I appreciate you dropping in on my review of Blogger (AKA BlogSpot)!
As a past user of the free blogging platform, I can honestly say that I got absolutely nowhere with it as a novice from an online Biz standpoint.
Ugh.
Which is why I made the transition to WordPress in 2013 and couldn’t be happier, I tell ya!
But before I explain why it’s in your best interests to avoid Blogger like a plague of locusts, let’s first dive into the good stuff…
What is Blogger & How Does it Work, You Ask?
Simply put, Blogger (which is accessible via the blogspot.com domain) is a content publishing service that allows you to write about your passion online.
The platform was actually developed in 1999 (YUP, it’s a dinosaur) by a company named Pyra Labs.
Which was later acquired by Google in 2003.
I won’t bore you with all the corporate-like details because that’s what THIS Wikipedia page is for LOL.
All jokes aside, here are the 3 core components of building a blog using blogger…
#1:Create Your Blog
You simply choose a name for your blog and create a blogspot.com subdomain for it.
For example; just off the top of my head, I came up with ‘Mountain Bikes R Us’ (mountainbikesrus.blogspot.com).
The great thing is that there’s also the option of creating and using your own custom .com domain at a small price.
#2: Publish New Post
Once inside the dashboard area, you’ll hit the ‘New Post’ tab which pulls up the post editor.
Where you can craft your content just the way you like it using an array of features.
There’s also the ability to give your posts that extra “oomph” factor by adding stuff like emojis, images, videos and even links.
#3: Customize Your Blog
Once you publish your content, you also have the option of actually sprucing up the look and feel of your website itself.
Where there’s a selection of template theme designs and colours to choose from.
In addition to those core components, you can:
- Edit the layout
- Publish pages
- Check your traffic stats
- And toggle settings in terms of search engine visibility & SEO stuff, HTTPS redirects, showcasing images, comment captcha & enabling custom ads.
Overall, the platform is super easy to get to grips with, which is why it’s ideal for beginners wishing to be “hobby bloggers”.
But that’s all Blogger is good for, unfortunately.
Because from an affiliate marketing business startup point of view, the platform seriously falls short in numerous areas…
Making it about as useful as a chocolate teapot, in my book.
Here are some good reasons to keep Blogger at arm’s length if you actually wanna take this “blogging” thing seriously…
1: It Comes With Restrictions
Don’t get me wrong, Blogger gives you SOME control over your site in terms of basic features…
But the overall functionality is seriously limited.
Because unlike the endless capabilities of a self-hosted WordPress blog, there really aren’t that many template theme choices.
Nor can you buy and upload premium themes to set yourself apart from the competition.
Add to that, you can’t install plugins, there’s very little control over SEO, and you can’t monetize your site to your liking either.
Because you’ll be penalized by Google, which I’ll discuss more in a jiffy.
In other words, don’t expect to turn your blog into a fully-managed website with your own stamp on it.
All this ties in with the next disadvantage on the list…
2: Google Has All The He-Man Power (Ugh)
Sorry to put a damper on your day, but Google actually has 100% control over your blog, whether you like it or not.
Unfortunately, the “Mighty G” has a number of terms and conditions that you must agree to abide by.
Otherwise, if you step out of line in terms of making your content spammy or writing about a topic that goes against the grain…
Then Google won’t hesitate to instantly shut down your blog – erasing months of your blood, toil, tears, and sweat.
But even if you are a good law-abiding citizen in Google land, the bad news still doesn’t stop there…
3: Zero Monetization Control
Unfortunately, the only channel you can earn from on your blog is through Adsense, which is basically the ability to display Google ads.
Where you’ll earn mostly pennies/cents per ad visitor click.
Which can actually rack up to a nice monthly income IF you have plenty of visitors.
But by all means, you can try to promote your own affiliate offers through your content, but it’s likely to get flagged as spam by Google.
Which could potentially result in the termination of your blog for spam (as already discussed).
However, all this monetization stuff is irrelevant anyway.
Because it’s highly unlikely that you’ll get a ton of organic search engine traffic.
This leads me to the next point…
4: It Sucks From an SEO Standpoint
Yeah, your blog may well come with basic Search Engine Optimization features, but it really makes no difference, in my opinion.
Because when’s the last time you did a search for a certain topic/product, and found blogspot.com sites on Google page 1?
The answer is between once in a blue moon and never, right?
So it just proves that not even Google itself rates its own blogging platform, which is kinda ironic really LOL.
In actual fact, you’ll find that it’s always WordPress blogs (like THIS one) that rock up on the first page of Google.
I won’t go into all the nerdy SEO details as to why because it’s beyond the scope of this review.
So read my WordPress review to see why it beats Blogger hands down.
5: Kiss Goodbye to Your Brand, Authority & Credibility Online
Whether your aim is to build a website to start a new online Biz from scratch or attract more eyeballs to your current Biz via blogging…
Then Blogger can seriously destroy your chances of long term success on the internet because there are many disadvantages.
This is why the majority of successful companies, brands, and also bloggers in the affiliate marketing space use WordPress.
WordPress not only allows you to build a self-hosted blog on your own domain name, but also ranks highly in the search engines.
Trust me, WordPress is the best decision I ever made, and although there are other platforms like WiX, nothing compares.
But you need to be deadly serious about blogging IF you wanna turn it into a full-time living and become a Super Affiliate.
If that’s the case, then I highly suggest you join my #1 rated program as a premium member.
Because you won’t just have the chance to build a free blog via SiteRubix…
But also receive step-by-step training and 24/7 community support for turning it into a successful Biz.
My Final Conclusion: Is Blogger/BlogSpot Actually Worth it?
In my opinion, you should seriously run for the hills when it comes to Blogger.
Because it just won’t get you the results from an online business-building angle, at the end of the day.
This is why you’ll also find that the most successful bloggers shy away from Google’s content publishing service.
Yeah sure, it’s a good place to start off as a beginner if you don’t really give a rats donkey about becoming a pro blogger and turning a buck.
But given the fact there are numerous downsides, demonstrates that Google doesn’t care much for its dated blogging platform either.
Which could suggest that Blogger may shut down in the future, who knows.
So I just think there are too many risks involved with the platform, in all honesty.
If you wanna put your time and effort to much better and smarter use, then I suggest you build a free WordPress blog site instead.
Trust me, you’ll be back here to thank me in the comments thread. 😉
And speaking of comments, please chime into the conversation below if you have any thoughts or questions on Blogger.
Your buddy, Neil.
After reading your review of this one, I really agree with you that it sucks because it is impossible to get something good out of it.
I wanted to start my own website and I didn’t know how before I was recommended to blogspot. But I needed to know if it is the right one for me to do a blog or not. Now I know where to create a better website.
Indeed, Suz!
It’s about time Google upped its game to make Blogger more like WortdPress, in my opinion.
But I’m glad to point you in the right direction for your free blog site. 😀
When I started blogging I started with blogger, and I must tell you the first few months were really nice but I made a shocking discovery after 2 months of writhing and uploading content, and that was Google was in control of my blog.
At first someone told me but I didn’t listen… I made a post and it was taken down, then I had to go and read the privacy policy and there I discovered a lot for me. I don’t advice everyone to start any thing with blogger.
I think many of us bloggers have been in your shoes when it comes to Blogspot, Clarke.
Sorry to hear you wasted so much of your time with the platform, which is why it’s only best for those wanting to practice blogging and/or mucking around on the web.
Anything more, and it’s pointless.