Want your blog to end with .com instead of .blogspot? All you need is 5 min., a credit card and you can officially own your own .com! It is really easy. Let me walk you through it…
First, login to your blog and click “Settings.” Halfway down the basic settings page you will see an area that says “Publishing.” Click “Add a custom domain.”
It will look like this.
Type the name that you would like for you custom domain in the box and then click check availability.
Once you click “Check Availability,” you will be taken to a screen that tells you if that domain is avalible.
If it is available you will be taken to a screen to fill out your personal information and purchase your domain. Did I mention that it is only about $10 a year to buy a .com! Pretty sweet deal if you ask me!
From this point it is really self explanatory. There are just two little sections on the form you might need help with.
The first is that you will probably want to keep your registration information hidden so check mark the very top box.
At the bottom of the form you can choose to have your domain automatically renewed at the end of the year.
You can use this feature if you would like! I personally like to wait for the email from Google letting me know it is about to expire that way I can choose how I would like to pay for the next year, but it is totally up to you!
See wasn’t that simple?
We’ve got some great tutorials planned in the future, but if there’s something specific you’d like to see be sure to let use know what it is.
I have thrown around this idea for awhile. I think it would be so much easier for people to remember if my url didn’t have the blogspot part. But, here is my issue, will it throw everyone else off that already knows my blog address with the blogspot part in it? Would you recommend doing this? I would love your ideas on this. Thank you bunches!!!
xoxo,
Kristin
Kristin, Thanks for stopping by. The great thing about this type of switch on blogger is that even if someone types in the old blogspot, they will be redirected to the .com. It occasionally takes a few days for the update to hit everyone, but it should be pretty seamless for your followers.
xoxo, Tauni
Thank you so much for responding! And, I think this post has finally helped me make a decision. I will be switching today and sharing your blog with everyone.
Thank you bunches for this article!!!
question: what if i already own the dot com and want it to go directly to my blog when they type in ohsweetjoy.com?
I have the same question. My blog has mopped considerably since I started blogging. Now my blog name doesn’t match my domain name.
Actually, what I would like is to have two domain names come to the same page. That way both domain names will direct them to the one single location. Is that possible?
Danette, It is possible. In fact, I am in the process of trying out that very thing right now…I am hoping to have everything “ready” by next Monday. Touch bases with me and I will let you know how it goes. xoxo, Tauni
do you know about redirecting my dot com to my blogspot and have it say ohsweetjoy.com in the url bar? oye. it gave me a headache just typing that out haha
Kim, I am not sure exactly what you mean. If you follow the tutorial, your site will redirect to ohsweetjoy.com in the URL bar and your blogspot links will all stay intact. Is that what you mean? Maybe you could ask me a different way?
xoxo, Tauni
Thanks so much for this information — going to check to see if my domain would be available!
Fingers crossed Lauren. Let me know if the process works for you!
xoxo, Tauni
Wow! This is exactly what I have been looking for.
I do have a question, do the links still work? I don’t want to lose my past work and articles.
Also, does anyone know if it can be un-done? …might sound silly, but nice to know I wouldn’t be just jumping off a cliff.
Andrea, So glad you found this post useful! When you move to a dot com through blogspot, your links will all remain intact. It can be un-done, but you’d probably have to hire some help.
xoxo, Tauni
This is so funny that I found this! I just tweeted today about finding an article. I’m just about to do this. 🙂 Thanks for your work!
Thank you for the great tutorial. After thinking about it for months I just did it!
And I also want to ask…
Do you know if I need to change any of my adsense information.
Thanks so much Tauni!
Katie, You shouldn’t have to. Watch it closely though, you’d see the effect right away.
xoxo, Tauni
So happy I found your blog tonight. I’m pinning your posts on blogging like crazy! Question: I’m wanting to do this for my blog, but I’m wordpress.com, wanting to drop the wordpress! Do you know how I would go about it? I’m nervous about making a MAJOR error. Any help you can offer will be much appreciated. Thanks, Tauni.
Hey Lauren, thanks for your sweet comments about my site. I am glad you’ve found it helpful. I haven’t ever had to make a move from WordPress.com to .org so I am not really familiar. Not long ago I bookmarked this video, you might find it helpful http://mashable.com/2011/02/09/move-blog-wordpress-com-org/ You might also contact Amy at Lexilyn Studio, who does all of my moves. You can link to her site from my sidebar 🙂
Thanks for stopping by. Hope you will come back frequently.
xoxo, Tauni
After I have my blogspot forwarded to my new dot com, do I need to make changes to feed burner?
Steph, Once you’ve forwarded your site, you’re good! If you end up making a change to WordPress or something, you will need to change it. xoxo, Tauni
Awesome, thanks for the quick reply…Happy New Year!
Thanks for the great info! I changed mine from a blogspot to .com, but I’m having a couple of issues that maybe you’ll know how to fix. The first is that when I follow the link in the e-mail sent to create an administrator account for my domain, I fill in the info and I get a server error. I have no idea why that’s happening! Not sure if there’s something in blogger I need to adjust or what. The other issue that I’m having is when someone now searches for a recipe on my blog it shows no entries for the search. Could this be happening because my administrator account isn’t set up so I’m not completely finished with the crossover? Wow, I hope that makes sense. Thanks so much, Tauni! 🙂
Alli, this one is a little beyond my scope. Can I suggest contacting Kendra from Key Lime Designs? (She’s a contributor and a link to her site is in my sidebar.) If it’s simple she can probably answer the question. If not, I have a motto when in doubt, hire it out…It’s always worth the little bit spent. xoxo, Tauni
It doesn’t give me “add a custom domain” It give me “Setup a 3rd party URL for your blog”. What does it mean?
Thanks
Isabelle
Isabelle, it’s the same thing. I think they’ve changed it a bit since we first shared this post. Good luck!
That’s a great tutorial I’m looking for. Will Google allow Google Adsense to my blog faster after I change to .com?
No. Changing to a dot com will not increase the speed in which ads load on your site. If you’re having issues with slow load you may want to look at the CSS on your site. It’s probably got too many images trying to load all at once. Good luck! Tauni
Thank you so much for this information! Do you know if the previous pins for Pinterest will still link back to the posts after the dot com is changed? Appreciate the help!
my blogspot does not have that.. ‘add a custom domain, and it is not able to use adsense can you help me please I did really appreciate. please reply me by any way best to you thank you
Anthony, Are you sure you’re using Google Blogger? I haven’t ever heard of the problem you’ve encountered. Is it possible that you’re using the product in another country? Maybe that has an impact? Best of luck. Tauni
Hi, I’m trying to edit it but the “Add a custom domain” does not appear