Getting Started Online: Customizing Your Domain
By Alt Channel teacher Melanie Burk. Photography by Christine Buckton Tillman.
One of the simplest ways to make your blog more professional is to buy your own domain. It isn't hard, and it isn't expensive. However, the benefits are endless. It will make your blog more professional, plus it feels so much better to say yourblog.com, instead of yourblog.blogspot.com. While I love blogger and it's platform, if you are seriously about blogging, you should make the switch.
BLOGGER
To buy your domain on blogger, simply do the following:
Log in to you backend, then click on settings > basic > and then scroll down to where you see PUBLISHING. Click on "ADD A CUSTOM DOMAIN" (see picture below) and follow the instructions. Changing the domain this way should cost about $10 annually.
WORDPRESS
There are a two primary options to having your own domain with a wordpress template:
You can also opt to buy your own domain from Wordpress for as little as $18 a year when you sign up. Signing up for their basic hosting package also gives you the option of having your own domain. (https://signup.wordpress.com/signup/)
You can also buy hosting and a domain on your own, and then install wordpress in a one click download. I suggest using Bluehost or Hostgator.
Jan 23, 2013
Reader Comments (3)
thanks, this is really useful. However I was wondering, does it need to be a U.S. based credit card? I'm in Ireland and my domain name is available but blogger are saying my card is'nt valid? Maybe I should being trying .ie rather than .com?
I've thought a lot about buying my own domain and don't really have a good reason not to. If you change the domain, does it affect RSS feeds?
Amanda- It shouldn't affect the RSS feeds if you do it through your current platform, and it is definitely something worth doing!