Before we start with the custom domain name setup, first let me take you through a brief introduction about custom and free domains.

When you start a blog on Blogger (or BlogSpot) generally you get a free domain that is a sub-domain of www.blogspot.com, something like yourblogname.blogspot.com. but as I mentioned in my previous posts blogger also allows a custom domain setup without letting you spend extra bucks, you just need to have a custom domain name already purchased in hand.

Custom domain is recommended by professionals all around the world so if you are stuck and need guide to decide a domain name for your blog here is the Infographic guide which will help you to choose a domain name for your blog – How to Choose a Domain name

You have created a blog on BlogSpot and has a custom domain ready, Now I will guide you through step by step process using image illustrations.

Complete Custom Domain Setup Guide on Blogger/BlogSpot:

We are now going to setup a domain on BlogSpot which you have purchased. It will take two configuration changes to take over as a custom domain on your free domain.

First, we will setup registered domain on BlogSpot and then some mapping configurations needs to be done on DNS control panel provided by the domain registrar.

Add Custom Domain on BlogSpot

STEP 1:
Login to blogger and head up to the Basics tab under Settings on your blog’s Dashboard as shown in the image.

On the right-hand side under the Publishing Section, there is an option to add a third party URL for the blog, Select this, type the URL of your domain and don’t forget to write it with WWW and save it.

Ignore the HTTPS warning given inside a highlight area if you are not much aware of HTTP and HTTPS Protocols, It’s just to make you aware that by default BlogSpot provides secure connections via HTTPS with Blogspot sub-domain. However, you can always opt for it by spending extra bucks.

So now, It will come up with an error message saying that “we have not been able to verify your authority to this domain.” with an error code, two CNAMEs and some DNS entry instructions for DNS control panel on domain registrar’s website. it will look something alike…

CNAME stands for Canonical Name used for aliasing one name with other. It contains two fields, one for Name, Label or Host and other for Destination, Target or Points To Field.

These can be clearly seen with the error message in the image. The First CNAME is common to all the blogs having Name as “www” and Destination as “ghs.google.com” but the second CNAME is kind of an important one and it’s specific to your google account as well as your blog.

As the configuration at blogger’s dashboard is reporting an error and we have collected the required information. The Need is to complete the configurations on DNS control panel on domain registrar’s website. So let’s move to next step…

Setup CNAME and A Records for Custom Domain

STEP 2:
Login to your domain registrar’s website and look for DNS (Domain Name System) control panel. It may vary with different registrars and completely depends upon the registrar you are engaged with. Inside the DNS control panel look for CNAME tab and create a new entry for the first CNAME.

Fill the common CNAME we got through the error, which goes as,

Name will be “www” and Destination will be “ghs.google.com”.

Create another CNAME entry and similarly fill the Name and Destination fields from second CNAME appeared with the error on blogger as it is particular to your blog as shown in the images.

Now heads up to A tab of DNS control panel and create four new entries to point to four different IPs as under…

216.239.32.21
216.239.34.21
216.239.36.21
216.239.38.21

Now you have successfully setup the CNAME and A records, DNS takes some time to reflect these configurations globally and as soon as it is reflected you can move to the final step of successful setup of a custom domain on blogger.
Generally, it takes 5 minutes to 1 hour to reflect and that can be checked by again saving the domain name on blogger’s dashboard as we did in step-1.

Instead of error this time it will be saved and your domain will add up to the publishing section as shown in the above screenshot.

If it still throws the same error means you need to wait for more till it reflects globally. It took 5 to 7 minutes for me to work out.

Redirect all requests to www version of website

Click the edit once domain is added to publishing section to redirect non www domain to www version of domain. Don’t forget to check the check-mark box saying redirect your non www domain to the www version of the domain.

It will redirect all the requests from users for your blog without putting www before domain name to the www version of the domain. It’s important because if it is not checked the non www request will see an error in the browser.

All Done!

Your sub-domain address will redirect to the domain and your domain will have the blog open but it might take up to 24 hours to take effect so be patient and wait if you are witnessing error on accessing your domain name.

If the error is intact even after 24 hours please recheck the DNS and BlogSpot settings again.

All the previous links linked with your sub-domain address will now be automatically replaced by your new brand domain name and images will continue to show without any error as everything will be taken care by google on the back-end.

Reference: Official Page of Blogspot

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