A new blogger has numerous doubts while choosing any blogging platform, may it be Blogger, WordPress or a custom domain. I wont compare Blogger with any other platforms but only emphasize on how good this platform is, and try to clear the myths associated with it.
Lets have a look at some of the myths associated with this platform and why you shouldn't believe them:
1. You do not own your blog
Your blog posts may have been stored at Google servers but you can backup all these posts anytime you want from the settings menu. Google servers are highly secure and so is your blog. If need be, you can migrate to any other platform and Google won't stop you. You own full Copyrights of your articles.
2. Blogger can delete your blog anytime
If you're posting content that violates any of Google's policies such as running porn, sharing copyrighted content, promoting racial activities or hurting religious sentiments then you are bound to get penalized. Google won't delete your blog if they run out of server space and they won't run out of space until the dooms day.
3. Adsense doesn't like Blogger blogs
No doubt its the top advertising network on Internet and comes embedded in Blogger. Its been proved that most of the blogspot blogs are content rich having huge traffic. I run adsense ads on this blog. I could have displayed other ads, but I make decent money from adsense alone that I don't feel the need to go for other networks. If adsense doesn't like blogspot blogs, then Google wouldn't have integrated them. Its' as simple as that. However, Adsense is not the only network on Internet, there are many other alternatives you can choose from to monetize your blog.
4. Blogspot blogs are not optimized
This is one of the baseless statements you can come across on Internet. A platform owned by Google who dominates the search engines across the globe and not being optimized for search engines itself? How foolish is that to talk about? Tell me one reason why Google wouldn't want to have blogspot blogs in its search results? In fact, after the Penguin update, blogspot blogs are at advantage over others. With the recent introduction of Custom Permalinks, Custom robots.txt, Header tags, 302 redirects, 404 error, Meta tags and many other features search engine optimization has become more easy. If you ever feel the need to customize your template outside of the Bloggers template designer, you are free to do it as long as you don't violate any policies. The Internet is loaded with tutorials and the community is generous enough to help you.
5. Looks unprofessional
When you buy a new house, you would definitely want it to look good to others. You color the house, furnish it and do whatever it takes to grab attention and want people to visit your house often. Anyone would enjoy staying in a posh and beautiful house. Similarly, the choice and customization of any blog depends on the blog owner. Google is offering you free service along with the template designer, what else do you need? So tweak it the way you want and make it more attractive from readers perspective. If you are not happy with small tweaks, upload a brand new template.
Now can you tell me, how good or bad blogger is?
Google is a search giant (perhaps the Internet Giant), who will do anything to ensure its products or services are at their best. If you produce useful content, nobody would care about the platform its hosted on. Readers want unique content, something they can refer over and over again by revisiting your blog.
I'm definitely one of the Google admirers but I don't get paid to write good things about it. Neither am I entitled to promote Blogger as a platform. There are many other blogging platforms which have better features but Blogger still remains my choice. With this post, I only intend to bring out the good things it offers to new writers. If you don't like it, just move on to another platform. As simple as that.