6 Blog Tips Why You Should Use a Custom Domain with Blogger
Buzz it
I’m really blown away by how many Blogger users are still using their Blogspot address instead of getting their own Custom Domain that Blogger has so generously offered.
The reasons for wanting your own Custom Domain Name aren’t only just for Blogspot users. It goes for ALL bloggers as well, so let me explain the benefits of getting your own Custom Domain name.
A lot of people don’t seem to appreciate or understand what this really means. Many bloggers are worried about how it will affect their blog pagerank instead of embracing this wonderful feature.
Ironically, it’s your blog page rank that will benefit (amongst others) when you make the move to a Custom Domain. Why you should be using Custom Domains for your Blog:
- After you have purchased your own domain name you will own it instead of Blogspot. Right now Blogspot is getting all of the credit for your pagerank - not YOU.
- Once you purchase your own domain name you will also own your posts. Because your posts will no longer be owned by Blogspot, YOU will get all of the credit for your post pagerank and not Blogspot.
- And because you will now own your own domain, you can move your site wherever you want and keep all of your posts and pagerank with you.
- Your site statistics will no longer be split. Right now I own http://www.instabloke.com, and I have that URL forwarded to my http://instabloke.blogspot.com address. The problem is I have to insert two separate codes for each URL (my custom domain and blogspot) into my template to track my traffic, which splits the data for my real traffic stats.
- URL forwarding can be confusing because it creates a frame that makes every page show as only the main site address instead of the actual post page. So trying to navigate your site can create unexpected results and frustration for your readers. Frames also confuse the search engines (i.e. GoogleBot) which can have deleterious affects on your PageRank and SEO.
- It also creates a problem for blog tracking sites. For the same reasons above it confuses the data for sites such as the Truth Laid Bear, Alexa and Technorati etc., so your pagerank with them also gets diluted.
Trust me folks when I say the benefits of owning your own domain far outweigh any concerns that you could ever have (with only one caveat). This alone is the most exciting feature that Blogger has introduced and I’m recommending that everyone take advantage of this generous offer.
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I’m excited about it! Planning to take advantage of it when I can spare ten bucks!
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Good for you ohdave. Everyone should be excited about it! BTW, I use GoDaddy and if you Google search for “GoDaddy Coupons” you should be able to grab a domain name for about $6 US.
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I frequently used to wached your post,it was worthed to pay attention,it’s helpful,useful,thanks
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It was my pleasure.
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Bloke, it’s good to see you try this feature and your new domain works fine.
however some things doesn’t work like what blogger staff says:
1. your blogspot domain name Blog Bloke.blogspot.com doesn’t redirect to your new domain
2. each post permalink still uses blogspot domain
regards
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Thanks rangga. Again we seem to be receiving conflicting information. Does anybody else also have any experience with this?
What I need to know is are the post pages still showing up on blogspot?
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Ok, when you want something done right — do it yourself my momma always told me.
So I found an old domain name that I haven’t been using and just made the change. Apparently it will take one to two days for the DNS to take effect so I will let let you know how it goes.
Can’t wait, pant, pant.
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This absolutely rocks.
However, since there’s still some kinks to be worked out, is there a definitive forum discussion on this topic where the members have worked out all the issues?
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Hi Cinnamon. Delicious name
I’m not sure, but you might want to check out Google Groups for starters.
Please let me know if you find anything.
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My opinion is anyone who’s really serious about blogging or who’s blogging for their business - needs to do so on a customized URL.
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ditto!
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ya… thats right i am plannng buy one….. soon thnx for such an wonder full post
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Go for it Nicholas!
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Following the Bloke’s suggestion, I set up my own domain name on Blogger almost a year ago. Soon after that, I moved to a hosted WordPress based blog on GoDaddy. It was the best decision I ever made. I’m not hung up on Google Page Rank, so that doesn’t enter into my point of view. Where I found advantages was in customizing the look and feel of my blog. There are thousands of free theme templates available. The WordPress community is awesome for sharing hints and tips. And there are a bajillion widgets and plug-ins available to improve functionality of your blog.
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“Soon after that, I moved to a hosted WordPress based blog”
You and me both
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@Blog Bloke,
I have a couple questions…I am so confused right now… I started out with a regular .blogpsot.com address, and the got my own custom domain through…Blogger/Google Apps..i just did it through the Dashboard on Blogger, but now I’m contemplating going to Wordpress, just because I want a homepage and other things, it seems like it will be more customizable for me…but how do I do this? Do I have to start all over with my blogs? What about the blogs that I have now? I don’t want to readers to see my page down, or can’t access my older blogs..What should I do?
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@Charisse, No, you don’t have to start all over .. that’s why I wrote this post:
http://www.blogbloke.com/migrating-redirecting-blogger-wordpress-htaccess-apache-best-method/
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Blog Bloke (@blogbloketips) reply on July 17th, 2009 2:33 pm:
Charisse (@blogbloketips) reply on July 17th, 2009 8:31 am:
Blog Bloke (@blogbloketips) reply on October 3rd, 2008 8:22 pm:
Yea ! I don’t care about Google and expecially Alexa ! They’re unreliable and needlessly raise blood pressure.
Owning a unique name on the interweb makes you cool !
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Alexa is only relevant if you want to run ads. Even then it’s usefulness is iffy these days so I don’t fret over it either. Besides, being cool is enough.
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Blog Bloke (@blogbloketips) reply on October 3rd, 2008 8:27 pm:
You would have thunk I would have made the change by now but…
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You would have thunk I had you in mind when I wrote it. Nudge, nudge…
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Blog Bloke (@blogbloketips) reply on October 3rd, 2008 3:16 pm:
I see most beginners (aka newbie bloggers) commit a deadly mistake - installing their blog in a subdomain , or not in the root of their domain name (e.g. site.com/blog)
Why this is a huge mistake is that you want to get more visits to your domain name — to its root directory — and turn the home page into the blog itself.
1. it looks more professional
2. it makes your post shorter
Any ideas?
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Picking a custom domain in the early stages is really very important.. I had worked hard on a Blogspot blog and then realized it is of no use once I redirect a Domain to that address.. All the backlinks are gone..
TechnoSamrats last blog post…MessenPass - Freeware To Recover Lost Instant Messenger Passwords
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You need to read this Blogger Custom Domain: Best Setup for Optimizing your Blog Pagerank!
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I prefer not to have a custom domain.
When I look at blogs I look for ones with recognisable hosts first, like Blogspot or Wordpress.com, because they usually load faster and are more reliable.
Steve Hayess last blog post…Zimbabwe: losing my Ubuntu
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Thanks for sharing. I’ve been thinking of getting one for myself. Let’s see how it goes. =)
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Go for it. You’ll be happy you did.
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Blog Bloke (@blogbloketips) reply on October 22nd, 2008 6:47 pm:
Hi TechnoSamrat,
Actually Blogger re-directs all people from your blogger blogspot address to your new custom domains. So you won’t lose any backlinks. It says when you change it that:
” We won’t leave your readers behind, we will point your readers to your new custom domain”.
So you won’t be losing anything as far as I know. Just thought I would share this with everyone.
Sincerely,
Jamie Boyle
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I completely agree with you. I get custom domains from Godaddy and it works great. I always use the same codes every time and they work over and over! They even work for renewals.
RRTV3 is the one I use for .com’s because it gets them for $7.49 which is the new lowest price from Godaddy.
Other Godaddy codes that work for alternate domain names are:
RRTV1 - 10% off
RRTV2 - $5 off orders of $30 or more.
Cool.
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I’ve never had a problem with GoDaddy. Their service is great and reasonably priced.
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Blog Bloke (@blogbloketips) reply on February 8th, 2009 5:23 pm:
Thanks for showing me the importance of custom domains.i feel that many of them are now switching over to custom domain.one day i will do that .
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You will be happy you did.
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Blog Bloke (@blogbloketips) reply on February 23rd, 2009 3:59 pm:
I just started hosting on blogger with a custom domain (I upgraded to custom domain via Blogger/Google Apps), but I am scared of losing all the traffic from my old blogspot address. I am thinking of just doing a redirect from the custom domain to the blog platforms URL (mydomain.com to myblog.blogspot.com), like what you mentioned in Number 5. Is that a good way to preserve Google page rank/Google juice? If so, how do I go about it? Before the switch (which happened yesterday), I used to have about 2000 daily hits on my blog, and I used to be on top of Google search results. Now I am scared. The meta-refresh codes I see on the internet didn’t work when I tried to install them to my template, my site kept on refreshing ad infinitum. TIA and any input is greatly appreciated.
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I agree with using GoDaddy! They definitely live up to more standards than their somewhat horrid superbowl commercials
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I have a number of Blogger blogs on different websites but I didn’t know that Blogger would supply a custom domain.
I guess I’ll need to look into this more.
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I am using google blogger address, is this still okay for us beginers to use, as the technical stuff is out of my grasp at the moment?.
The Sewerrats last blog post…Free Gym Membership
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I think using the blogger website is a great way to get your pages indexed quickly and build some good traffic to your main website.
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I frequently watch your posts. It’s helpful and useful, thanks.
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Thanks so much for your great tips. The tips are very nice and helpful. You must be a good expert in this area.
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Hi,
Actually I am thinking of transferring my blog at blogger to a Custom domain that is supplied by blogger through their publishing wizard.
I have some questions though, when I’ll transfer my blog to a Custom domain, in the Google Search whether my posts will feature by the name of my previous blogspot address or the Custom domain address I have transferred my blog to.
Also i have submitted my sitemap file atom.xml for my blog to google for Search, when my blog will be redirected to custom domain do I have to again get my custom domain verified by google and submit its sitemap again for indexing(Will the sitemap for the custom domain too remain same as atom.xml)
Please clarify, I would really appreciate
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@Shiraj, I recommend submitting your URL to Google for indexing once you transfer to your custom domain. After reindexing your search results will reflect your new name. I would also update your newsfeed with Google Webmaster Tools.
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BLOGBloke (@blogbloketips) reply on December 20th, 2009 6:25 am:
I really liked your blog! good
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[…] of using a custom domain you might ask? Well, rather than repeat myself just read my other post 6 Reasons Why You Should be using a Custom Domain Name for your Blog and it will explain it all for […]
[…] 6 Blog Tips Why You Should Use a Custom Domain with Blogger […]
@Shiraj, I recommend submitting your URL to Google for indexing once you transfer to your custom domain. After rein… http://bit.ly/6Xr9Bw