I cannot believe this is my first WordPress post!I am still learning how to use it, and there are still a lot of things to move around the website, but I am happy I managed to get it up and running all by myself.
I took a huge risk, and honestly I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but whenever something went wrong, I went on Google..apparently it has all the answers..ok, fine, most of them..
If I would have started with WordPress in the first place, I would have saved myself a lot of trouble..I decided to start with Blogger, because I already had an account with them for quite a few years, but almost never used it..I felt comfortable with it, everybody that I followed was on Blogger, and that is how it all started..
But, and there is always a but, after a while I noticed that I could not get the things that I want..I felt limited on what I could do with my blog..and honestly, after the Google Friend Connect went away, I got scared.
They are now promoting their Google Plus, that I do not like at all. I am a pretty tech savvy kind of girl, and I can say I am pretty good at figuring things out, but from all honesty, I could not figure out how to use it.
Another reason that pushed me to change was the fact that on Blogger, you do not really own your blog. At any point in time if they decide to closed it, they can do it.
I could go on and on with my list, but I am not going to bore you with all the reasons.
Right around the time that GFC went away, I have bought my own domain..it was to cheap to resist, and it made me feel good..it cost me a whopping $9.99 from GoDaddy.
..Then, I started thinking of moving..and I sat on that thought for a good two months..I started looking at WordPress, I opened a free account on WordPress.com and started to play around, to get myself comfortable..It was frustrating I admit, it was different, but as I was browsing through the thousands of plug-ins, I started to like it more and more..
The next step was getting hosting, and after reading recommendations on different websites, I went with Blue Host.
My situation was a little bit different, since I already had the domain linked to my Blogger account.
I did search around, and I have found a few good tutorials that helped me get through it.
- Nanny Goats in Panties has a very good tutorial in two parts..here is part one..
- Here you can find part two of that article
- My pregnancy baby also has a lot of useful information, lots of tips and tricks, and some great plug-ins info.
I was stressed and nervous about it at first, but as I started using it, I got excited about making the switch. I was really enjoying the features and the dashboard and the updated look. Now that I’m here…I love it and I’m glad I made the switch.
Here is a few things that I totally love:
- the comment section is so awesome, and I am trying to figure out a new plug in that actually sends a message out to let you know when I reply to a comment
- the spam plug-in is just awesome, and I am finally happy that I got rid off that one spammer that was stalking me for months
- the great selection of templates, they have one for every taste
- it is so SEO friendly. I am seeing already a lot of traffic coming from search engines, that almost never happened before.
- I can make menu’s with links, and thumbnails, that will be more easier to navigate
I am still working on some things to make it easier for you to find what you’re looking for, so hang in there as I get that done. Until then, there is a search box on the side bar. Just enter a key word like, and you will get a list of posts where that phrase is used.
Also, I will try to write a second part to this post, with different tips and tricks, and solutions to common problems that I encountered when moving.
If you have questions, please leave an comment or send me an email, and I promise to try to have an answer for you.
This change to WordPress has been a perfect time to revamp and update some things I’ve been meaning to work on for a while and I think it will be better as my blog (hopefully) continues to grow. Thanks for coming along for the ride!
Denise
Hi Deny – I have awarded you the Versatile Blogger award – check out my blog for details
Hugs,
Suzan
I have been using wordpress for about 8 months now for my blog and just love it! Next up is to learn the website side of wordpress… Your site looks great – good job!
Thank you for the shout out to my tutorial, Deny. I’m glad it helped you. Yay! Good luck with your blog!
Thank you for sharing! I have been wanting to jump into blog land but I couldn’t decide which way to go. This was very helpful and your work is amazing!!!! I’m glad I found your blog.
Hi Rebecca, I am really happy that you found the post helpfull. I love WordPress, I think it offers a lot more freedom and more features than Blogger. Please stop by and share the blog with me once you start, I would love to read it:) XOXO Denise
Hi Deny – I switched to a hosted WordPress from Blogger about the same time as you. I didn’t find the switch all that hard – I did the migrating myself – but I had a designer help me with the look and feel of the blog. I changed the name of my blog and so that’s the one thing that hurt my followers (on Google Friend Connect). I have been emailing my followers so that they can find me again. Many are following me via email now…but I know I lost a good 40 or so followers. But, like you – I am finding that I am getting way more Google Search traffic! I love that!
Re Followers etc: One problem I have – and I have to figure it out – is when I want to comment on a Blogger blog – I can’t always indicate my new blog address (some Bloggers haven’t put in the “Name/URL” option). There’s the WordPress.com one – and I did have a blog there (for practice) – and so I don’t want anyone to go there at all! Any ideas about that issue?
I think there’s a way to have Google recognize your new blog address – so I have to work that out.
If you have any other advice, I would welcome it. Did you hear that Feedburner is going away too? I follow someone on Feedblitz – and the link to her blog never works…so I don’t think I want to do that. Any ideas on what to put on your blog so that you can capture more followers? I used to also use Bloglovin – maybe I will go back to that.
Thanks…Linda
Hi Linda, sorry fo my delay response…When you comment on Blogger post, and you need to be logged in into that account, I belive that should be ok, as long as you have your redirects in..just make sure your Blogger profile that you comment with, it is linked to your domain. Regarding Feedburner, I couldnt find anything yet, that confirms that is going away, it was mostly the people from Feedblitz that spread that rumor. Everywhere were was an article abour Feedburner, they were present on that blog, trying to snatch people away..That is the type of sale, advertising I do not like. Plus, it is not cheap, and I will not sign up with them just because of those practices I mentioned. A trustfull business will atract customers no matter what, peaple underestimate the power of word of mouth these days. I did switch my email sign up back to wordpress, since its free, I backed-up my list in feedburner just in case, and I am just waiting to see whats happening. I was looking at Mail Chimp, that is a good free alternative if you have under 2000 followers, but I havent looked into how to set it up yet. I used to have Linkin blog sign up, but I didnt see any benefit from that. I decide it to keep simple, and I believe that the best way to go, is the good old email..I do read more often the posts I am signed up with email, than the ones in Reader or any other form..
Hugs, Denise!