Wordpress

Why I love WordPress

It’s no secret that WordPress is the #1 blogging platform.  If you’re still sweet on Blogger, here’s why you should reconsider.

Benefits and Limitations of WordPress i will explain those in my next post.

1. Themes

Where Blogger has a few ways you can change the layout of your blog, only WordPress has thousands of themes to choose from.  In just a few short keystrokes, you can select a free or premium theme and get exactly what you want for your blog layout.

2. Plugins

If there’s something you want your blog to do, chances are, there’s a plugin for that.  From adding completely customizable forms to your blog, to creating a membership site, to adding a shopping cart, WordPress is infinitely flexible and amazingly efficient.  Whether you’re a food blogger who wants a killer recipe layout or a photographer who needs a gallery to showcase your work, Plugins allow you to expand your blog to be exactly what you need.

3. SEO

If you want Google to point new readers your way, WordPress has built-in search engine optimization (SEO) tools.  And there are free plugins to make optimizing your blog a no-brainer.

4. Autonomy

With Blogger, you’re beholden to the Google powers-that-be…from everything to your blog’s loading time to how (and if!) readers view your blog.  (Remember that Blogger blackout in May 2011?)  With self-hosted WordPress, you’re in charge.  You own your domain, you control your web hosting, and you don’t have to worry about being dropped from the search engines if Blogger suddenly decides your blog = spam.  (yes, unfortunately, that happens.)  Oh, yeah – and you own your own content, too.

5. Comment Management

If you’ve been dissatisfied with Blogger’s commenting system in the past, you may have turned to an external service like IntenseDebate to customize your comment fields.  With WordPress, that capability is built in.  You can choose from dozens of options to regulate how your comments are submitted, approved and displayed – without a third party service.

6. Opportunity

If your blog is self-hosted, you’re wide open to new possibilities.  You can write unlimited content with unlimited images (depending on your hosting service), have multiple blogs on the same domain, add user forums or Paypal buttons – or sell your blog if things are really going your way. :)

It’s widely known that the folks at Blogger frown upon using Blogspot.com to make money.  With WordPress, you’re free to build a great blog, attract more readers, and ultimately make money doing what you love.

And if you don’t want to make money from your blog, you’re still free to make it as pretty – and awesome – as you like.

7. Professional Appeal

Let’s face it: if you’re a Blogspot blogger, you’re blogging for free.  And that’s a definite plus if you’re operating on a tight budget.  But if you have as little as $10/month to put toward hosting (remember: the WordPress software is free!), you’ll have a lot more credibility when it comes to attracting new sponsors – and new readers – for your blog.

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