24 Sept 2017

HOW TO USE A CUSTOM DOMAIN IN YOUR BLOG




Use a custom domain 

There are two ways you can publish your blog on Blogger - either by hosting it on Blogspot (example.blogspot.com) or hosting on your own custom domain (www.example.com or foo.example.com). You can change where your blog is published at any time, and it won't cause you to lose any content on your site.


Step 1: Purchase a custom domain 

Before you move your blog to a custom domain, you need to have already purchased a custom domain from another provider.

To purchase your domain name, visit www.where2register.com  

Tip: If you're in the United States, you can also integrate Google Domains with Blogger.

If your site's content is in a different language and you'd like to purchase a country-specific domain, you can do a search to find local registrars. For example, if your blog is in French and you'd like a www.example.fr domain, try searching for [domain registrar in france].

Step 2: Set up your domain with your blog  

Use a top-level domain 

After you've purchased your custom domain, follow the steps below:

1.  Go to your blog and click on Basic under Settings.
2.  the "Publishing" section, click +Setup a 3rd party URL for your blog.
3.  Type the URL of the domain you've purchased, keeping in mind that it must begin 
     with www in order to work.
4.  Click Save.
5.  You should see an error, and two CNAMEs listed below. Each CNAME is composed of 
     two parts - Name, Label or Host and Destination, Target or Points to. The first CNAME 
     is  the same for everyone, Name being "www" and Destination "ghs.google.com." The 
     second CNAME is particular to your blog and your Google Account, and is therefore 
     different for each person.
6.  Go to your domain registrar's website and locate the DNS (Domain Name System) 
     settings in the control panel.
7.  Now it's time to enter the CNAMEs. Where it says Name, Label or Host simply enter 
     "www" and list ghs.google.com as the Destination, Target or Points to.
8.  Now enter the second CNAME in the same way.
9.  Optional: You can also enter A-records, which links your naked domain (example.com) 
     to an actual site (www.example.com). If you skip this step, visitors who leave off the 
     "www" will see an error page.
10. Optional continued: After completing Step 8, enter your domain name in the format 
     example.com, and list the I.P. addresses shown below in the "A" section. You'll need 
     to create four separate A-records which point to four different Google IPs.

          216.239.32.21
          216.239.34.21
          216.239.36.21
          216.239.38.21
          End of optional section

11. Before you move onto the final step, wait about an hour for your DNS settings to 
     activate. If you attempt the final step before your settings are activated, we'll let you 
     know with a warning message.
12. After your settings have been activated, you need to make sure Blogger knows about 
     your custom domain so that Google can direct readers to your blog. Just head back to 
     Blogger and update the information on your Settings | Basic tab.
13. In the "Publishing" section, click +Setup a 3rd party URL for your blog.
14. Under "Third party domain settings," enter in the URL for your custom domain in the 
     text box provided.
15. Click Save.
16. That’s it! Your blogspot.com address will soon redirect to your new custom domain -- be patient, as it might take up to 24 hours for the redirect to start working. If you're still seeing an error after 24 hours, it means your settings weren't entered correctly and you should try the process a second time.

Some helpful notes:
  • If your new domain isn't taking you to your blog, wait another day or two to make sure all the DNS servers have been updated. If it still isn't working, contact your registrar to make sure you entered the DNS settings correctly.
  • Your original Blogspot address will automatically forward to your new domain. That way, any existing links or bookmarks to your site will still work.
  • Your posted images will continue to display on your blog.
Use a subdomain

After you've purchased your custom domain, follow the steps below:

1.  Go to your blog and click on Basics under the Settings tab.
2.  In the "Publishing" section, click +Setup a 3rd party URL for your blog.
3.  Type a subdomain like blog. then the URL of the domain you've purchased.
4.  Click Save.
5.  You should see an error, and two CNAMEs listed below. Each CNAME is composed of 
     two parts - Name, Label or Host and Destination, Target or Points to. The first CNAME 
     is the same for everyone, Name being "www" and Destination "ghs.google.com." The 
     second CNAME is particular to your blog and your Google Account, and is therefore 
     different for each person.
6.  Go to your domain registrar's website and locate the DNS (Domain Name System) 
     settings in the control panel.
7.  Now it's time to enter the CNAMEs. Where it says Name, Label or Host, simply enter 
     the subdomain name (for example, blog.) and list ghs.google.com as the Destination, 
     Target or Points to.
8.  Now enter the second CNAME in the same way.
9.  Before you move onto the final step, wait about an hour for your DNS settings to 
     activate. If you attempt the final step before your settings are activated, we'll let you 
     know with a warning message.
10. After your settings have been activated, you need to make sure Blogger knows about 
     your custom domain so that Google can direct readers to your blog. Just head back to 
     Blogger and update the information on your Settings | Basic tab.
11. In the "Publishing" section, click +Setup a 3rd party URL for your blog.
12. Under "Third party domain settings," enter in the URL for your custom domain in the 
     text box provided.
13. That’s it! Your blogspot.com address will soon redirect to your new custom domain -- 
     be patient, as it might take up to 24 hours for the redirect to start working. If you're 
     still seeing an error after 24 hours, it means your settings weren't entered correctly 
     and you should try the process a second time.

Some helpful notes:
  • If your new domain isn't taking you to your blog, wait another day or two to make sure all the DNS servers have been updated. If it still isn't working, contact your registrar to make sure you entered the DNS settings correctly.
  • Your original Blogspot address will automatically forward to your new domain. That way, any existing links or bookmarks to your site will still work.
  • Your posted images will continue to display on your blog.
Troubleshoot issues

If at any point the setup process doesn't allow you to progress any further, there may be an issue with your domain's DNS configuration. Please inspect your DNS settings via your domain host, correct any potential configuration errors or call your registrar, and  then try again.

Best Regards, 
IKE DECK Team. 

For more help or more suggestion? 

Email:  info@ikedeck.com.ng 
Phone: +234703020582, +2349060387294, +2348173666094
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