Some of the tips and support that I am going to discuss below have also been previously discussed in my How to Start a WordPress Blog post. So, you might want to check that out to understand in-depth what it means to have your own self-hosted WordPress blog. If you have already done that, read on!
You have decided you want to start your own blog.
You know you can make money online solely through your blog.
But the question remains: What is better for you and your goals, especially for making money? Blogger (Blogspot) or WordPress?
If you have ended up asking yourself this question too many times, don’t worry – you are not alone.
This is one of the most common questions that I get asked. Most people seem to be confused about which is the right platform to choose. More importantly, they are not sure if they really want to make a switch from one platform to the other.
I know because I myself have been there.
For a long time, I used Blogger. And, I have to admit, I was a bit afraid initially about making a switch to WordPress.
But once I realized what I was losing with Blogger – mainly because of the lack of complete control over my blog and reduced opportunities of making money – I quickly decided that I just had to move on to WordPress.
Needless to say, there has been no looking back ever since.
So I want to explain and address this common confusion and also give you some easy and simple steps so that you too can smoothly and comfortably make that switch from Blogger to WordPress.
However: If all you really want to do is create a completely new blog right from the start, and you need not bother about moving all your old blog posts to the new one, you can just simply follow the steps given in our How to Start a WordPress Blog post. By following these steps, you can create your own self-hosted WordPress blog (through our Bluehost link, it’s cheaper too!) and start making money online. Just remember to make a new post on your old blog to update your followers that you are moving!
Okay.
Now, first: let’s get started by understanding why you might want to move away from Blogger to WordPress.
Why You Should Move From Blogger to WordPress
If you ever want to start making money off your blog, you must start your own self-hosted blog through trusted services such as Bluehost.
Most bloggers recommend on having self-hosted WordPress blog, and this article will support you so that you can easily start your own WordPress.org blog.
Remember: this should not be confused with the free version “WordPress.com” blog. Those blogs, including the free version from Blogger, are never a good idea if you want to monetize your blog. There are many problems associated with having a blog on these platforms.
First problem – the advertisers, companies, and your readers and visitors, who are crucial for your money-making, will easily recognize that you are using Blogger or free WordPress. You will straight off come as unprofessional. Period.
Second problem – and perhaps the most disastrous one! – is that there is no telling when your blog might be deleted for no explainable reason at all! If this happens, you don’t just lose your precious works but also seriously hurt your chances of making a stable income from your blog.
Even buying your own domain name for $10 from Blogger or GoDaddy will not guarantee that you completely own your blog!
So why deal with all the hassle? It is always a smarter idea to simply have a self-hosted WordPress blog, and increase your chances of earning good money through it online.
Still, don’t believe this is possible? Just check out these amazing bloggers who are already making around $1,00,000 in revenue every month!
Trust me, if you ever want to blog for a living, then WordPress is your ultimate answer!
Now, before I move forward, let’s quickly look back on why you would want to be self-hosted on WordPress through Bluehost:
- Have a professional website, make more impact impression, and make more money on self-hosted WordPress
- Have complete control over your blog
- Have complete ownership of your blog and eliminate the risk of losing your precious work
Looking to simply start a new blog of your own? You may first want to check out our other article that provides a complete and easy-to-follow guide on how to start a WordPress blog of your own at the cheapest possible price. You can also find our Bluehost link, which you can use to sign up for hosting for at least 12 months and get discounted rates starting $3.49 per month along with a FREE blog domain worth $15!
Now:
I hope now you know why WordPress blog is THE place to be. That means you are ready to start your own WordPress blog or to migrate your Blogger blog to WordPress.
With this easy-to-follow guide, you don’t need to worry even if you are not well familiar with the process. Just read these simple instructions on How to Transfer a Blog From Blogger to WordPress and follow the steps provided.
Switching to WordPress from Blogger
Making the switch may not feel like something that is for you, but WordPress is definitely the place where you would want to be – hands down!
Many people are hesitant about making the transfer from Blogger to WordPress, and understandably so. But once you make that move, you’d definitely realize just how advantageous this is.
Don’t be surprised if you feel like you should have made the switch sooner!
Still confused on whether WordPress or Blogger is the better one for you? You can always go back to the several benefits of being on WordPress that we have outlined above and think it through.
Now: if you DO want to be on WordPress, just a quick tip for you – make sure you backup your blog and all other relevant things before making any major changes. It’s always a good idea to be careful, just in case you mess up something and would like to have all your work back. Sometimes, you might want to go back to the old blog posts because they might not show up the same way after making the transfer.
Let’s go through these simple steps so that you can easily switch from Blogger to WordPress:
Step 1: Domain
The first thing to do after deciding to make a switch to WordPress from Blogger is to get your domain.
Already have a domain? Great! You can just skip to Step 2.
If you are looking to buy a new domain then you can use our Bluehost link to get the web hosting service for a cheap and discounted price upon purchasing a hosting plan of 12 months or more. If you do so, you can also get your domain for FREE through Bluehost.
Step 2: Hosting
After getting your domain ready, the next step for your Blogger to WordPress migration is now to get your web hosting so that you can have a self-hosted WordPress blog.
You can choose from a range of hosting services. There are two kinds of popular hosting services i.e. shared hosting and managed WordPress hosting. Whichever you choose, it is generally preferable to do it through some of the more tried and tested services such as Bluehost, which is one of the highly recommended hosting companies by many bloggers.
With Bluehost, you get the most affordable service starting from $3.49 per month. That means at just around $60 a year, you can have your self-hosted WordPress blog – and it will be even cheaper if you pay a lump sum for a year upfront. You can also pay it month-to-month basis but you will end up paying twice as much!
Remember: signing up for web hosting plan of 12 months or higher is the cheapest way to start your self-hosted WordPress blog… and you even get a FREE blog domain with Bluehost!
For this:
- Go to Bluehost and click the Sign-up button.
- Click I have a domain name or create your domain name directly through Bluehost.
- Enter the requested information and select your desired hosting plan.
This enables you to now have your own self-hosted blog, which is the most definitive way of making good money online. This also means that now you are more in control of your blog – you can do whatever you like and there is more freedom to customize than with free Blogger or WordPress.com blogs.
You can also download any theme and give your blog the outlook that best suits your purpose. Or, why not try some of our easy-to-use and customizable themes from Blossom Theme? You can always explore through several of these beautiful themes collections and choose the one that best suits your blog’s personality.
Now that you’re on your self-hosted WordPress blog, you can also run your own advertisements, affiliate links, or direct advertising.
But, most importantly, you are now all set to start monetizing your blog!
Note: If you want to connect your already existing domain with your new hosting service, visit our post on How to Start a WordPress blog and follow the easy process given in Step 2 and Step 3.
Step 3: Transfer Your Blogger Blog to WordPress
In earlier steps, you have made all your preparations to now actually start migrating your Blogger blog to WordPress. This is a crucial part, but, nonetheless, easy and simple to follow.
First: when logged into your WordPress account, find the left-hand sidebar and go to Tools. After that, click on Import and select the “Blogger” option.
Some Important Tips Directly from WordPress:
- Click on Authorize.
- You might be asked to log into Google if you’re already not logged in.
- You will have to grant access to your Blogger information to WordPress, simply click Grant Access to continue.
- You will have a list of all your blogs.
- Choose the blog that you want to migrate and click the Import button.
- You will be asked to wait while the posts and comments are being imported.
- Click the Set Authors button.
- Select the appropriate mapping for the authors.
- Review and check your categories, posts, and comments.
Additional Tips
Please note that some of the links from your old post might be broken because of your old post structure. To avoid this, you must have the same Permalink structure.
So let’s take care of that:
Log into your WordPress account after you have set up everything, and then go to:
Settings > Permalinks
Click on Custom Structure and type: “/%year%/%monthnum%/%postname%”
Remember: if your Permalink structure was something else, then you should click on that option instead. Mostly, it will be the Custom Structure that we mentioned above, if you are migrating from Blogger.
Another point to note: Page Rank
Google penalizes those sites that have posts or pages that are same as another website. So, you would want to revert all of your old Blogger posts to Draft form, so that you don’t end up with two same posts on two websites.
However, you must do this only after your site is completely ready. Also, do NOT delete your old posts. You would want to go back to them just in case you made some error during the migration process.
Also, your images would still be on Blogger so you should not delete your old Blogger blog. You can simply let it be there. As long as the posts are in the Draft mode, it won’t make any difference.
Transfer Your Feed
Do not forget – before migrating everything from Blogger to WordPress, you would want to make sure that your readers or audience are informed about it. Take time to make a post about your new domain so that they can always follow you.
Also, remember to update your feed and eliminate the risk of losing your valuable subscribers. It is very important that you are able to redirect your followers to your new domain.
For this:
Log into Blogger
Go to Settings > Other > Site
Type your new URL in the Post Feed Redirect URL as given below:
Conclusion
Making the decision to move from Blogger to WordPress is often difficult for most people. Mainly because they believe that the task ahead of them is too daunting.
But – now that you know the numerous benefits and financial advantages of having your self-hosted blog on WordPress rather than Blogger or free Wordpress.com version, you should not have any second thoughts about this.
Starting a blog on self-hosted WordPress is simply more advantageous and profitable. Not only do you get to monetize your blog through various advertisements, affiliate links, or direct advertising, you also get to customize and control your blog as you please.
As I have mentioned above, WordPress also gives you complete control over your website. You can use various tools and plugins to optimize your work process and grow your blog. We especially recommend Docs2Site as an essential tool in every blogger’s toolkit.
Docs2Site is a tool to export Google Docs files to the WordPress editor. It saves you the hassle of reformatting each article on WordPress, basically saving you up to 1.5 hours per an article in a repetitive task.
Using this tool will transform your workflow as a serious blogger. You can save a lot of time that can be used in valuable tasks such as ideating and writing quality blog posts.
Feel free to take your time with our simple guide provided above, then make that important switch to WordPress in a few easy steps, and start enjoying blogging like never before!
