Cob Jockey

Since my how to re-enable Blogger comment emails post was so popular, I figured there might also be interest in a custom Blogger domain name tutorial - transforming your blog's address from [blogname].blogspot.com to www.[blogname].com. Which, guys.  This takes 5 minutes to set up from within your settings page, requires no tech knowledge whatsoever, and costs $10-ish a year - there's no reason not to take advantage of this!

Domain names are the human-friendly version of computer-friendly numeric addresses, just like how your phone's address book saves you from having to memorize all your friends' telephone numbers.

I pay Blogger/Google $10 a year for the use of www.cobjockey.com, which is more professional and shorter to type than http://cobjockey.blogspot.com.  Follow this guide and you'll be up and running with your own custom domain in no time.


From your Blogger main page, click "Settings" on the left


In the "Publishing - Blog Address" section, click the blue "Buy a Domain" button.

Note: I'm using my test blog for this tutorial.  My test blog is where I test and tweak layouts before they go live on my real blog.

You'll be presented with a list of URL options based on your blog's name.  You don't HAVE to pick one off the list, you can make up your own.  If the URL you want doesn't show up in the list, it may already be owned by someone else.

The prices will vary - my main blog is $10/year, while the test blog was $12/year.  Choose one, and click "Buy".


Next, fill out your contact info.  Note: I had to disable my password filling extension (LastPass, Dashlane, etc) before this form would submit, and this seems to be a common problem based on a quick Google search.


Next, decline this custom email address (unless you want it, but you don't need it for this).



Next, enter your credit card info.


After you click "Buy", you'll get a success message and a "Back to Blogger" button, which will take you back to your blog dashboard.


It should drop you back off at your Settings > Publishing > Blog Address page, where your new domain will be automatically filled in for you.  Click "Save".


Once you click "Save", it will automatically fill in your newly purchased URL and automatically add a redirect for the old blogspot.com address, so that anyone with your old URL bookmarked will be automatically redirected to your shiny new domain name.


One last step!  Click "Edit" next to www.yourdomain.com in the screenshot above, and check the checkbox for "Redirect [yourdomain].com to www.[yourdomain].com," then click "Save".  If you don't do that, anyone who types in a naked [yourdomain].com without the www won't get to your site.



That's it!  Once a year, a few weeks before your domain is set to expire, you'll receive an email from Google saying your saved credit card will be charged $12 on this date in order to renew the domain.  Unless your card has expired, there's no legwork you have to do in order to keep it.

Anyone going to give this a try?  Feel free to hit me up if you have questions or need help!