Using Blogger is Tempting But You’ll Be Sorry

 

You’re Scared

Starting a blog is scary. I mean you’re putting yourself out there and opening yourself up to critics. We all know that some people can be cruel. Why do you think there are so many bullies.

People love voicing their opinions and sometimes those opinions can make us uncomfortable.

Well, let me tell you.

It is scary, I still remember the first time I hit publish on my first blog post several years ago. I was scared shitless but I did it anyway.

As you know, this isn’t my first blog and to tell you the truth, I almost didn’t start it. Again I was scared of what people would say when I started sharing my WordPress tutorials for beginners here.

That little voice almost kept me from sharing my knowledge and journey to a full-time blogger with you. Luckily I’ve learned how to ignore that little voice and just take action.

5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Be Using Blogger

I know that you want to save money, but if you’re serious about learning how to grow a blog you need to invest in your own self-hosted blog.

The great thing is that it’s not as expensive as you think. In fact, you can start your own self-hosted blog for less than $100 for the first year. Of course it all depends on if you start with the bare minimum.

Personally, I think using a self-hosted WordPress blog is the best way to start. I know that so many new bloggers think that it’s hard to learn how to use WordPress.

While there is a little bit of a learning curve that comes with using WordPress. The great thing is that you don’t need to know everything to get started.

You can learn the basics and keep learning as you work and grow your blog.

Not to mention…

You’ll have much more control over your blog. Plus, you’ll be able to dress up your blog with gorgeous themes from trusted sources:

• ElegantThemes
• StudioPress
• Beaver Builder

 
With Blogspot. you’ll have to use their templates. Your hands are tied and it will be hard to change the layout of your blog.

#1 You Don’t Own the Blog

If you’re using Blogger as your blogging platform, you’re going to realize that you don’t actually own the blog. This means that you’ll have to follow their terms of service.

I know most of us don’t read the terms and services of sites. I know I don’t, I usually just skim it and then go on my merry way.

When you upload, submit, store, send or receive content to or through our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services),

If you violate their rules, there will be consequences to pay. They may even bring down your site and you’ll have a hard time trying to get your content back.

Now, I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want to do is give someone that much control over my content.

I don’t want to be told what I can and can not post on my blog. Plus, I don’t want to work hard creating content day in and day out only to realize that I can lose it all overnight.

#2 Unprofessional Web Address

When you start your blog on a free platform, you’re going to be given a long hard to remember domain. For instance, if you start on Blogger, you’re domain will be something like this:

I don’t know about you, but to me, that just looks ugly. If I saw your blog, I wouldn’t take you seriously, after all, you’re not willing to pay for your own domain.

Even if you are giving excellent information, I personally still wouldn’t visit your blog. I know that maybe that’s a little harsh, but it’s just how I feel.

#3 You Will Have a Harder Time Monetizing

Believe it or not, most bloggers start their blog in hopes of turning their blog into a full-time income. As you know, I started this blog to turn it into a full-time income so I can walk away from my WordPress freelancing business.

Why did you start your blog?

While you might be able to monetize with Google Adsense or affiliate marketing.

You’ll probably have limited monetization choices. Plus you will have to make sure that you are not breaking any of the terms and conditions with Blogger.

#4 You’re Banned From Using Plugins

I’m a huge fan of using WordPress plugins. In fact, I have my own favorite plugins that I use for this blog. They make my life easier and I couldn’t imagine being able to run my blog without them.

When you’re using Blogger, you won’t be able to use any WordPress plugins.

So much for using the Social Warfare plugin to help you get more people to share your content. You won’t even be able to use Yoast SEO.

The Yoast SEO plugin helps me optimize my blog posts so I can get organic traffic later on down the road from Google.

I always make sure that both my readability and SEO score are green. (while I don’t always get a green light on the readability, I always get a green light on SEO)

I never publish a blog post that doesn’t show a green light for my SEO. While I can’t always get my readability light green, I am more concerned with the SEO.

If you’re still trying to figure out what SEO is or how to get started, here’s a great guide to start.

#5 You’re Blog Can Be Shut Down At Any Time

Scroll back up where I told you that you don’t own the content. Did you know that if you violate their rules, your blog could be shut down.

The worst part is they don’t even have to notify you about it. As you know blogging is a lot of hard work. You’re going to need to publish new content on a regular basis.

This means that you’ll probably be sitting in front of your MacBook Pro quite a bit. You’ll be writing content for your blog and other people’s blogs.

Imagine waking up one day excited to start your daily blogging tasks. Only when you type in your free blog domain, you notice that you’re blog isn’t there.

Can I Recover a Deleted Blog on Blogspot?

Honestly, I don’t know as I’ve never used Blogspot as my blogging platform. I ever had the desire to start using BlogSpot even though I knew nothing about WordPress.

I found this…

I did a little research and here is a conversation about a recovering a deleted blog. It’s a pretty long conversation, but you might be able to find some tips on recovering your deleted blog.

If that doesn’t help, then I suggest that you get Blogger help to see why your blog was deleted.

Best Blogging Platform to Make Money

If you’re planning on working hard to turn your blog into a full-time income. You need to start with the right foundation.

Don’t be cheap and cut corners. Start out with your own self-hosted blog.

If you’ve never worked with WordPress before, sign up for my free 7 Day WordPress course. I’ll show you the basics so you an get your blog set up as quickly as possible.

Once you get the basics completed, you can then focus on writing amazing content.

One Step At A Time

You don’t need to know everything about using WordPress from day one. You’ll continue learning as you work on your blog.

The only way you learn is by treating your blog like a business and working on it every day.

Eventually, those WordPress tasks and blogging tasks will become easier, before you know it:

• You’ll learn how to navigate the WordPress dashboard like you’ve been using it for years.
• Your posts will be optimized properly because you’re using Yoast SEO to help you out.
• Your comfort level will rise and you’ll be taking care of those maintenance tasks most new bloggers ignore.
• You’ve even filled up your WordPress editorial calendar with 2 months worth of content, so you can take a breather.

 
Before you know it, you’ll start getting visitors. You’ll even start to think that maybe you can make this blogging thing work.

Final Take Away

It takes time to grow a blog, don’t listen to those overnight success stories. While some people do have success right away.

The truth is that it takes time to grow a blog. Especially, if you’re coming from an employee background and don’t know anything about building a profitable blog.

Keep working on providing great content for your audience. Do whatever it takes to learn the basics of blogging and WordPress.

Work on your blog everyday. Eventually, you will look back and realize that “hey I can’t believe that I actually built a profitable blog that earns me some money.”

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Have you ever started a blog on BlogSpot? Have you migrated to a self-hosted blog? If so share your experience with us, I would love to know.