This one is for those of you who are using the Blogger platform.
Having a URL free of subdomains such as .blogspot.com or .wordpress.com makes your blog look more legitimate. Most (not all) major blogs have dropped the tail end of their URL. Major PR companies have openly stated that they take blogs with a straight URL (free of subdomains) more seriously. This is not saying that you can’t get noticed with blogspot in your URL, it just looks a bit more amateur on the surface.
It is really easy to get a URL without blogspot at the end. The way I recommend doing this is to head to HostGator and click the “domains” option at the top menu. Begin searching for a domain name that appeals to you and when you find one, move forward. Be sure to use coupon code NOBLOGSPOT to save 25% on your hosting plan!
Buy the domain and set up hosting at the same time – it will save you time and money.
The reason I recommend doing this and leaving blogger altogether is that the truth of the matter is that if you have a blog on blogger/blogspot, your blog can be deleted at any time. I will repeat that, when on blogger, your blog can be deleted at any time by Google. I know of several bloggers who have had their blogs completely shut down by Google because some random sentence they typed triggered a Google alert or something.
Do you want to be at the mercy of Google? You need to get your own hosting and get on WordPress to avoid this.
See this post for a step-by-step tutorial on getting set up with HostGator in under 20 minutes!
Once you have your new domain, you’ll be able to set up an email at that domain, which looks super professional! So if your site was www.hamburgersareyummy.blogspot.com it would now be www.hamburgersareyummy.com and your email could be yourname@hamburgersareyummy.com. You can still use Gmail for the new email as well!
Doing this really is the best investment you will ever make on your blog. Having your own domain and getting off of blogspot is a very important step in taking your blogging to the next level. So do it today!
Andrea says
What happens after a year subscription? Is it crazy expensive? Also how does it effect the 2.50/month I’m paying blogger now for picture hosting services?
Zack Reyes says
After the year, it renews for $10 each year. I recommend turning on auto-renew so you don’t lose your site because you forget to pay. I can’t say I have heard of paying Blogger to host images, but this would be a separate thing and have no effect on that.
Christina Steward says
I’d love to switch my url over to something other than .blogspot.com, but when I’ve used these same steps in the past to try and accomplish this, it acts as if I already have a custom domain, and directs me to more advanced settings. Do you have any idea why this is happening? My address is still clearly .blogspot.com and I’ve never purchased a domain before. Here’s a more specific look at what I’m seeing:
When I click “+ Add a Custom Domain” I see “Advanced Settings” instead of “Buy a Domain for Your Blog,” followed by “http://” and a blank box, followed by “Your domain must be properly registered first.” with a link to “setting instructions,” instead of “Domains are registered through a Google partner and cost around $10(USD) for one year.”
It’s as if my account was somehow automatically switched to “advanced settings” without ever giving me an option to add a custom domain. I’ve googled every question I can think of to find an answer to the issue and haven’t had any luck. And I’m not sure there’s a way to reverse from “advanced settings” back to “add a custom domain.” Do you have any insight into this? I know that’s a big question and I hope it isn’t confusing. I can even shoot you a screen shot if i need to. Thanks so much in advance!!
Zack Reyes says
Unfortunately, Blogger has discontinued the ability to buy a domain name through them. You now have to grab one from an outside company (like GoDaddy) and set it up that way. I will have a new tutorial post coming soon. Nice of them to change this TWO WEEKS after I post this! Ugh! :/
Christina Steward says
You know…I had a feeling that might happen when they changed a few things (Google Reader) on July 1st. Wish they’d update their help section to reflect this. Oh well! Sorry you have to repost, but your thoughts are always so helpful. Thanks again!
Angie Reeves says
Question for you – we have a generic family blogspot URL and I’m looking to buy my own domain – however I’d like the old blogspot URL to still work and I’ll just put a new post on there, “if you’re friends/family with us, please send me a URL and I’ll send the new URL to you” – just hate seeing how many people have our blog bookmarked when we don’t know them. Nothing personal, but it’s just family pictures of our kids and if I don’t know anyone in New Hampshire, then I don’t care to have them looking at our blog. 😉 Anyway, my concern is that if i buy a URL, our old blogspot URL will redirect to the new one or else go away?
Thanks!
Angie
Zack Reyes says
You can absolutely do that. You cannot do it through Blogspot though. If you do it through Blogspot, the accounts will link and the URL will redirect to the old one. To buy a new one and avoid the old one redirecting, you’d be best off starting a WordPress blog. You can see how to easily do that here: http://morefromyourblog.com/how-to-start-a-blog/
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Kolleen Feria says
I already bought the domain on Host Gator, but I don’t know how to apply it on my Blogger site. I tried it via the Blogger settings under the Custom Domain field, but it keeps saying:
Blogs may not be hosted at naked domains (ex: yourdomain.com). Please add a top-level domain (www.yourdomain.com) or subdomain (blog.yourdomain.com).
Does Host Gator not support Blogger? In this case, why did you suggest it? HELP. Host Gator is expensive!
Zack Reyes says
Hi!
In the post, I recommend leaving Blogger altogether. Now that you have your domain through HostGator, you can set up a WordPress site following the instructions here: http://support.hostgator.com/articles/specialized-help/technical/wordpress/how-to-install-wordpress
To use your domain on Blogger, you can try following this tutorial: http://docs.rtcamp.com/blogger-to-wordpress/tutorials/custom-domain/hostgator-2/
Or you can contact HostGator support and they should be able to help.