Five Things I Learned When I Moved from Blogger to WordPress

I’ve moved from my two-year residence at Blogspot. The place was a good starter home, and it used to be very nice, but the neighborhood got a little run down.

The ‘help’ section on Blogspot was no help. After losing my photos, my comment box disappearing/reappearing, and the insidious push to connect to Google+ , which I succumbed to and began having more post problems, I terminated Google+ and started looking for a new home.

Ever had to move to a different state? Moving from Blogger to WordPress was about the same experience-for me, a non-tech novice. A chingona knows when she needs to rely on herself and when to ask for assistance.  I knew I needed help with the relocation.

Utilizing Google search and my writing community on Facebook (WordSmith Studio) I armed myself with information about the relocation two weeks ahead of the actual move. It was time consuming but necessary for me-I’m not the impulsive type. The encouragement from my writing community helped make this a much easier move. I didn’t feel like I was walking alone in the dark.

First, which neighborhood did I want to move too? WordPress.com or dot org? This graph made it easier to decide. For a more detailed description and a video go to Michael Hyatt’s site. I decided on the dot-com, the affordable neighborhood. Be aware that if you own your domain name  through a domain service like GoDaddy, you will have to pay $13 per year for domain mapping (this is to tell your name where to point).  I didn’t like this fee, but I disliked Blogger more.

Secondly, there were new ‘shopping experiences,’ at WP, as in 205 themes, free and paid. Almost all of the themes are customizable-not that I know how to do that yet. This took more time than collecting info on how to move to WP, but it was more fun. So many colors, layouts, widgets, options are like being in the tile, carpet, and furniture store. To make it easier, use the filter on WP’s “Find A Theme.”

The third thing I learned is that there is always a downside to a move. I’m sure there must be a way around this, but I lost valuables along the way. You can pay to have someone migrate your blog, comments, followers, etc. On WordPress the service is called “Guided Transfer,” and costs $129.   Unfortunately, I discovered that service after I made the transfer myself. I lost my readers, and the blogs I followed on Blogspot, and I hope they’ll find me at my new place and come to visit.

The upside, and fourth thing I learned with my move,  is that WP has “Publicize.”  This allows you to connect your blog to social media sites and share your posts. Once you do this your Follow widget lists the amount of people on your social media sites, i.e. Facebook, Twitter, and so on. This can run into several hundred or thousands depending on how many social media sites you list and how many followers you have on these sites. Your posts are automatically sent to these sites.  I have to confess, after inserting this tool, the resulting number made me feel much better about losing readers, but I still would like them back.

Lastly, my comment section has Akismet, a spam detection tool which works differently from Blogspot’s. It filters out the spam in your comments and trackbacks. It’s automatic and you don’t have to spend time moderating comments.

Now I need to walk around some, hang out at my Dashboard, and the WP home, and get to know the lay of the land.  Thanks Wordsmith’ers.