1. Blogger blogs aren’t self-hosted, so they aren’t reliable.
False. Let’s talk about what self-hosted really means. Truly hosting your own blog would mean that you have a server in your house somewhere that is storing and serving up all of your blog content. No one does that. Ok, maybe someone does, but it’s certainly not common. What most people mean by “self-hosted” is that they pay a service provider a monthly fee to host their blog for them. It’s the same thing Google already does for Blogger blogs for free. As far as reliability goes, sure, there’s the off chance that Blogger could shut down. But so could BlueHost or HostGator or… any web service anywhere.
2. You need to be self-hosted so you can own your own domain (URL).
False. You can use a custom domain with Blogger too. I recommend that every business owner with a blog do this. Here’s a tutorial on how to point your custom domain to your Blogger blog.
3. If you blog on Blogger, Google owns your content.
False. I don’t really know where this one started, but it’s spelled out pretty clearly in Google’s Terms of Use. Here’s the part that matters:
“Some of our Services allow you to upload, submit, store, send or receive content. You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours.”
Google’s pretty clear about the fact that you still own your own content. You do give them the rights to publish your content online… but your blog would be pretty useless if they couldn’t publish your content to it, amiright?!
4. You can’t sell resources on your own site if you blog on Blogger.
False. Blogger doesn’t have a store function built in, but that doesn’t mean you can’t sell on your blog. There are lots of options out there, but my personal favorite is Shopify. You can easily add products right into a blog post or a static page on your blog with their Lite plan, or with the regular plan, you can create a standalone storefront.
5. You can’t customize your own blog if you’re on Blogger.
False. You can customize everything about your Blogger blog. Some require editing the theme file and some are easy changes (just like on WordPress). Here’s a short list of things you can change in your Blogger blog without any html coding:
- Colors
- Fonts
- Sidebar widgets
- Menu bar pages
- Create static (standalone) pages
Of course, if you hired someone to design your blog initially, check their terms of service before making changes. Many designers, no matter which platform you’re on, will have restrictions in place in what you can and can’t change in order to protect our work.
6. Blogger blogs are bad for SEO.
False. Search engine optimization (SEO) works the exact same on any blogging platform. Google has actually included some easy ways to optimize for SEO right on Blogger without installing plugins. Most bloggers I talk to who switch for SEO reasons weren’t doing anything to optimize their Blogger blog. Their SEO improvement started not because of the switch, but because they started putting in the work. You can see the same results by putting in the work on the blog you already have.
To switch or not to switch?
I’m not here to tell you whether to switch or not. It’s a personal decision, and like choosing between a Mac & a PC, there are advantages & disadvantages to each. But hopefully, this helps clear up some of the misinformation that’s been spreading like wildfire. If you are happy with your Blogger blog, there’s no reason you have to make the switch. (In case you’re curious, I’m also a Mac girl to the core!)
If you’d like to learn more about how to make the most of your Blogger blog, I’d love to have you on my email list. I send out tips, tricks, & tutorials for all things Blogger and teacher-author business.
I’d also love to invite you to join me on Facebook in my Blogger Support group, where you will find a community of teacher-authors like you who support each other with Blogger tips & troubleshooting.
