Note: I do not claim to be an expert in these platforms. I just merely reviewed them over the past year to see which one fits my needs. I may be unaware that a platform actually performed the capabilities that I said was lacking. I feel in those cases that it was because it was not intuitive, in which case it would be on my cons list anyway. My choice, Blogger, came from the simplicity of the platform.
Wordpress:
Pros:- Seems to be the industry standard in blogging
- Allows for lots of customization
- You can use it on your website (depending on whether you use wordpress.org or .com)
- You have a great deal of control over the look and feel of the website
- You can add a checkout
- Free
Cons:
- Complicated to use
- Analytics is not simple
- I got lots of emails on updates to the site, became a bit overwhelming. I really don't want to think about it
- wordpress.com does not allow ads, .org is a does but you need your own site
- I was spammed like crazy
Your Own Website:
Pros:- You have control, all updates and changes are made by you, not a third party
- Your name is in the title, people can find you
- You can add a checkout
- You look professional
- Can accept ads from various sources
Cons:
- The only one you have to pay for, but if you look around it does not have to be expensive
- Need to find analytic elsewhere
- Set up and revisions can be complicated and a long process. Note: I used weebly to save some time with creating my site however once entangled with weebly, it seems difficult to untangle from it)
- setup can be costly
Blogger
This was my ultimate choice, primarily because the pros far outweighed the cons for my situation.
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Allows custom html
- Can put in your own ads
- set up for subscribers is easy and you can do it in various forms
- Free
- Easy analytics
- Easy access to google adsense and network adsense through google
- When you have trouble or don't have the time to look for advertisers, google adsense is really really easy to use on blogspot
Cons:
- Google owns the site and can make changes to it at will, whether you like it or not.
- It is not looked upon as professional
I choose blogger because in the end, I'm a mom, whose priority is being a mom. My job becomes posting and finding readers. Blogger will find the advertisers for me. With that said, if I wish to take control of selling adverts, blogger gives me this option. I suppose in a sense, choosing a blogging platform was a lifestyle choice.
