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A frequent question I hear from people I’m helping is “If I choose to use a blog to create my web presence (specifically Blogger), can I use my own domain name with it?” The answer is Yes.
If you don’t care for the “.blogspot.com” that comes with your free Blogger account, this post will provide you step-by-step instructions for using your GoDaddy domain over the top of your Blogger web presence so that…
this: http://yourcoolwebsite.blogspot.com
becomes this: http://www.yourcoolwebsite.com
Using your own domain name means that you’ve purchased one from a service provider. Blogger refers to your new domain name as custom domain name.
I personally use and recommend GoDaddy (here is my affiliate link) and this post is all about applying and using your GoDaddy domain name as a custom domain on your Blogger blog.
Purchasing Your Domain Name
There are two ways to purchase your GoDaddy domain name to use with Blogger.
- Go directly to GoDaddy or
- Have Blogger complete the purchase process for you.
Using GoDaddy
Every product or service has its pros and cons and GoDaddy is no exception. Although the interface can be clunky at times and you are overfed upsells (would you like to buy this? Or this? Or this?) during your purchase process, once you’ve established your account, I find completing the custom domain tasks to be pretty straight-forward.
If you are unsure about any of the upsells GoDaddy offers, just say No. If you don’t understand what the offer is, pass on it for now. Trust me. GoDaddy will give you another opportunity to buy something else from them or you can upgrade products and services at anytime. Baby steps, get your domain, period!
Using Blogger
You can purchase your domain name through the Blogger interface and then Google (the owners of Blogger) will process and fulfill your custom domain name order via GoDaddy automatically. By going this route (aka, getting your domain name via Blogger) you only have to complete Steps 1 and 2 below because Blogger will actually handle step 3 for you from “behind the scenes.”
Applying The Custom Domain
As I just mentioned, there are three basic steps for applying your custom GoDaddy domain name to your Blogger blog.
You won’t need to understand the technical terminology as much as you need to be able to read and follow directions. So let’s just get that out of the way.
The three basic steps are: 1) Tweak some DNS settings in your GoDaddy control panel, 2) tell Blogger what your custom domain name is using your Blogger dashboard, and 3) utilizing GoDaddy’s free hosting that comes with every domain name you purchase via your GoDaddy control panel.
Again, do not worry if you do not understand what any of the above “DNS, free hosting” stuff means. You really just need to be able to read along and apply the following directions. Think of it as your personal user guide to applying your custom domain.
Step One
Tweaking Your DNS Settings (GoDaddy)
- Log in to GoDaddy with the user ID and password you have received when you purchased your domain name. On the left hand side of the screen under My Products, click Domain Manager.
- Select the domain name you’d like to modify by clicking on it.
- Last item in the center column is Total DNS. Click Total DNS Control
- Edit the CNAME record for the “WWW” entry. To do this, click the pencil icon on the right which will allow you to edit the WWW “points to” field and type in ghs.google.com. Click OK.
Step 1 is complete.
Step Two
Point Your Blogspot to Your Custom Domain Name (Blogger)
- Login to Blogger Dashboard > Settings Tab > Publishing. Click “Custom Domain”
- Next click “Switch To Advanced Settings”
- Enter www.yourdomainname.com, check the checkbox “Redirect yourdomainname.com to www.yourdomainname.com, prove you are a human being by entering the word you see into the box in Word Verification section and click the orange Save Settings button.
Step 2 is complete.
Yay, you’re almost done! And if you bypassed GoDaddy’s clunky and riddled-with-upsells purchase process and instead got your custom domain name using Blogger’s interface, you are done!
Step Three
For some reason, this is where it gets tricky with applying your custom domain name to Blogger. You see, the wonderful people at Blogger have a little bug. I’ll show you.
Open a new browser window and type in your custom domain name with and then without the “www” part and you’ll see what I mean. If you’ve done everything right up until this point, when you type in http://www.yourcoolwebsite.com you should arrive at your Blogger’s main page. Bravo!
However, now simply remove the “www” part and reload your browser (hit enter)… uh oh! No Blogger main page. Instead you’ll see a GoDaddy parking page and this is the Blogger kink we get to work out next.
Take Advantage of Your Free Hosting Account (GoDaddy)
The idea here is to redirect all traffic from http://yourcoolwebsite.com to http://www.yourcoolwebsite.com and we start by setting up the free GoDaddy hosting account you got when you purchased your custom domain name. Trust me again, you don’t need to understand the terms as much as you just need to complete the steps.
- Log on to GoDaddy and click “My Hosting Account” from the Hosting tab
- Click “Use Free Credit”
- On the right-hand side of the page, select the custom domain name you are setting up from the drop down menu > Continue
- Refresh your browser screen by hitting your F5 key or the refresh icon on your browser. At New Account, click “SetUp Account” and complete steps; mostly mouse clicks like ‘agree to terms & conditions’, create a hosting user name & password, etc. and finally a Finish button (about 5 clicks). Now wait 15-20 minutes for GoDaddy to apply the changes before moving on (sometimes it takes as long as 24 hours so be patient).
Create and Upload an index.html Redirect
- Create a new .txt file by right-clicking your desktop and selecting New > Text Document.
- Rename the file “index.html” by right-clicking the new file from your desktop and selecting “Rename”
- Open the document and cut and paste the following code:
<html><head><meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0; url=http://www.yourdomainhere.com"/></head><body></body></html>
Make sure and change http://www.yourdomainhere.com into your actual domain name and save the file.
- Logon to your GoDaddy console > My Hosting Accounts > Manage Account
- Click the first of four large button across the top called “Your Files”
- Click “Upload” > Browse to the index.html file > click Upload button
Step 3 complete!
Wrapping Up
You should be good-to-go.
Be sure to test everything by opening a new web browser and typing in your custom domain with and without the “www” and be impressed as you watch your technical savvy at work!
You will need to exercise a little patience with the process while Blogger and GoDaddy do their thing. I mentioned before that GoDaddy puts 24 hour disclaimer on all their setting changes, but in my experience, it happens a lot sooner than that. Sometime as soon as 20 minutes or so.
If you have any questions, please do email me and I’ll see what I can help you with.
Also, if my mini user guide has supported you, here is a link to my tip jar.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Your instructions were excellent! Thank you very much
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Mynde Mayfield Reply:
February 15th, 2010 at 7:20 am
hey @Joe, thanks for stopping by. i heart my droid ;)
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EXTREMELY HELPFUL!!! Without these instructions, I’d still be staring and drooling at the screen. Thanks! You’re a rare gemstone. :)
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Mynde Mayfield Reply:
February 16th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
hi @desiree, glad the post helped you move from drool to cool ;) that makes me happy! thanks for stopping by.
[Reply]
Your instructions are amazing. LIFE SAVIOR.
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