How to Use the New Custom Domain Name Feature for Your Blog*Spot Blog: A Tutorial

Although I’ve offered to help you set up your own custom domain name for your Blog*Spot hosted blog, I thought I’d post a tutorial for those of you who want to do it yourself. Before I get to the tutorial though, I thought I’d post some pros and cons with hosting at Blogger. PROS: >> Cost (Read: Cheap). For less than $10 a year (cost of the domain name), you can invest in your own domain name and let Blogger host it for you for free. >> Focus on blogging. With this feature, you can just blog and not worry about the details of hosting it yourself. CONS: >> It’s still hosted on Blogger. With your own hosting (Less than $100 a year with domain name registration), you have a lot more flexibility. >> It looks like Blogger’s top nav banner is still on your blog. This is kind of annoying to me. But if you’re already using Blogger, then you may not care about this. OK, now to the tutorial about hosting your own custom domain name on your Blogger Blog*Spot blog: Here are the basic steps to using Blogger’s new custom domain name feature for your blog: [Note: I’ve geared this tutorial specifically for those using the feature with a domain name purchased from me, but it can also be used for those registered elsewhere.] 1. Have a Blogger Blog*Spot blog account already. If not, go sign up for one. 2. Register your domain name. I’d suggest getting a .COM address if your domain name is available (like Kevin Stilley did). Or a relevant keyword phrase, like Leading Smart (I just love that!). 3. Change your CNAME records. You’ll need to log into your domain name account where you registered it. If you’re doing that through my hosting, here’s the gritty details (also see this post from Google): >> Log in to your account. >> Click on “Manage Domains.” >> Click on the domain name you want to host on Blogger. >> Scroll down to the box “Total DNS Control,” then click on “Total DNS Control and MX Records.” >> In “CNAMES,” click on “Add New CNAME Record.” >> In the box, labeled “Enter an Alias Name” add something like “blog.” In the box below that labeled “Points to Host Name,” enter this: ghs.google.com >> Click OK and log out of your account. [Note: According to Google and others, it could take a while — like two days to get everything switched, but I think that’s the worst-case scenario. Often I’ve found the records switch pretty fast.] 4. Now, log into your Blogger account. Click on the blog you want to use the custom domain name feature. In that blog, click on the “Settings” tab, then “Publishing.” Scroll down and click on “Switch to: Custom Domain.” Then in the box provided below that, enter your domain name address. And click “Save Settings.” DONE!

January 14, 2007 · Filed Under Blogging, Blogging Tips, Church Branding, Web 2.0, WordPress

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