So…what happened to Blogspot? Honestly? Nothing dramatic. It’s still there. I logged in last week to one of my ancient blogs — the one with cringey poetry and blurry Nokia photos — and it loaded like it was 2009 all over again. Blogger is still active, still owned by Google, still handing out free blogspot.com URLs like candy. No “service shutting down” banners, no graveyard notice. But it feels dead, doesn’t it? That’s the weird part.
I think it’s because nothing changes. The dashboard still looks like it hasn’t had a facelift since college. No shiny updates, no big announcements. Meanwhile, people are screaming in forums about their posts vanishing from Google search. Some swear Blogspot’s being “quietly killed.” Others are stuck in Search Console purgatory, hitting refresh on “Discovered – currently not indexed.” I’ve seen those threads too.
And yeah, there’s this tiny line in Google’s policies that says if you don’t log in for a while… your blog might just disappear. Poof. That freaked me out. So now I sign in once every few months, just in case.
So, is Blogspot dead? No. It’s like that old café in your hometown. The one with the flickering sign, still open, still serving coffee, but nobody you know goes there anymore.
2) Quick Primer: Blogspot vs. Blogger (2 minutes)
You know what’s funny? I spent years calling it “Blogspot” like that was the actual platform. Turns out, nope. Blogspot is just the domain—the free subdomain Google gives you, so your blog ends up being something like myrandomthoughts.blogspot.com. That’s it. A name tag. The real engine behind it all is Blogger—Google’s free CMS, which is this stripped-down, old-school dashboard where you write posts, slap in some pictures, and hit publish. I found that out embarrassingly late, like after I’d already bought a “how to start a blog” course. Yeah.
Anyway, Blogger’s kind of like that friend who never changes their hairstyle. Same vibe since forever. It’s free, which is why I started there in college because WordPress sounded “complicated” and I didn’t even have a credit card. Blogger hosts your site for free, no hosting bills, no fancy setup. You can even hook up AdSense or Analytics without a bunch of tech headaches—Google made sure of that. And if you ever get serious, you can slap a custom domain on it. So, your site doesn’t scream “I made this in high school” with that .blogspot.com tag.
But here’s the thing—I remember how simple it felt. Like, no plugin rabbit holes, no monthly fees. Just a blank editor and me typing out way too many feelings. It was great… until it wasn’t. I hit a wall when I wanted more control, better SEO tools, actual traffic. Blogger’s still around, still doing its thing, but if you’re just figuring out the “difference between Blogger and Blogspot,” there it is. Blogger’s the platform. Blogspot’s the domain host. And yeah, they’re both free, which is why they’re still kinda perfect for testing ideas without burning cash.
3) Timeline: How we got here
You know what’s wild? Blogspot’s been around longer than some people reading this. Like… 1999. Pyra Labs. That’s who started it. Back when everyone was on dial-up, and blogging wasn’t this “content strategy” thing, it was just… random folks spilling their guts online. I actually made my first blog in some dusty internet café around 2005, and the only thing I knew about HTML was <br>. Anyway, Google swooped in around 2003 and bought the whole thing. And, at the time, it felt like the internet’s future had arrived because suddenly your random diary could be on a Google-owned platform. Felt kind of legit.
Then came the redesigns. Blogger had a couple makeovers, nothing crazy, but enough that every time you logged in, something was in a new place. Around 2010 they killed FTP publishing—honestly, most of us didn’t even know what that meant, but the internet forums acted like it was the end of the world. And then… it just stayed there. Like this perfectly functional, slightly clunky time capsule that never really left 2012.
Oh, and Blogspot had this weird reputation for being spammy. Late 2000s, every other sketchy affiliate site or malware-ridden pop-up scam was a Blogspot blog. Google cracked down, but the damage was done; whenever you sent someone a “.blogspot.com” link, you felt a little judged. Like, “Oh, you couldn’t afford a domain?” Brutal, but true.
Fast-forward to now, 2025. Guess what? It’s still alive. Still running. No big announcements, no “we’re shutting down” panic. It just quietly… exists. People are still posting, some because nostalgia, some because free is free, and honestly, it still works. That’s kind of the magic (and curse) of Blogger—it never fully died, but it also never really grew up. It’s that old friend who never moved out of their hometown, still rocking the same haircut from high school, and somehow, they’re fine with it.
4) What’s changed recently?
So, I still log into my old Blogspot sometimes. Mostly out of nostalgia. Half my teenage rants are still sitting there with pixelated photos and Comic Sans titles. And every time I do, I notice… nothing. Like literally nothing has changed on that dashboard in years. Same orange-and-white interface, same templates from 2011. You click around and it feels like stepping into a house where the furniture hasn’t moved in a decade. No feature updates, no buzz, no “we’re excited to roll out this new thing!” announcements. Just silence. And that silence? That’s why people whisper about Blogspot being dead. Not because it is dead — Google still owns it, your blogs still load — but because it feels like no one’s home.
Then there’s the indexing mess. I’ve seen so many threads lately, folks screaming into the void: “My blog is gone from Google!” “Blogger sitemap discovered but not indexed!” And yeah, I’ve been there. I had a recipe post once that ranked fine on Bing and DuckDuckGo but refused to show up on Google no matter how many times I begged Search Console to crawl it. Some swear Google’s punishing Blogspot subdomains, others say it’s algorithm noise. Whatever it is, it’s a recurring theme — the platform works, but visibility’s shaky, and that makes people think it’s being quietly buried.
And honestly, search has changed. Like, dramatically. AI overviews, those “answer boxes,” Reddit threads outranking everything… it’s rough out here. Small blogs don’t get the same love they used to, especially ones on free subdomains. You can pour your soul into a post and it’ll just… sit there. Zero clicks. Makes you question if anyone outside your mom is ever gonna read it. Blogspot traffic takes the hit because Google’s ecosystem shifted from “list of links” to “we’ll just answer your question right here.” Why click through when an AI snippet gives you the summary? It’s brutal.
Oh, and here’s the kicker: account inactivity. Turns out if you don’t log into your Google account for a long time, your entire blog might get wiped. Like poof. Years of posts gone because you didn’t sign in. That’s in their policy now. I didn’t even know this until I stumbled on a Help Center thread where someone lost a decade’s worth of content. So if you’ve got an ancient Blogspot floating around, maybe dust off that Gmail login.
People keep googling things like “blogger not indexing 2025” or “blogspot disappeared from Google,” and yeah, it’s not paranoia. The platform isn’t officially dead, but it feels like an old neighborhood where the paint’s peeling, the streetlights flicker, and you’re just waiting for the city to send a notice. It’s still standing, but… barely.
5) Should you start (or stay) on Blogspot in 2025? Pros & Cons
I’ve got mixed feelings about Blogspot. Like, full-on whiplash. Part of me wants to hug it because that’s where I learned what a “widget” was back in college. The other part of me? Wants to scream every time I remember the 2007 template I tried to customize and somehow deleted half my sidebar. So, yeah. Let’s just talk like friends, because if you’re googling “is Blogspot good for blogging 2025” you’re probably staring at a blank screen wondering if you should even bother learning how to create a Blogspot blog at this point.
The Good Stuff (Yes, There’s Still Some)
Okay, let’s be fair. Blogspot (or Blogger, whatever you call it) hasn’t totally died yet. It’s free. Like, truly free. You can spin up a blog in 15 minutes without giving Google your credit card, and it’ll just… work. No hosting invoices. No complicated plugins that break after an update. If you’re broke or just want to write about your cat’s outfits, this is heaven.
And Google owns it, so there’s built-in AdSense integration, which means you can make a couple bucks if you somehow pull traffic. Plus, Analytics. Click a few buttons, and boom—you know where your three readers came from. Honestly, when I started my first blog in 2010, this stuff felt magical. I thought I was a tech genius because I added a hit counter.
So, yeah. For hobbyists, students, or someone’s grandma who just wants to post pie recipes, Blogspot is… comforting. Simple. Safe. Kind of like an old flip phone that still works.
The Bad Stuff (And This Is Why SEOs Groan)
Here’s where I get cranky. Blogspot blogs scream “beginner.” The .blogspot.com domain is like wearing socks with sandals—you’re not fooling anyone. Sure, you can buy a custom domain, but most people don’t, and that kills branding right out the gate.
Customization? Meh. You can swap templates, but they all feel stuck in 2014. Even the “modern” templates look like someone’s first web design project. I once spent an entire weekend trying to make my header align and ended up crying into a bag of chips.
And SEO? Ugh. I’ve seen Blogspot sites do okay if you’re insanely good at content and link building, but search engines don’t love subdomains. Plus, Blogger hasn’t gotten real updates in forever, so if you’re serious about building a brand, you’re fighting with an ancient tool while your competitors use sleek WordPress sites that load faster, look better, and don’t scream “this is my side project.”
There’s also the long-term risk. Google loves killing stuff. Remember Google Reader? Or Google Plus? I don’t trust that Blogger will survive another decade. You could spend years building your site, only to wake up one day to a shutdown notice.
So, Should You Use It?
If you’re just journaling, or experimenting, or writing poetry no one will ever find, Blogspot’s fine. Sweet, even. But if you’ve got even half an idea of growing traffic, making money, or being taken seriously, do yourself a favor: learn how to create a Blogspot blog just to get your feet wet, then move to WordPress or something more future-proof.
I say this as someone who loved Blogspot like an old friend and also cursed at it at 3 a.m. in 2016 because I couldn’t figure out why my images wouldn’t align. You’ll outgrow it fast. It’s like training wheels—you’ll be glad it’s there, but you’ll eventually want it gone.
6) If your Blogspot blog “vanished” or lost traffic: Checklist
Alright, so here’s the part nobody tells you when your Blogspot blog just… vanishes. Like, one day you’re checking traffic, maybe editing a post you wrote three years ago about cats or tech gadgets or whatever, and suddenly—boom. Your blog’s gone. Or worse, it’s still there but Google Search acts like it’s invisible. Been there. It’s like yelling into a void. So, let’s go through this step-by-step, because when this happened to me, I was frantically Googling “blogspot blog disappeared help” like it was going to summon some magic button.
First thing—sign in. Seriously. It sounds dumb, but Google has this account inactivity policy where they’ll just… quietly get rid of stuff if you don’t log in every couple of years. Not immediately, not with a dramatic warning, just poof. And I know you probably think, “I use Gmail every day.” Nope. Blogger is separate. Open Blogger, hit sign-in, and poke around. Just to let the algorithm know you’re alive.
Then, Blogger Help. I hate saying “go read help articles” because who does that? But their “My blog disappeared” guide is the only reason I found out my old movie review blog wasn’t hacked, just flagged. There’s a weird mix of “policy violation” and “maybe someone reported you” stuff in there, and if you’ve never filed a recovery request, buckle up, because it’s a form buried under three menus. Keep clicking. It’s there.
Once you’ve done that dance, go geeky. Search Console. If you don’t already have your Blogspot connected, that’s probably part of the problem. Inspect a URL, see if Google even knows your site exists. This is where I realized half my posts were “Discovered – currently not indexed.” Like… thanks? Not helpful. Anyway, submit them manually. Resubmit your sitemap (it’s yourblog.blogspot.com/sitemap.xml, by the way). Then do a weird experiment I swear by—search for your posts on Bing or DuckDuckGo. If they show up there but not in Google, it’s not your content; it’s Google being picky.
And yeah, sometimes traffic drops aren’t because your blog is “broken.” It’s just… the internet changed. AI summaries eat clicks. Algorithms bury old Blogspot blogs even if they’re fine. So maybe this isn’t about fixing something; maybe it’s about deciding if it’s worth staying. But before you give up, at least make sure your blog isn’t just sitting in some forgotten Google purgatory.
If you want an actual search term to help you: “blogger posts not indexing fix” or “blogger discovered not indexed fix.” I’ve typed those exact words at 3 AM, scrolling through forums where other bloggers are just as lost. It’s comforting, in a sad way, seeing you’re not the only one.
So yeah. Step one: sign in. Step two: file the forms. Step three: yell at Search Console until it gives you a green check. After that, maybe pour a drink and ask yourself if it’s time to migrate to WordPress.
7) Migration guide: Blogspot → WordPress (or other platforms)
Alright, so… migrating from Blogspot to WordPress. I’ve done it. Twice. And I’m not gonna sugarcoat it: it’s kinda messy. Like moving apartments when you still have unpacked boxes from your last move. But if you’re serious about blogging, or if Blogspot feels like a ghost town, it’s worth every bit of chaos. So let me just walk you through this, the way I wish someone had told me before I nuked my SEO for six months.
First, a quick “where should I go?” gut check
Look, WordPress.org is where you wanna be if you’re ready to grow up. Self-hosted, full control, plug-ins for everything, and yeah, you have to pay for hosting, but it’s like… owning your own house versus renting. You’ll break stuff. You’ll learn. Worth it.
- WordPress.org: Ultimate control. Hosting bill is on you. Great for SEO, design freedom.
- WordPress.com: Kinda like training wheels. Less freedom, but you don’t have to mess with servers.
- Medium: Sleek, clean, no stress. But you’re playing in their sandbox, not yours. No control over ads, branding, nada.
- Ghost: Minimalist, indie, beautiful. If you’re a writer first, marketer second, Ghost feels good.
If you’re here Googling “best Blogger alternatives 2025,” that’s your cheat sheet. If you’re already screaming at Blogger for “blogspot 301 redirect,” stop fighting. Just move.
The actual move: messy but doable
So here’s my honest-to-God process after breaking my site once. Take notes.
- Back up your Blogger blog
Go to Settings → Other → Back up content. Download that .xml file like it’s your last life raft. Because it is. - Set up your new WordPress site
If you’re self-hosting, grab hosting (SiteGround, Bluehost, whatever — they’re all annoying but you need one). Install WordPress. Click “next” a bunch of times. Breathe. - Import your Blogger content
Inside WordPress, head to Tools → Import → Blogger. Install the plugin, upload that XML file. Boom — your posts, comments, everything should show up. But the formatting? Yeah, it’ll look like a Craigslist ad. - Fix your permalinks BEFORE going live
Blogger uses weird URL structures (with “.html” at the end). Match that in WordPress to avoid nuking your SEO.
- In WordPress, go to Settings → Permalinks → Custom Structure, make it
/year/month/post-name.html. - Or… use a redirect plugin. But if you can match URLs, do it.
- Redirect Blogspot to WordPress
This is where people cry. There’s a plugin called “Blogger to WordPress Redirection.” Install it, follow the steps, copy-paste a chunk of code back into Blogger. It’s clunky, but it’ll save your traffic. - Images… oh boy
Blogger stores your images on Google’s servers. They’ll still load, but you don’t “own” them. I spent three days downloading and re-uploading mine. Not fun. If you’re lazy (like I was the second time), there’s a plugin called “Auto Upload Images.” Bless that developer. - Analytics & AdSense
- Reconnect Google Analytics. New site = new property.
- If you had AdSense, reapply or update your ad codes. AdSense loves breaking things for no reason, so don’t panic if it takes a week.
- Canonical tags & cleanup
Use a plugin like Yoast or Rank Math. Set canonical URLs to your new domain to avoid duplicate content hell.
What nobody tells you: the emotional part
When I first moved, I thought it’d be like, “Click migrate. Done.” Nope. It’s like moving into a fixer-upper house. The plumbing works, but the walls are cracked, and every time you fix something, you find another thing. Your traffic will tank for a bit. You’ll obsessively check Search Console at 3 a.m., swearing Google hates you. It doesn’t. It’s just… slow.
But the first time I customized my homepage on WordPress — like, actually made it mine instead of that generic orange Blogger template — I almost cried. Suddenly it felt like my site, not some dusty corner of the internet Google forgot about.
Should you stay on Blogger?
Honestly, if you’re blogging for fun, maybe. It’s free. It’s fine. But if you care about SEO, brand trust, or making a dime off ads or affiliates, move. Even if you’re broke, WordPress.org hosting is like \$5/month. Skip two coffees.
This guide could’ve been a polished “how-to migrate Blogspot to WordPress without losing SEO” listicle, but this is how it really feels. Messy, worth it, and kind of empowering. Just… back up everything twice.
8) Blogger vs. WordPress vs. Medium: 2025 comparison table
Alright, so, this isn’t one of those polished tech comparison articles where everything’s neat and symmetrical. This is me, hunched over my laptop at midnight, half a cup of cold coffee left, trying to explain why I ditched Blogger years ago, why I keep crawling back to WordPress, and why Medium feels like that cool coffee shop that’s too expensive but everyone swears by it. If you Googled “blogger vs wordpress 2025” or “blogger vs medium 2025,” you probably just want answers. Let’s just… get into it.
I started on Blogspot back when you could slap sparkly GIFs all over your blog and no one cared. It’s still alive, by the way. Same dusty dashboard, same “don’t break anything” energy from Google. Costs you nothing. Which is nice, until you realize you also own nothing. You’re renting a corner of Google’s basement. Customization? Eh. You get templates that look like they’re from 2015. SEO? You can paste meta tags, but it feels like yelling into a void sometimes.
WordPress… man, WordPress is like buying a fixer-upper house. You either get the free WordPress.com (meh, like a rental), or you go full-on WordPress.org, buy hosting, and cry a little when you see your first hosting bill. But then you can actually do stuff. Plugins, SEO control, custom themes, backup plans—it’s messy but yours. I broke my site twice learning this, but I’d still pick it over Blogspot any day because I like owning my mess.
Medium’s a different vibe. It’s clean, minimal, and every writer looks like a genius there. But Medium owns the audience. They decide who sees your stuff. You’re not building a blog, you’re renting a spotlight. Paywalls. Algorithms. You get traffic if they like you, and nothing if they don’t.
| Platform | Cost (real talk) | Customization | SEO Control | Portability | Support | Long-Term Moat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blogger | Free, forever (but… strings) | Low. Old-school. | Limited. | Easy export XML. | Google forums. | Meh. Could vanish quietly. |
| WordPress.org | Hosting + domain (\$50–\$100/year) | Infinite (plugins galore) | Full. Power users. | Yours. Full backups. | Big community. | Strong. Open-source. |
| Medium | Free to write, paywall for readers | Minimal. Looks pretty. | Low. | Export possible, clunky. | Paid support. | Depends on Medium’s mood. |
So yeah. Blogger’s fine if you’re journaling, WordPress if you actually want control, and Medium if you like looking polished and don’t mind playing by their rules. Honestly, I still have an old Blogspot from college floating around. Sometimes I log in just to see if it’s still breathing.
Would you like me to make this whole section feel even more lived in with a messy personal story (like the time I accidentally deleted my Blogger theme and cried)? Or keep it more comparison-focused like this?
9) Monetization & SEO on Blogspot Today: What still works?
Okay so… monetization on Blogspot. Man. I’ve been around this block too many times, and honestly? It’s one of those things that looks simple from the outside, and then you’re six cups of coffee deep at 2 AM Googling “why won’t AdSense approve my site” and wondering if you made a mistake starting a free blog in 2025.
Look, Blogspot can help you to make money. That’s the first thing. It’s not like Google yanked AdSense support or anything. It’s still there, sitting in your dashboard like a dusty “Apply” button that hasn’t moved since 2010. You just write posts, throw some ads in, and technically you’re monetized. But here’s the thing nobody tells you: if you’re rocking that default “blogspot.com” subdomain, brands don’t take you seriously. I’ve seen it. I’ve lived it. It feels like showing up to a job interview wearing flip-flops—sure, you’re qualified, but nobody’s impressed.
I remember when I first started, I slapped ads on my site and thought I’d be rich by the weekend. I think I made… what, 42 cents? After three months? Because nobody linked to me. That’s the other catch: getting backlinks to a Blogspot subdomain is like trying to convince someone to trust you with their dog when your business card is handwritten on a napkin. It’s not impossible, but it’s an uphill climb.
You want to actually see growth? Buy a custom domain. Seriously. It’s like \$10 a year. Once I switched to my own URL, traffic from Google finally started creeping in because it didn’t look like some random diary from 2007. SEO-wise, Blogspot is fine for crawling and indexing, but Google doesn’t treat you like royalty just because you’re hosted on their servers. You still need content, links, speed, all that boring stuff.
Analytics? Yeah, it works. Connect it. Check your traffic. Watch numbers rise and fall and wonder why your “5 Tips to Lose Belly Fat” post suddenly tanked. The platform isn’t broken, but it’s… minimal. You don’t get fancy plugins or SEO tools baked in. You gotta do the legwork yourself, and some of it feels clunky. But it’s not dead.
So yeah, can Blogspot help you to make money? Sure. But you’ll probably spend half the time plotting your escape to WordPress. If you’re okay with “scrappy blogger energy” and you’re patient, it’s fine. If you’re trying to build authority in a niche where people actually pay you, get a custom domain at least, because otherwise you’ll feel like you’re hustling out of your parents’ basement forever.
Anyway, I should probably stop here before I go on a rant about how I used to manually edit Blogger templates in Notepad like some kind of caveman.
10) FAQs
You know that one friend who asks, “Hey, is Blogspot still a thing?” and you kind of roll your eyes because yeah, it’s technically alive but feels like an abandoned theme park? That’s me right now, sitting here, coffee half-cold, typing this out like someone’s actually waiting for answers. Anyway, here’s a messy FAQ because if you’re here, you’re probably confused or panicking or both.
Is Blogspot shutting down?
Nope. People keep saying it’s “dead,” but it’s not. It’s still there, like that random uncle who shows up to family functions but doesn’t talk to anyone. Google hasn’t announced anything about shutting it down. It’s just… quiet. Too quiet. Which makes you wonder, but yeah, it’s alive.
Why isn’t my Blogspot blog showing up on Google?
Could be a million reasons. Well, not a million. More like five. Indexing issues (Google sometimes acts like your content doesn’t exist), broken sitemaps, bad backlinks, or maybe your blog just isn’t getting crawled because, I don’t know, Google got bored? I’ve seen folks complain that Bing or DuckDuckGo finds their blogs instantly while Google just shrugs. Been there. It sucks.
Do I really need to sign in to keep my old Blogspot online?
Yep. If you ghost your own account for too long, it might get deleted. No warning, just… poof. It’s like leaving your bike chained outside for months; one day it’s gone and everyone acts like it’s your fault. So yeah, log in once in a while. Even if it’s just to stare at that old “Hello World” post from 2009.
Does Google even update Blogger anymore?
Kind of? Barely? It feels like they patched it once in 2018 and then everyone went on vacation. If you’re hoping for shiny new features, you’ll wait forever. It works, it’s free, it’s stable… but calling it “updated” is generous.
What are the best alternatives in 2025?
If you’re serious about blogging or want to actually grow something, WordPress.org is the big one. WordPress.com if you’re lazy but okay paying for stuff. Ghost if you like minimal, clean vibes. Medium if you don’t care about SEO and just want eyeballs. Blogspot can help you make money—AdSense is built in—but honestly, it’s like trying to race a Tesla in a lawnmower.
So yeah, that’s it. Blogger/Blogspot is like your childhood hoodie. It still fits, kind of smells weird, but it’s yours. If you want to move on, cool. If you want to stay, also cool—just don’t expect fireworks.
11) Conclusion: Practical advice for 2025
Man, I’ll be honest… I hung onto Blogspot way too long. Like that old hoodie you know smells faintly of ramen but you just can’t toss it. I kept thinking, “It’s free, it’s simple, it’s Google. What could go wrong?” And then one day I woke up, checked my stats, and—poof—traffic was crawling like a snail through peanut butter. I hadn’t signed in for months, half my images were broken, and a friend sent me a screenshot like, “Uh… your site looks like it’s from 2007.” Ouch.
So yeah, if you’re serious about actually growing a blog or making a dent in search rankings, just… migrate. WordPress, Ghost, whatever—something with control. You’ll thank yourself later when you want to tweak SEO settings at midnight or slap a fancy theme on it without coding like a maniac.
But if you’re just blogging for fun, or writing random thoughts like a diary nobody reads? Blogspot is fine. Keep it. Just sign in every once in a while so Google doesn’t ghost your account. Back stuff up. Maybe grab a custom domain—it’s like \$10 a year and makes you look legit without trying.
I learned the hard way that platforms change faster than we think. Don’t wait for Google to send a “We’re shutting down Blogspot” email. Have an escape plan now. Even if that plan is a folder of dusty backups on your desktop.
Would you like me to write this whole post in this messy, storytelling voice so it actually feels alive instead of “SEO content”?