking for an actual site on WordPress.
Medium is all about quality writing with long text content. With Medium, all you will have to do is write your thoughts and publish them. Yes, it is equally easy to use, and like Tumblr and LinkedIn, it integrates the social media feel alongside creating content. Its advantage over most other weblog platforms is that your blog stands a chance of being exposed to over 60 million readers on Medium. However, unlike when using Blogger, you have no options of importing content as they are solely on Medium. Also, gaining attention from its many readers is quite the competition.
Wix allows you to create and design full-fledged websites without any coding skills. To do this, you have to answer some questions on its ADI (Artificial Digital Intelligence). After stating the purpose of your website, it sets your website up. That procedure in no way means you cannot customize a site of your own with a layout that suits your taste. Although it offers analytics and SEO tools, it cannot work with much site traffic as it has a limit of 500GB bandwidth. It has both paid and free versions. Using the free version, if you run a business-based blog, you might find yourself advertising the business of someone else.
Bottom Line
Indeed, if you have more than leisure content creation in mind, Blogger might not be the best platform out there for you. However, if you love to write, you will be sure to enjoy this blogging platform as it is free of stress, and you can receive some form of revenue while creating content you love. The wait is over. Visit Blogger.com, quickly sign up, grab a cup of coffee or whatever gets your ideas flowing, and start blogging.