9 Reasons to Avoid Blogspot (Blogger)

Do you need a website for your business or personal use and want something that is easy and affordable? If this sounds like you, you may be tempted to use Blogspot, which is now known as Blogger. It was first developed in 1999 and purchased by Google in 2003. With such a longstanding history, it’s easy to assume that Blogger is a reliable place to start your website. The fact that it’s free makes it sound even better. However, there are several reasons why you shouldn’t use Blogger.

1. Branded as Blogspot, not you

The default domain for a Blogspot blog is yourblogname.Blogspot.com, and that’s the only option you have if you want a totally free blogging platform. The semi-good news is that you can link a custom domain to your Blogspot blog. All you have to do is buy the domain from Google or another domain registry and link it in the settings. To do this you need to locate the Custom Domain setting and click on it. Then, you simply put your domain address in the space provided. However, this process doesn’t always go well. There are several questions on how to connect a custom domain to a Blogspot blog, which means you may not be able to figure out this process easily. The other problem is that if you can’t figure it out, your blog will be branded as Blogspot, which can hurt your credibility if you plan to have a professional website or blog that attracts a large audience.

2. Poor ability to rank in search engine results

If you think you’re blog will be found in search engine results, you’re going to be disappointed. Blogspot blogs do not rank. If you doubt this information, try searching on any topic on Google, Yahoo or Bing. What are the top five websites? Are any of them Blogspot blogs? If you search through multiple pages of results, do you see any Blogspot blogs? The truth is that if you create a Blogspot blog, you’ll be very hard-pressed to get website visitors through a search engine, even though the site is owned by Google. This is because they do not rank, no matter how well the blog posts are SEO keyworded within the articles you post. Where you might rank is on Blogger itself via the Reading List option, if people add your blog to their reading lists.

3. You don’t “own” your website

When you create a blog on Blogspot, Blogspot has control over it, not you, and they have an extensive content policy, and it’s important to understand what’s allowed and what isn’t allowed. Standard and mature content is allowed. However, bloggers who upload adult content must mark their blogs as containing mature content in the settings. Blogspot does not allow posts on illegal or dangerous activities. Blogs cannot promote harassment, hate speech, bully or threats. Bloggers cannot misrepresent themselves or post misleading or malicious content. While those terms sound reasonable, many a blogger has found themselves on the receiving end of getting their blogs deleted for forbidden posts, and Google doesn’t tell you why the post was forbidden and doesn’t care if the offense was unintentional. The worse news is that if a blog is found to violate any of the listed forbidden topics or terms, Google reserves the right to put the content behind a warning, delete the blog post or the entire blog, disable the author’s access to their Google account and possibly report them to law enforcement.

4. You must follow Google’s terms and conditions and Bloggers content policy simultaneously

Most people fail to read the terms and conditions of a website before singing up, and if you haven’t read Google’s, you should. This is because the content policy for Blogspot is Blogspot specific. However, you’ll find that the terms of service for Blogspot are the same as for Google.

5. Monetizing is extremely difficult

Blogspot does allow you to use Google Adsense to monetize your blog. You’ll just need to connect your Adsense account. However, you won’t be able to do that if you have insufficient content, content that violates Blogspot’s policies, traffic source issues, site navigation issues or use an unsupported language. You also can’t add a shopping cart, which could be a problem if you sell services or products. Instead, you’ll have to create posts about your products and link to a third-party shopping platform.

6. Customization is Limited

If you want to be able to fully customize your blog, you’re going to be disappointed. Blogspot only offers a few themes and layouts to choose from. This means that your blog is going to look a lot like every other Blogspot blog out there, even if you customize the colors. The content of your blog will also look different across multiple devices, meaning that someone who views your blog on a computer or laptop will get a different experience than someone using a cell phone to view your posts.

7. Spammers use Blogspot blogs to create backlinks

While Blogspot and Google both have policies against spamming, you will get spammed if you put your email on your Blogspot blog. This is because spammers look for email addresses, create lists and bombard Blogspot bloggers with spam. This could be spam encouraging you to buy something, clock on a link or add a link to your blog from the spammer’s blog. If you’re trying to engage with your audience, you don’t want to have to filter through several spam posts.

8. Moving content to a custom domain is a nightmare

If you start your website as a Blogspot blog and want to move that content to your own custom domain and website where you’ve purchased a hosting package, you’re going to have extreme problems. This is because Google really only allows you to seamlessly transfer content between Google accounts. You’d do this by going into the settings and adding your other Google account as an author. To transfer content from your blog to your custom website requires that you copy and paste the text directly out of each blog post.

9. There’s no professional customer service or support

Blogspot offers a help system that is user-supported instead of professionally supported by employees at Google or Blogspot. This means that if you are having difficulties with your blog, you may or may not be able to find the help you need. For a professional blog or business website, this should be a dealbreaker.

Who should build a website on blogger?

If you’re just creating a blog for fun or for family and friends, Blogspot is a fine choice. You can post the links to your social media pages and to the family text message thread on your phone, and you can encourage your family members to add your blog to their Blogspot reading list if they have an account. If you want to be a professional blogger or have a professional website, Blogspot is not going to be an ideal choice.

Where should you build a website if you want a professional blog or business?

If you are looking to build a professional blog or website for your startup business, try using Weeble, Wix or WordPress. Weeble and Wix offer free options, and WordPress is reasonably affordable. All three of these sites are also scalable whereby you can increase your package as your website grows. If you plan to open an eCommerce store, then you’d want to choose a platform like Shopify where you can list your products and prices and take payments from customers.

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