I have a question for all of you bloggers who use Blogger. I hate the fact that the Followers widget and Google Reader are going away. I hate it so much that I'm strongly considering packing up and moving my whole blog over the Wordpress. I've heard a lot of good things about Wordpress but the main thing I find attractive is how easy it is to follow a Wordpress blog. All you need is an email address and Wordpress sends each post right to your inbox. Love that.
The problem is that it will cost a lot of money to move my design and all of my content (even though my content is pretty minimal at this point). So I'm trying to weigh my pros and cons.
So...those of you who use Blogger, what is your take on these changes and what are you going to do about it? How are you going to make sure all of your followers don't disappear and how are you going to continue following the blogs you currently read?
Maybe there are really obvious answers to these questions, but I'm not especially well-versed in this stuff, so I could use some help.
Thanks in advance!
Most of my followers don't follow publicly anyway, so that doesn't really bother me... my feed subscription numbers are much higher than my follower number from the little widget.
ReplyDeleteYou can add a widget on the side of your blog that people can subscribe by email or through a reader in blogger as well.
As for reader disappearing, this makes me sad. I did switch all the blogs I follow over to feedly (super easy process) and have been happy so far. I don't like it quite as much as google reader, but haven't had any major issues. Good luck!
This is really helpful Heather! I'll have to check feedly out.
DeleteMoving your content to WP is easy. SUPER easy. I'm talking - a couple minute process and it automatically moves your posts/comments. You'll have to recreate any pages (basically a copy & paste job), but that's also simple. Your design is the only cost you'd have to consider I guess.
ReplyDeleteAs for followers - if you move to WP, people will still have to re-subscribe to your blog (not a huge deal - I lost followers doing this, but I figure the majority of ppl who were actually following me made the effort to resubscribe to the new URL). If you stay with blogger, all google reader people (myself included) will have to find a new platform to use to follow ppl with RSS feeds anyway - no matter where your blog is.
PS - I was a blogger user for 3+ years, and after switching to WP 6 months ago, my only regret is not switching sooner. It is SOOOO much better for interaction (like comment replies). It also gives you the option to PWP individual posts if you'd like, which is nice. I 100% recommend making the switch.
DeleteThis is really good to know, Josey. I know I'll do it eventually but like you said, it's the cost that's the issue. Everything you said was really helpful.
DeleteI don't think the Followers (Google Friend Connect) will be affected- you will just have to find a new way to actually view/read blogs if you're currently using Google Reader. But for instance, all the blogs you follow will still show up on your Blogger Dashboard, the way they do now. Check out this girl's post today: http://sarahandderek.blogspot.com/2013/03/google-reader-change-dont-stress.html?showComment=1363910498774#c8606126780867032363 She came to the same conclusions I did after a little research. Last night I got on board with BlogLovin' and it literally took maybe 90 seconds for them to transfer all my feeds from Reader over to their site...and I love it so far! The app is great, too. So don't worry!! There are options!! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link and for the Bloglovin recommendation. For some reason, the name sort of turns me off, but I guess I'll just have to get over that. (-:
DeleteI agree with Josey! I switched to WP not long ago and am so glad I did. I like it much better for several reasons, such as following, comments, and just the set up. The move was much easier than I expected as well. I highly recommend it! :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that, Fiona! Thanks for the input!
DeleteUGH!
ReplyDeleteThis makes me so mad and sad! I only know of bloglovin to replace google reader. I didnt even know the followers was going away too! WHAT THE HECK BLOGGER! I dont have much content, but i was just about to pay for a whole new blogger layout. I wonder what to do! I dont even know how to switch over to WP! I looked at it before blogger and i was so lost. Shoot.
Yeah, I was totally lost too! Glad I'm not alone in that!
DeleteI didn't know it was going away either. I'm not an expert at this blogging stuff and it took me forever just to figure out what I have up to this point. ggrrrr
ReplyDeleteI know. I'm in the same boat.
DeleteI always feel like such an idiot with this stuff. I don't even know what google reader was! I have always just used my blogger dashboard to follow all the blogs I like. I always have questions on how to do things on my blog. I want to add my email address so people could contact me if they wanted to. I can't figure out how to do that!!!
ReplyDeleteYou're not alone! That's for sure.
DeleteI've started using bloglovin and am lovin it :)
ReplyDeleteGood to know. I'll have to get on board with that.
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