Blogger is a free cloud-based tool that allows you to create and manage blogs.
It is a platform that is owned by Google and is part of its suite of free tools. It was created by a company called Pyra Labs in 1999 and in 2003 it was acquired by Google.
Blogger is one of the most used platforms to create blogs on any topic, and perfect for those who are starting to enter the exciting world of content creation.
What is the difference between Blogger and Blogspot?
Surely these two names sound familiar to you, and you will see that, when entering Blogspot, you are redirected to Blogger. The reason is that creating a blog on Blogger will automatically provide you with a Blogspot subdomain name, similar to what happens with WordPress.
Here are some questions that you are probably asking yourself:
How are Blogger and Blogspot different?
To make the differences clear, note that:
Blogger is the platform for creating blogs.Blogspot is the provider of free subdomains to create blogs on Blogger. When we open a free blog there, it will automatically offer us that the URL is located as a subdomain of blogspot.comSo when you visit www.blogspot.com, the page redirects you to www.blogger.com because Blogspot services can only be accessed through Blogger.
Blogspot cannot be used with any other content management platform, only blogs built with Blogger can be hosted on Blogspot.
In short, Blogger is the platform to create the blog and Blogspot is the provider of free domains to be used exclusively for blogs created with Blogger. Both provide the user with a free blogging experience.
So can I have my own domain with Blogger?
Yes, although this point is a bit complex for what we have explained above.
Blogspot domains have to be used in Blogger, but Blogger does not have to be used with Blogspot.
By default they place your blog on a subdomain of blogspot.com, this option is free. Example: “blogname.blogspot.com”.
But we can also link our own domain to the blog, counting the cost that the domain registration may have. This option is much more professional and has a very affordable cost.
Do I need to touch code or know how to program?
No way. Blogger prioritizes ease of use over flexibility or customizability.
There is no software to download or install on the server (unlike Wordpress.org) and no programming to customize the templates.
The downside is that it is a much more limited platform that does not allow us to adapt our blog, content and technical aspects to the same extent.
Differences between creating a blog in Blogger and doing it in WordPress
Blogger is a cloud service and Wordpress.org is open source software that needs to be downloaded and installed on a server in order to create a website.
To open a blog with Blogger we simply have to open an account, just like we created a Gmail account, and start working on the blog.
Blogger is an easy-to-use platform that allows some customization without having to program anything, but in return, it doesn't allow us so many possibilities or create complex websites or adapt everything to have a sophisticated SEO.
Instead, Wordpress.org has much more technical implications.
You have to hire a hosting and install the software there, customize the site by modifying code (or through templates and plugins) and take care of maintenance or security.
It is a much more powerful and flexible platform, but the learning curve is much longer than in Blogger.
In that sense, we can say that Blogger would be more similar to WordPress.com.
Let us remember that the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com is that the former is a software that needs to be hosted on a server (with no limitations in terms of customization), while WordPress.com is an online service that does not require contract hosting. We will see it more clearly explaining the similarities and differences with Blogger.
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