Blog Lingo
We use a lot of blogging terms here at 2X Design, especially on the order form. Since the order form is essential for a successful blog design, it is crucial that you understand what we are asking. Here is a list of words that we may have used, that you may not fully understand.
Tagline: The short, catchy, (hopefully) original phrase attached to the blog or site.
Example: 2X Design – twice the love, twice the ministry, twice the design.
Target Audience: Who reads or who you want to read your blog or visit your site.
Example: Girlz 4 God – the target audience is girls from 10-14 who want to learn about and love God.
Blog Layout: The elements you want on your blog and where you want them.
Example: Pretty Photography – I want a wide post area with a small left sidebar and a horizontal link list under the header.
#fffccc: The HTML code for different colors.
Example: #ffffff is the color white, where as #000000 is the color black.
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WordPress VS. Blogger
Beyond the fact that wordpress is expensive and blogger is free, what are the pro’s and con’s of the two platforms that 2X Design designs for? And how do you know which one is right for you? Get ready for a 2X Design battle of the platforms!
Blogger
Pros:
+The price. Blogger is a free hosting platform, and if you want a blogger blog with a domain name it is only 10$ a year (www.yourwebsite.com vs. yourwebsite.blogspot.com).
+Free templates.
+Cheaper blog designs. Because blogger uses HTML, rather than CSS, it is much easier for a designer to learn how to design on blogger. Because of this, most blogger designs will be dramatically cheaper than wordpress designs.
+Small learning curve. Blogger, because of the HTML and the user-friendly interface, is much easier to learn.
+Quick and easy set-up. With blogger you can have a blog within minutes, not so with wordpress.
Cons:
+You get what you pay for. Or don’t pay for in this case. Because of the free price-tag, there is only so much that can be done with blogger.
+Hard to customize. Yes, HTML is easier to learn. However, in blogger, to add an extra sidebar, footer columns, or other site upgrades, you have to go in to the HTML code and figure out how to add (or delete) these things.
+.Blogspot.Com. This may be a pro for those who don’t want a domain, but it is a con for everyone else. Blogger, again because it is free, tags the .blogspot.com to every url. This can be removed for 10$ a year, but the problem is when people have things linked to their .blogspot.com address and then decide to change to a custom domain.
+No interactive navigation.
+No copyright. Yes, blogger is protected to a degree, but there are plugins for wordpress blogs that can seriously protect against copyright that blogger does not have.
+No spam-checks. Again, with blogger, there is a small amount of spam protection, but wordpress has numerous spam-protection plugins that blogger does not have.
+Lack of plugins all-together. To sum it up, blogger does not have the awesome plugins that wordpress does.
Up next. . .
WordPress
Pros:
+Plugins. WordPress pretty much rocks the plugins. Real order forms. Copyright. Spam-protection.
+Interactive navigation. Changeable menus, sub-menus, sub-sub-menus. . .etc.
+Necessary domain. WordPress requires that you have a domain (still 10$ a year). This takes away any frustration with having to upgrade to a domain and switch links later.
+Easy customization. There are certain templates, where to add another sidebar, footer, header, or background it is as easy as a click of a button.
+Awesome templates. While blogger’s templates may be free, wordpress has some quality templates that offer a huge range of customization (i.e. I can have snippets of pasts posts under my most recent post).
Cons:
+The price. What was good about blogger is not so good about wordpress. It costs upwards of 70$ a year to host a wordpress blog, not including the necessary 10$ a year for the domain. The good news is if you chose to have a designer set-up a wordpress blog for you, it is usually cheaper.
+The learning curve. WordPress can be a bit tricky to figure out.
+The price of good templates. With blogger a design can use minima for free, with wordpress, good, quality templates can be pricier (but once someone has a template, they have it forever).
+Long set-up. Because of the hosting, wordpress can take a few hours to set up. It takes several days to set up if you are transferring a domain name from blogger to wordpress.
+Confusion because there is wordpress.com and wordpress.org. 2X Design can design for wordpress.ORG only.
How to decide which blog platform is right for you?
1. Look at your budget. If there is no room for wordpress hosting than you have your answer – free blogger!
2. Look at your blog’s audience and purpose. Is it a personal blog or is it a journal of your thoughts? Is it read by family and friends? Blogger is probably your best option. Oppositely, if your blog is a business, a ministry, or a site that needs to be hyper-organized due to the content, wordpress may be a better fit for you.
3. Weigh the pro’s and con’s that apply to you. An idea would be to write them in columns for yourself. Which platform has more pro’s, more con’s?
4. Pray about it. Let God in on the decision.