Getting A Domain Through Blogger: My Experiences

A few weeks ago, I told you how I bought my own domain name for this blog—www.findyournextbookhere.com—through Blogger. Many of you asked me to share how I did this so here is basic information on the process.

How To Buy A Domain Name Through Blogger

The process was quite easy and virtually trouble-free. The first thing is that you need to already have a blog via Blogger. (By the way, you can buy a domain name via WordPress too if you want; I know Ti at Book Chatter did this recently. You can also purchase a domain name completely independently but I have no experience in this.) So, assuming you have your Blogger blog set up, here are the steps to follow. (I've included screen shots where possible. You can click on them to see them larger.)

• STEP 1: Go to the Settings tab and click on Publishing. You'll see an option to switch to "Custom Domain." Click on "Custom Domain."

• STEP 2: In the little box that appears, enter the name you want for your domain. You can also choose what "ending" you want: .com, .net, .org, .info or .biz. When you have the domain name you want, click on the blue button that says "Check Availability." If the domain name you want isn't available, you'll have to come up with a different variation or choose a different ending for your domain.

• STEP 3: Once you get an available domain name, you'll see a screen similar to this one below. (Your domain name will appear in green. Make sure the domain is what you want before hitting the "Continue Registration" button.
  

• STEP 4: The next step is to enter your personal information so they know who is buying the domain name. Read each step carefully and if you want to keep your information private, be sure to check the appropriate boxes. Once all the fields are complete, click on Continue Registration.

• STEP 5: You'll then be prompted to pay for your domain. You'll pay via Google Checkout and can use Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Discover. You'll be asked if you want to be billed automatically every year or not. Once this step is complete, you'll have your own domain name in a matter of minutes. (I didn't do this step for screen shots because I wasn't going to buy another domain name.)

• STEP 6: That is pretty much all there is to it. Once you find the right place to start the process, you just follow the steps as they appear on the screen until you are done buying your domain name. Google takes care of making the transition of your blog to the custom domain name automatically. However, your blog will be in a transition period for about 3 days or so until this step is done. Most of your readers should be redirected to your blog address automatically. I didn't have a lot of trouble with this.
  
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• STEP 7: Be sure to update any widgets that appear on your blog to point to the new domain name (such as your Follower widget). This might involve reinstalling the widgets individually. I also updated my feed address in FeedBurner but I won't be giving advice on that as I don't remember how I did it. (It might actually be done for you automatically by Google.) My suggestion is to wait for the transition period to be up, and then try subscribing to your blog to ensure that everything is pointing to the new domain name. Try subscribing to your feed via a variety of readers and via e-mail (if you use it). All your old posts and comments will be at the new domain name. You won't have to transfer posts or comments over; it is done for you automatically.
  

• STEP 8: Once your new domain is in place and seems to be working well, be sure to update any place where you listed your old blog address. (For example, I listed my blog in LibraryThing, Shelfari, Goodreads, Amazon, Paperback Swap and so forth). Also, I went back and updated any links to my old address that appeared in posts in my blog posts (this was tedious and a pain in the butt).

If things don't work well, you can always go back and publish using Blogspot.com again. However, I found the process was pretty easy and worked well. If you run into troubles, be sure to consult with Google help or look in the Help section of Blogger.

I hope you find this helpful, but please realize I am not an expert in this area AT ALL. I did it for my own blog and didn't have many problems. If you don't feel comfortable with the info I've given you or are afraid of making changes to your blog, then perhaps this step isn't for you. You certainly don't HAVE to have your own custom domain. It is a matter of preference. For me, I chose to do it because I thought my blog address was too long and I wanted to impart an air of "legitimacy" to my book blog. This was one way to accomplish that goal. I hope you find this post helpful but realize I'm not an expert in this and won't be able to help you if you get into trouble. Again, if you have problems, you can find help here.

Good luck!

More Information:

On Domain Registration Purchases Via Google Blogger: http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=53929