Tech-y Tuesday | Hosting Domain via Blogger

Time to write a blog post that might actually be helpful... 



Here's the deal... if you have a blog and invest your time into it (ie: care enough to pimp it out and publish blog posts on a consistant basis) then you should have your own custom domain. Whether you express yourself via WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, Posterous, etc. you can (and should!) have your own custom URL to brand yourself!

What ever your blog purpose may be, I encourage you to try it--you won't regret it. Go Daddy is the best company to purchase a domain from because of their rock star customer service. They are based in Arizona, available 24/7, and after a couple of rings an American answers the phone regardless of time (in my experience). I have these guys on speed dial because they are all super friendly, and more importantly very knowledgeable and eager to help.

Go Daddy should love me after this post, right? They should also already know that I love them considering all the domains I have with them and all the business I refer! The annual custom domain is usually around $11.99 or less (unless you're looking for OneMileAtATime.com -- Right Tyly? haha!!) and if you didn't already google for discounts, negotiate! They love that. Don't you, Go Daddy?

A question you might have while considering a custom domain is whether you commit to a .com, .net, .info, .co, .us, .me, etc. and the truth is, that is completely your preference. The business side of me suggests sticking with .com and keeping your URL as short as possible...

Now, for the sake of this post, let's assume you blog via Blogger/Blogspot, and let's also assume you purchased your new domain via Go Daddy... Now what? Well let's get your domain live!

Blogger is a free Hosting site, and I like free...  

Okay, let's do this:

If you haven't already, login to your Go Daddy account and click "My Account" on the top right. You should get to a page that looks like this:

Right Click & Open in new Tab to see Larger..
Click on your domain so you can get to the Domain Details page and manage its Settings... A page like this wil pop up:

Right Click & Open in new Tab to see Larger..
On the left column under "Forwarding" click Manage... and a box like this will pop up:

Right Click & Open in new Tab to see Larger..
Type in your custom domain, and make sure you remember to put "www" or it won't function properly... if you're not already irritated with my "www" reminders, you will be soon. Also, I suggest forwarding with masking. That way your visitors will always see the domain you now pay for. Awesome, right? And while you're at it, you might as well type in a description and a slue of witty keywords. If that's too much productivity for you, you can always do that at a later time.

Make sure you save those changes, and you'll automatically be back at your Domain Details...

Now before we have even more fun, let me show you something you can easily find on Blogger:

Right Click & Open in new Tab to see Larger..

Right Click & Open in new Tab to see Larger..
Why is this special enough to share? Because those listed IP Addresses and that CNAME are google gold. If one IP address doesn't work, try another and just go down the list until one works. The first one should work just fine though.

Ok, now let's get super nerdy and apply those fun facts. After saving your domain's forwarding settings, you should have automatically been back in your Domain's Details area:

Right Click & Open in new Tab to see Larger..

Launch your domain's DNS Manager and apply the following:


Right Click & Open in new Tab to see Larger..
Click on the pencil to edit. The only things we are editing in here is the A Record and CNAME.

In the A RECORD (A (Host) type in one of Bloggers IP Addresses:

216.239.32.21*
216.239.34.21
216.239.36.21
216.239.38.21

* This is the IP Address I put in my example...

In the CNAME (Alias) www box click the pencil to edit and type in: ghs.google.com

Save your settings and get out of there... it's no place for novices to be loitering! You shouldn't have checked or unchecked any boxes or edited anything else unless directed to do so by a Go Daddy Geek...

Now switch back over to your Blogger tab, and from your Blogger dashboard click on Settings then click on Publishing and Advanced Settings...

Right Click & Open in new Tab to see Larger.. 
Type in your custom domain -- and you guessed it -- don't forget the www


Save your settings and viola!

Don't feel defeated if you don't have an immediate "Congratulations"... it takes about an hour (or less) for everything to work itself out.

If for some reason after awhile it still isn't working, retrace these steps and make sure you are saving everything as you go. The first time I did this, I forgot to save my settings in the DNS Manager. Oops. Kind of a big deal.

Was this helpful?

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2 love notes:

Vanessa @ Gourmet Runner said... [Reply]

This is so helpful. I found the whole process pretty intimidating, but this makes it seems possible for a technophobe like me!

Tyly said... [Reply]

You are beyond awesome for posting this!!!! I am SO far behind in my blog reading, so I'm just now seeing this. Sorry for the delay! School ruins everything. ;-)

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This place is all about Jennʻs Adventures: a Maui Girl who has evolved in to the modern day female nomad! Departing from her home in 2005 until the beginning of 2011, only the leave again less than a year later. Follow Jenn's Adventures in life, healthy living, travel, and love. To learn even more about Jennʻs Adventures, read this! Thanks for stopping by, please stay awhile & say ALOHA!

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