Attention bloggers

[Belle10]

Hi

I want to start a blog but I’m not sure where the best place for it would be. Should I use Blogger or WordPress or something else? Does it really matter?

I’m new to this so any tips would be great. Writing about things won’t be the hard part for me, just the setting it all up!

 

[tbtcom1213]

I would recommend to use blogger.
Choose a layout you like and you can add your own designs and icons of saints.

If you’d like you can check out my blog for an example and other popular Catholic Blogs.

Good blogging!

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

You mean blogspot? That’s where I ended up. So easy even I could do it!

Literally, in about fifteen minutes I had my page and set-up. Which reminds me, I should update my blog!

Stay 'way from LiveJournal, which is now nothing more than spambots.

 

[MarcoPolo]

I’m generally happy with blogger (see my signature). Although it’s challenging to post MP3 files. I have to upload them somewhere else and then link to there. It’s a little frustrating. But if you just want text mostly, it’s great.

 

[Joe_5859]

I like Wordpress better than Blogger/Blogspot, but either one is good (I have one of each in my signature. ). I would probably stick with one of those two, though.

The set-up maintenance is pretty easy and they add new options all the time. The advantage of going with the bigger blog providers means that there’s a bit more in the way of options and support.

 

[Belle10]

Thanks everyone.

Joe, why do you like WordPress better?

 

[KarenElissa]

I’ve played with both a fair amount and my vote is blogger. It is WAY more customizable than WP. WP allows you to change some stuff, but with blogger you can edit the code directly, which means you can change pretty much anything.

 

[Joe_5859]

Thanks everyone.

Joe, why do you like WordPress better?

I don’t think I really have a legitimate reason for liking it better, it’s just personal preference. At first, I tried it out because I discovered WordPress allows you to create “Pages”, which gives you the option to have tabs on the top of the home page, which I really wanted for my “Catechesis of the Popes” site to organize the papal audiences by theme.

However, I discovered after I set up the WordPress site that Blogger added the “pages” feature, so it is available with them, too.

I do still prefer WordPress’ dashboard, though. The way it is laid out makes more intuitive sense to me. They have some pretty neat tools, too, like one that scans your blog post and pulls up public domain images from the internet that you can include in the blog post. I really like that one.

Also, WordPress gives you a lot in the way of tracking your site stats. It tells you what Google searches led people to your site and what links from elsewhere on the net people clicked through to come to your site. Maybe Blogger does this now, too. It’s been a while since I played around with Blogger.

 

[Belle10]

Thanks Karen and Joe.

I wish I could do a trial run with both and see which I like better. That isn’t possible, is it?

 

[Joe_5859]

Thanks Karen and Joe.

I wish I could do a trial run with both and see which I like better. That isn’t possible, is it?

Why not! I’ve done that before. I know with WordPress (not sure about Blogger), there’s even an option to keep your site private, so you can toy around with it to your hearts content before making it public. Then you can just delete whichever one you don’t want to keep.

I think with either one, you can also transfer all your blog posts to another blog at a later date. So if you started with Blogger and built up a large library of posts, you could still switch over to WordPress and transfer all your old posts to the new blog. So even once you’ve started, there’s no saying you have to stay with one hosting-site forever.

 

[maryharket]

I’m not intending to hijack the thread but I do have one question:
After publishing your blog how do you get others to see it? I have tried blogging on several occasions and for some reason I never got any views. Is there some service you have to subscribe to in order to get your blog advertised or is there something in the way the blog is set up that gets it noticed?

I use blogger because its connected to my gmail account. It just makes it easier and the formats are very flexible as far as the templates. I’m not good with html but there is access for people that can use it well so that you don’t have to be confined to just the templates that they offer.

MAM

 

[Joe_5859]

I’m not intending to hijack the thread but I do have one question:
After publishing your blog how do you get others to see it? I have tried blogging on several occasions and for some reason I never got any views. Is there some service you have to subscribe to in order to get your blog advertised or is there something in the way the blog is set up that gets it noticed?

I use blogger because its connected to my gmail account. It just makes it easier and the formats are very flexible as far as the templates. I’m not good with html but there is access for people that can use it well so that you don’t have to be confined to just the templates that they offer.

MAM

There’s really no shortcut to building a viewership. You simply have to get out there on other sites and be present. And, of course, you have to have regular, original, dynamic content being posted on your blog.

95% of all the visits to my blogs come from people clicking on the links in my signature right here at CAF. If I really wanted to build them up more, I would do more. (Maybe someday…)

One approach is to find similar blogs on blogger and start making comments on their posts. Spamming them by saying “Nice post! Check out my blog at myblog.blogspot.com” is NOT the way to go. It is best to make intelligent contributions (even if they are brief) and trust that people will click on your name and follow that to your blog. People can spot shameless self-promotion and it’s generally a turn-off. If you want to get people to your blog, you have to put in the time and effort to build relationships with other bloggers.

If you want to spend some money, you can advertise through Google Ads or something like that to get your blog in front of more people. But you better have the content to keep people there.

But really, the best approach is to utlilize many approaches. Post here on CAF with your blog link in your signature. Go to other blogs and post comments and link to those blogs from your blog. Set up Twitter and Facebook accounts such that news posts to your blog automatically get posted on your wall. Buy some ad space if you’re really motivated.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Depending on your blog’s content—I’d first make a list of friends/family, and tell them you have one and to take a look.

Then I’d join some forums that reflect your blog’s focus. My blogspot is mostly about socks and fountain pens and I have a couple of hobby-group forums with my blog linked in my siggy line.

Or link it in your sig line for any forum. You’ll get people at least looking.

 

[djeter]

Thanks everyone.

Joe, why do you like WordPress better?

Let me jump in for Joe and say that wordpress has oodles of free templates that are easy to view and pop in. I modified one for my site. I’ve been building content for three years now and I get all kinds of hits from the search engines now (don’t change your domain name) From the 30 or 40 hits a month from family and friends I have now cleared 10,000 a month. I’ moving on to another setup now that I’ve achieved my first goals but wordpress was a good choice I thought.

dj