Matt Cutts, the mastermind behind SEO trends in Google, has shared his opinion regarding the popular topic of whether WordPress or Blogger is better for SEO. This is a very discussed issue in the blogging community, especially among young prosperous bloggers at the beginning of their careers. Namely, he speaks highly regarding both content management systems and claims that, in the end, it is all about your personal experience and expertise.
In this blog, we will follow up on Matt’s argumentation regarding the comparison between WordPress and Blogger and shed some light on which one is suitable for which users and, ultimately, which has better features for SEO and in which areas one may take the lead over another.
Stay with us and read about this ultimate question in the web development world, following the advice of a leading expert in this sphere.
A Word About WordPress and Blogger
The central dilemma many people encounter at the beginning of their blogging journey regarding SEO is precisely the difference in your choice of website. The main comparison and contrasting are made between Blogger and WordPress as the most popular content management systems, where many believe that WordPress is superior for SEO.
Matt Cutts is the most reliable person to answer this question. Therefore, we deliver in detail his answer to this dilemma but first, let’s talk about WordPress and Blogger, respectively.
WordPress
WordPress is an open-source content management system that allows users to build portfolios, blogs, online stores, and custom websites. This is among the most used content management systems in the world due to the immense opportunities it offers its users for publishing, storing, and customizing their content.
Its primary function is to store content and enables users to create and publish webpages, requiring nothing beyond a domain and a hosting service. WordPress is created to put in focus on the user-friendly principle while, on the other hand, keeping high on the agenda an SEO-friendly manner of content creation.
This approach is why many people consider it the top CMS for SEO. Despite numerous beneficial features, such as altering URLs or editing titles, photos, and keywords, the software has had multiple security flaws.
The designer addressed most of these as a means to advance WordPress daily. Even so, prosperous users should remember that using WordPress does not automatically mean that your page/blog will pop up on the first page of the Google search.
Therefore SEO requires much more work and high-quality content, but WordPress is definitely a great tool to foster great SEO ranking.
Blogger
Blogger is another online content management system. Since its creation, changes have been made after Google’s 2003 acquisition. Among online content management systems, Blogger is mainly used as a blogging platform by rookie bloggers since it does not require coding experience or knowledge.
Nowadays, users can decide whether the blog will be used under the subdomain of blogspot.com or by the primary host. Blogger is beyond this feature even more user-friendly since it allows specific SEO standards to be implemented and makes your blog rank high on Google.
As one would expect from a Google platform, Blogger covers essential SEO areas such as URLs, titles, meta descriptions, headers, alt attributes, and many more. It offers you free templates that have flexible layouts and background images that are suitable for customization.
This kind of simple website structure is often seen as beneficial to SEO. What makes SEO ranking a bit difficult is the fact that the themes don’t have a lot of modification possibilities.
Despite flaws, Blogger is a great tool for many to start this great blogging journey and fulfill the extensive requirements imposed by SEO ranking standards.
The WordPress – Blogger SEO Dillema
As someone who worked for the company that provides Blogger and personally uses WordPress, Matt Cutts is the person to debunk this dilemma. He has shared over the years his observation that both of these websites have more than visible advantages. All of the mentioned advantages and disadvantages in the following paragraphs will immensely vary based on your personal experience and level of expertise in web development.
Your Expertise is Key To Decision
In Matt’s opinion, Blogger is very simple to get started, especially if you are unfamiliar with different programs. Since it’s in the cloud, you are not required to perform any action, such as downloading or installing software.
The bad news from this perspective is that if you install software by yourself, you’re usually not patching it, so getting hacked is easier. Therefore Matt suggests that it should be beneficial if it is casual blogging and the beginning of the blogging career.
Customization Feature
Its counterpart, WordPress, has a lot of flexibility, unlike Blogger. Its most recognizable feature is that you can customize everything, starting from a specific URL and the choice of included words. This, unfortunately, is not something that Blogger allows you to do. On the other note, security issues with WordPress may be enough to think twice before using this option for your blog.
SEO Ranking
If we take a look from an SEO ranking perspective. it is not much impacted by these features since both Blogger and WordPress have pros and cons. Both can work very well in terms of ranking well for search engines. All it matters is your content, so as long you have great material to offer, the rank will be identical on both of them. WordPress is maybe a little more effort because you can configure it yourself, unlike the previously mentioned cloud system of Blogger.
Excellent news for you is that both have ways to import and export your posts, so if you eventually decide to shift and change from Blogger to WordPress and vice-versa, you can do it quickly, and it’s not like you’re necessarily locked in forever.
The Verdict
This brings us back to the verdict regarding this dilemma of which is better, whether it is Blogger or WordPress.
As visible, both WordPress and Blogger have various customization options and offer a good user-friendly interface that helps you successfully run your blog. Matt’s advice is to try them both out. Blogger and WordPress can work very well in terms of SEO, and in the end, as mentioned, it is all about user experience and personal traits you have as someone who will work on the blog.
As Matt Cutts concluded, the solution to your dilemma is left up to you. If you are a beginner in the blogging world and seek simple processes to reach an audience in this early stage of your career, then Blogger is a thing for you.
Conversely, if you want more control and customization opportunities while you have coding experience, then WordPress is the solution.