Monday, August 4, 2014

Review of Google's Blogger Platform


    Google and Blogger have certainly enhanced the Blogger platform since I had last used it MANY years ago!  I'll get straight to the point; I rate the current version of Blogger with an 8 out of 10, and recommend it for those who are new to blogging. Nice work Google! 

  1. UI / UX - Clean, simple, and quite solid. I'd highly recommend for those who are completely new to blogging. 
  2. Features and Functionality - It is evident that Blogger's team did not try to get too crazy with packing their end-product full of plugins, widgets, and customization options that you would find in Wordpress. That is exactly what makes this a great product for beginning bloggers and online writers. 
  3. Ease of Use - Incredibly easy, with a few added options that render it quite a nice tool, even for SEO purposes. 
  4. Posting Options - The ability to add a location to a blog post is a nice addition, and will serve those targeting local markets and niches very well. The simplicity of scheduling posts for a later time is a smart feature, without too many settings and options that may confuse new users. 

Nostalgia within Blogging 
 For those who did not utilize Blogger waaaaay back in the day (I'm talking a good 10-years ago!), the photo below is how many of us remember Blogger and her familiar layout to be:

Terra Andersen - Blog

Good old "Web 2.0" and it's rounded edges, bold fonts...and we must not forget the abundance of shiny, bubble-like logos that sparkled the internet in an array of vibrant and edgy colors.  

Their older platform was also quite basic, and was not too difficult to learn. They have definitely followed this trend with their most current platform, and have done a nice job of updating it to reflect today's cleaner design standards.