It's been years now that I have been on the internet and I now have 4 websites which I have created myself with the help of the provider's designing software. Three of my websites are free: Wix, Blogger and Wordpress and I chose try and pay for a more professional site and tried a Godaddy website. As I talk about each one in detail, I will link them, so you can see what each one looks like. These were all designed by the same person (me), the only difference is that each has it's own unique design options, templates and other tools at my disposal. I will tell you which I like best and which I like least and the reasons why.
BLOGGER: The Crowd Will Gather:
This is my first website right here - Blogger. Thecrowdwillgather is the name of my site. This is just a personal site where I share experiences, projects and my views. I have had it the longest. It was very easy to open up. All I had to do was create an account with Google, go to Blogger and then choose which template I liked best and then start adding posts. Not knowing ANYTHING about computer language and programming, it took some trial and error and clicking on everything to know how things worked. I never lost anything major and I never had any real issues with Blogger.
On Blogger, I can chose to revert a post to a draft if I change my mind and would prefer not to have it seen publicly. That happens sometimes over the years. I can also change templates anytime I want - without losing anything or having to start over. If I get bored with how my website looks or if I want to try something new I can change how my looks completely. I really this about Blogger.
One of the downsides of Blogger though is that if you do need help, you need to find the answers yourself. Blogger does not provide direct customer service at all. In fact, Google (who owns Blogger and Gmail) is unreachable. You can also go to the support pages and forums for help. I have had a few technical difficulties and would have really liked to be able to reach someone to find answers quickly, but that is not the case with Blogger. You are on your own.
It is very easy for anyone to find my blog. My blog can be found on search engines by either looking up The Crowd will Gather - thecrowdwillgather - or if you search for a topic that I blogged about - that might find me as well.
It does not cost me anything to use Blogger and if I want I can choose to allow Google ads or not to appear.
I always have used Blogger as a blogging website. My Wordpress is also more of a blogging website. On the contrary, my Godaddy and my Wix are more traditional website than blogs.
I highly recommend using Blogger to open a blogging website.
Here is a link to the Blogger website: https://www.blogger.com/
WIX - Canadian Voyageurs : http://celinegerry.wix.com/canadianvoyageurs
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This is a website that was created to promote a cross Canada expedition.
Here is the link to the Wix website if you want to go check it out yourself: www.wix.com/
Wix uses different formats and different templates, but it was very easy to open a website here also. Wix has many templates to chose from and it's free. Wix runs small ads sometimes on your site in exchange for the free service - I have never found these to be a problem. If you want, you can chose to upgrade your Wix website - this gives you access to better templates and better tools to design a nicer website (supposedly). By paying for a site, Wix will not run ads on your site - you also get more storage and better support if you pay for your website. These are the main differences on Wix between a free site or one you pay for. My site is free - I do not own any of it. Notice how the name of the website includes a lot more than just the name "Canadianvoyageurs" (which is the name of my site - Canadian Voyageurs)
With Wix I was able to add music in the background and many different interesting "widgets". Widgets is a term used to describe applications that you can download and that have different functions - such as playing sounds, songs, counting down a clock, showing a calendar - things like that. Many widgets are free - there are more advanced widgets that you can purchase as well.
My Wix website is easy to find - but I have to search for "Canadian Voyageurs Wix" - in order for search engines to find me.
You just point and click - drag and drop to add different things to your site. You can add pages, add text boxes and shape them to the size you want. You can add borders and chose what colors and fonts. You can add photos and videos. It's a lot of fun. If you do something wrong - you can undo your last moves. You can even start over from scratch if you want.
I highly recommend using Wix to open a free website - if you want to upgrade to a more professional site - stay with Wix.
GoDaddy - Canadian Voyageurs: http://www.canadianvoyageurs.com/
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GoDaddy is the website I pay for and to be honest it's the one I like the least. I regret opening it and paying for it. In hindsight, after working with Wix and with Wordpress, subsequently to opening this site, I would have been better off never going with GoDaddy. It's been a headache. On Godaddy I have purchased the dot com CanadianVoyageurs.
It costs me about $100 for a year to have that site. That is very cheap in website terms and I guess it's true you get what you pay for because I would have to pay to upgrade my site with Godaddy to get it more like I want it. I don't have the cheapest package though, I have the Business plan - you would think that would suit my needs, but no. I have been in touch with their customer service department many times - I have told them how dissatisfied I am with their product.
I have had to start over my website 3 times with Godaddy - that is extremely frustrating and takes a great deal of time. The first time was because their template kept freezing up and not working properly - I got a 3 month credit when I asked for a refund after this happened. I should have insisted on a refund though because months later I still do not like my site and have had to contact customer service on numerous occasions for assistance because their templates don't work or because it's not EASY like advertised!
Godaddy has been very glitchy. Boxes do not close when supposed to. My photos take longer to load. I often have to reload the whole project to get things working properly again.
Another thing I am very displeased about my Godaddy website is that search engines cannot find me unless I type "canadianvoyageurs.com"!! Godaddy wants me to upgrade and pay for their SEO package so I can let them let search engines find me. I have complained to them many times about this, but I am told it's is the fault of the search engines or it just a matter of time... It's not - my site is being "prevented" from being searched - all my other sites are very easily found without paying any SEO (Search Engine Optimization). That is a scam - Godaddy is very deceiving on how they sell you their products. They do NOT have live chat support only live chat sales support - but if you need help with your website you have to call and sometimes you have to wait a long time. I hate waiting on hold. When I need help with someone I am working on, I would like help right away - not in half an hour. I have had to call back again also sometimes because the problem was not solved. What used is it to have a website if it cannot be found on the internet! Especially one you are paying for.
You cannot change templates - well you can, but it means starting over from scratch on Godaddy.
I do not recommend using Godaddy to open a website. In hindsight I should have bought the dot com from Wix and upgraded to a paid site there instead or better yet just pay for the dot com and stay free with Wix.
Here is the link to the Godaddy website if you want more information: http://ca.godaddy.com/
Wordpress - My wild Canada: http://mywildcanada.com/
I was looking for a place to make a professional looking website - I kept seeing people using Wordpress - I had tried it before going to Godaddy but I thought that if I paid for a site it would look better - wrong! Wordpress is the site that convinced me that you don't have to pay to have a nice looking site. I bought the "mywildcanada" dot com. I have set up the Wordpress site so that only mywildcanada.com appears in the address bar. You can also do that with Wix - you can buy your dot com through them.
Wordpress is a bit different from Wix and Blogger. You just have to get used to the layout and the program. With Wordpress you can use the free templates or pay for just the template to get a nicer one to work with. You have more options.
Wordpress is very user friendly. You can contact support directly by making a support ticket to get an email response/chat going and I have done that a few times and gotten really fast responses. You can also use social media to get assistance with all of the website providers. Tweet them or post on their Facebook pages - they will respond quickly.
One of the big differences between Godaddy and Wordpress/Wix/Blogger is that you can change your template anytime and as often as you want. With Godaddy if you change your template - you start over. So if you are trying out a template - you might be halfway through working with your content and realize that this may not be the best template for you.
With Wordpress I can add pages (or delete them) I can save drafts before I publish them (Blogger also). What impresses me most about Wordpress is how professional my site looks and how easy it was. Wordpress is well linked with social media - my site is very easy to find on search engines. Wordpress is designed with bloggers in mind it seems. Photos load very quickly. Wordpress is also set up so that you can link Tweets (Twitter) easily.
This is the link to the Wordpress website: https://wordpress.com/
Conclusion: Working with all these different website providers has broadened my knowledge when it comes to making websites. I now understand terms like SEO, tags, embedding - words that were like Chinese to me a few years ago. I ask a lot of questions - I do not like getting lost in forums - when I have a question I ask support or I ask for help on social media. "Googling" questions is also very helpful - by asking a question on the Google search engine - you can be directed to a blog or a post that can give you the right answer.
Building websites is fun and easy - anyone can do it. The more I "play" with it, the faster I get, the more I understand and the easier it gets. I used to get frustrated a lot, but not anymore - now website building is fun.
So go - open a FREE website - go and have fun - go be seen and heard on the world wide web. Go share with everyone!
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