I was curious to break down which blogging platforms this years Wales Blog Awards finalists used.
Google’s Blogger is the clear winner, powering exactly 50% of the blogs up for awards. The rest are evenly split between the hosted WordPress.com service, and the self-hosted WordPress.org version. Only two blogs used some other platform.
Only 13 of the 28 blogs in the list use a custom domain name.* Others are content to use the free subdomain provided by their host.
Of the blogs that ended up winning, 60% used Blogger, with the remaining 40% split evenly between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
All the nominees are listed below. Category winners in bold.
I think Blogger is a great choice, but I’m a little stumped why so many are serious enough about their blogs to seek awards, but are unwilling to spend the £5 to £20 to get a proper domain name.
* UPDATE 2011.10.28 Amy Davies pointed out to me that she does use a custom domain, cardiffarcadesproject.com, as a redirect.
halfblog.net 
Hi,
I can’t speak for other nominees, but in my case (motownjunkies.wordpress.com), there are three reasons for not getting a “proper” domain – firstly, someone else registered motownjunkies.com literally while I was setting up the blog, and I was too attached to the name to pick something else; WordPress wants me to buy motownjunkies.me, which doesn’t appeal. Secondly, I didn’t know the blog would become so popular when I first began writing it, and so it’s filled with dozens and dozens non-relative internal links that all say motownjunkies.wordpress.com and which would all have to be changed by hand if I did move to a snappier domain. Thirdly, Motown themselves (or their licensees) have used a couple of extracts from the blog in the liner notes to some of their compilation CDs, and they printed the whole URL. Essentially, I’m stuck with it. Luckily I don’t mind too much.
I should have been less harsh in my wording. A custom domain can be a valuable asset, but it doesn’t improve the quality of a blog, which is what really counts. (Of course, search engines may consider a custom domain to be a signal of quality, but that’s a different matter.)
FWIW, I found your blog to be very impressive. It’s not a passion I share, but I certainly appreciate what you’ve accomplished, and respect the scope of what you’ve set out to achieve. Niche blogs like yours are what the web is for!
Finally, do consider a custom domain. I see mowtownjunki.es is available, and kind of a steal at £22 for 2 years (from gandi.net). And pro tip: WordPress.com magically redirects if you change your domain like that, as I discovered when I moved from Posterous and my URL structure changed. So there. ;)
Oh, I hope I didn’t come across as offended – it was a totally fair point, I just wanted to explain it wasn’t laziness (or me being miserly). Thank you for the kind words though!
Ooh, I didn’t know about the automatic redirection – that would make quite a difference. I will make some enquiries. Thanks!
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