Blogger is been around for a lot of time now with massive user database. In 2010, a lot of new features have been introduced including the all new Template Designer. So, what is coming in 2011? Have a look at both the current & some awesome upcoming features in this video.
I'm specially thrilled with the all new Dashboard design, what are you expecting in 2011? Leave me a comment.
By default, your blog address is in this format; http://YOURBLOG.blogspot.com/. As you can see, all blogs hosted on Blogger have blogspot.com included in their address. Such an address is difficult to remember and it is not suitable for a professional blog. Traditionally, switching to a personalized domain required research, a web hosting comparison and the purchase of relatively expensive hosting. Fortunately, Blogger has made arrangements for those who are looking for free or cheap hosting while also upgrading to a more personalized domain name. Now, you can simply buy a custom domain directly through Blogger and forget about setting it up. In this tutorial, I'll explain this whole process of searching, buying and setting up a custom domain.
What is a Custom Domain?
The domain of my blog is a custom domain; http://www.betatemplates.com/. It is a .com domain. However, when someone creates a blog on Blogger, the address of that blog is in this format; http://example.blogspot.com/. Blogger adds .blogspot to all of its blogs.
Why Should I Use a Custom Domain?
The Blogger addresses are very difficult to remember because they contain.blogspot. Switching to a custom domain makes it really easy to create an easy-to-remember address. It also gives a good impression to have a custom domain specially for professional blogs.
What is the Cost of a Custom Domain?
Typically, a custom domain costs you around 10$ per year. You have to renew it annually to keep using it. Please note that Blogger provides us free hosting so no need to buy hosting.
I'm Ready, Lets Buy & Setup a Custom Domain!
Follow these steps:
Log in to your Blogger account.
Go to 'Settings' then 'Publishing' tab.
Click 'Switch to: Custom Domain' option.
Enter the desired domain name and check its availability.
If you're looking for a .com domain then it might be difficult to find a great domain because a lot of people chose .com domain names so good luck for that. You can also chose .net, .biz, .info or .org domains but they're not as popular as .com domains.
If that domain is available, Blogger will take you to Google Apps and you'd have to complete 3 steps there. These steps are well explained in the following video:
How Long Will it Take to Shift to a Custom Domain?
After setting up a custom domain, it might take up to 3 days to move to the custom domain. So, don't worry about that. Blogger also takes care of the settings behind the scenes.
What Happens to Existing Address, Visitors & PageRank?
Here comes the awesome features of Blogger. Your existing visitors will be automatically redirected to the custom domain. The PageRank is also kept intact so don't worry about that as well.
