6 Blog Tips Why You Should Use a Custom Domain with Blogger
October 1st, 2008
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.
Six Blog Tips why you should be using a Custom Domain with Blogger:
- After you purchase your own Custom Domain you will own your blog address instead of Blogspot. Right now Blogger is getting all of the credit - not YOU.
- Once you purchase your Custom Domain you will own your posts. Why? Because your posts will no longer have the butt-ugly Blogspot subdomain tacked on it, so YOU will get the pagerank credit and not Blogger.
- When you own a Custom Domain you can move your blog to be hosted wherever you want and keep your page rank because your links will still remain the same.
- Your blog traffic statistics will no longer be diluted. I own http://www.blogbloke.com, and I used to forward that URL to my http://instabloke.blogspot.com address. So I had to insert separate code for each URL (my custom domain and blogspot) into my template which split the data for my real stats.
- Before Blogger Custom Domains came along I had to use URL forwarding to my Blogspot address. URL forwarding is confusing because it creates a frame that makes every page show the same address as the Custom Domain instead of the actual post page. So trying to navigate your site can create unexpected results and frustration for your readers. Frames can also confuse the search engines (i.e. GoogleBot) which will have dire consequences for your blog PageRank and SEO.
- Not having a Custom Domain 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, Technorati etc. So your rank with them also gets diluted.
Trust me folks when I say the benefits of owning your own Custom Domain far outweigh any concerns that you could ever have. This alone is the most exciting feature that New Blogger has introduced.
If you blog long enough you will eventually want your own Custom Domain. The longer you put it off the more you will regret not doing it so my advice is everyone should take advantage of this generous offer today.
I recommend getting your Custom Domain from GoDaddy. Why? (Don’t worry, I’m not getting a kickback). Because it will be easier for you to follow my directions setting up your Blogger Custom Domain: Best Setup for Optimizing your Blog Pagerank.
So get your own Custom Domain today. Enjoy!
UPDATE: This article has been rewritten to make it current since it’s original posting January 10th, 2007.
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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 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 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 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 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 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 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?.
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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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Dec 30th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
[…] 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 […]
Oct 10th, 2008 at 1:55 am
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