How To Setup/Host Custom Domain On Blogger

This is a guest post by Chris.

Blogger has already introduced custom domain name. If you purchase a domain name through Blogger, there’s no issue in setting it up because Blogger automatically configures CNAME. However if you purchased the domain name separately, you have to manually configure it. This post I’m going to show you how to host your own domain name on Blogger.

Mainly you have to follow 4 major steps, they are:

  1. Adding custom domain on Blogger
  2. Getting your domain ownership verification token
  3. Change DNS (Domain Name System) settings
  4. Verifying Domain name ownership on Blogger

If you don’t have a Blogger account first you have to create it, if you have a Google account you already have a Blogger account, so just log-in to Blogger.


Step 1: Adding custom domain on Blogger

  1. Go to http://www.blogger.com/.
  2. Now if you already have a blog, select which blog should use the new custom domain name.
  3. Go to your selected blog's “Settings > Basic”. blogger settings
  4. Under the “Publishing”, click “Add custom domain”. add custom domain
  5. Now in the “Advanced settings” type your new domain name URL. custom domain name
  6. Click “Save” button. Then Blogger should display this error:

    “We have not been able to verify your authority to this domain. Error 12. Please follow the settings instructions.”

  7. Click “settings instructions”. If you click this link before that error (above), you can’t configure CNAME correctly.


Step 2: Getting your domain ownership verification token

  1. Now you will be redirected to the “How do I use a custom domain name for my blog?” page.
  2. On this page, tick the “On a top-level domain (www.example.com).” option. host location
  3. Once you’ve chosen an option, setup instructions appear. At the beginning of the instructions you should see something similar to the screenshot below. cname ownership verification code Pay attention to the two codes highlighted in the screenshot. Those are your domain ownership token. In my example the codes are “J6VKJNRFUXD3" and “gv-JWLTPCFOOA27RPMP3PPRPPW4KZUGVEMMZK365WBH4UHOPYEFUBMA.domainverify.googlehosted.com.”. Your token will be different


Step 3: Change DNS settings

  1. Go to your domain name registrar’s “DNS console” panel and log-in.
  2. Navigate to the “Host Records” click edit.
  3. Add a CNAME (Canonical Name) record.
    • For Host Name/Name/Label or Host” field, enter “www” without quotes and
    • For Address/Destination/Target or Points To field, enter “ghs.google.com” without the quotes.
  4. Now add another CNAME record. This is for domain ownership verification. 
    • In the Host Name field, paste the first code you get in step 2.3, ex: "J6VKJNRFUXD3".
    • In the Destination field, paste the second code, ex: “gv-JWLTPCFOOA27RPMP3PPRPPW4KZUGVEMMZK365WBH4UHOPYEFUBMA.domainverify.googlehosted.com.”.
    (Use your own codes generated in step 2.3, don’t use the two codes above).
  5. Now we should add A (Address) records. If you already have A records, modify them. If not, click “Add” button.
  6. You have to add 4 separate A records, pointing to the following Google IP addresses:
    • 216.239.32.21
    • 216.239.34.21
    • 216.239.36.21
    • 216.239.38.21
  7. Enter each IP into an “Address” field. In the corresponding “Host Name” field, enter your domain’s naked URL (without “www”, e.g example.com). blogger custom domain dns settings
  8. Finally click “Save” button and wait for a few minutes to update all your domain settings.


Step 4: Update your Blogger settings

  1. Now go back to “Settings > Basic > Publishing” on Blogger and again enter your custom domain name with “www”.
  2. Tick “redirect” option.
  3. Finally click “Save” button. If it again displays “Unable to verify authority…” error, wait for a few hours to update your DNS settings and again add your domain name. This time no need to follow Host Records modifications, just add domain name to Blogger publishing section.
  4. That’s it, now your blog has a custom domain name.

About the author
Chris, who is a part time blogger and owner and editor of the “android gadgematic” blog. I like to write android rooting guides, free apps and various droid guides.

65 comments to "How To Setup/Host Custom Domain On Blogger"

Simply AJ September 29, 2012 at 7:36 PM    

Good Stuff... Thanks!

Mary September 30, 2012 at 3:29 AM    

Hi - less than amused with the advertisement in the sidebar just underneath your Follow me on Twitter gadget: it was a video that started playing a cheesy soundtrack automatically.

I like your blog, please don't give me a reason not to visit.

marvinic October 1, 2012 at 12:04 AM    

Good post....gr8

hhrma October 2, 2012 at 10:22 PM    

i completely setup the domain as your step by step instruction but still not work on mine, sir.

Unknown October 3, 2012 at 12:54 PM    

Chris/Greenlava,

I want to say THANK YOU! for the very helpful tutorial. I am planning to change my blogspot domain name to dotcom and this is the tutorial I've been looking for.

Again, Thanks you!

Jericho Montes
makabayanblog.blogspot.com

Greenlava October 3, 2012 at 5:04 PM    

@Mary C
I was testing ads from an ad company. Well I guess that's the end of that.

TGS October 3, 2012 at 7:32 PM    

@Jericho Montes,
If you purchase domain name through blogger, there's noting to do. It automatically configure.

@Jonty
I think now it work perfectly.

Unknown October 4, 2012 at 5:13 PM    

When you say 'purchase domain nae through blogger' How do I do this? Is it the same as this post? Or a different method?

If its a different method then where or what link can i use to purchase my domain name through blogger?

I'm clearly not understanding. Some help please.

Rhys October 6, 2012 at 6:27 PM    

@Jonty

You should select the option in blogger settings to redirect the "naked dowmain" (hubberspot.com) to your full address. you should also go to your domain admin page and set the domain settings to accept the naked address. If this is not enough, you should go into your registrar website and add certain details.
You can follow these instructions, or the ones provided in the blogger help section-

http://www.bloggerhow.com/2012/02/register-domain-name-blogger-redirect.html

Also, i believe custom domain purchase is currently disabled (for those who are trying) and should be back next week.

Hope this helps!

Blogging tips October 6, 2012 at 9:08 PM    

Good post. Thank you for the tips.

TGS October 18, 2012 at 9:37 AM    

@AndSuns OrganicApparel,
Your instructions not incorrect. Using your method you can't verify your ownership.

Dev October 30, 2012 at 3:08 AM    

very easy,the way u explained..thanks a lot

Anonymous,  November 13, 2012 at 10:39 PM    

Thank you, helped me a lot.

Benleem November 21, 2012 at 7:29 AM    

If I use blogger to purchase a domain name, does it mean I own it or there is a catch? It seems to easy and simple even for someone technically inept as I am. Love the tutorial.

Dickson November 22, 2012 at 5:16 AM    

Thanks for the tutorial...nice....

Unknown November 28, 2012 at 3:53 AM    

I spent 5 hours today on a million sites trying to get my new domain to work.
YOURS was the ONLY site that worked! Thank you so much, very appreciated!

PrepOnline November 28, 2012 at 11:07 PM    

your blog is excellent~

Muhammad Umair December 4, 2012 at 3:45 PM    

This Tutorial is working 100% i was successfully set 1 of my domain to blogger thanx alot to this step by step and easiest guide..! It started working instantly without any wait ...Thank You

Muhammad Umair December 4, 2012 at 3:46 PM    

But if i open it without www than it did not work...

Greenlava December 9, 2012 at 10:23 PM    

@Muhammad Umair
Make sure you complete the redirection process in step 4.

Jessica @ A Humble Creation December 16, 2012 at 10:02 AM    

Thank you Chris. Your directions have been the easiest to follow. It worked perfectly!
Jessica
ahumblecreation.com

Anonymous,  December 20, 2012 at 5:37 PM    

Thanks for the info

webhosting nepal January 1, 2013 at 9:18 PM    

nice tutorial for using custom domain in blogger.

latest urdu and hindi poetry January 14, 2013 at 11:39 PM    

nice information about custom domain thanks for sharing.

berita terbaru January 17, 2013 at 3:23 PM    

if Ihas been successfully custom domain, whether the old blogspot account in google webmaster should be removed or let it go to avoid duplicate content?

Akhil Swatantra January 18, 2013 at 1:19 AM    

Really Nice Article

Greenlava January 18, 2013 at 2:03 AM    

@berita terbaru
No need to remove.

Anonymous,  January 29, 2013 at 4:42 PM    

this post was very much helpful to me . thank you so much for sharing this kind of important topic with us.

Ahsan January 30, 2013 at 2:35 AM    

if i already have a successful blog on free domain will it be a good decision to shift to custom domain?

Greenlava January 30, 2013 at 11:20 AM    

@Ahsan
The sooner you move to custom domain the better :)

akubiomed January 31, 2013 at 12:46 PM    

Thank you for this guidelines. I managed to set new domain name to blogspot. After a few time error because the process take sometimes to stabilize event you follow strictly the process.

Scott Stevens February 1, 2013 at 2:29 AM    

Great post, I wondered if you could help me with something on a very similar topic. If I understand correctly, the method you described, will point the blogger url to your own registered domain. I'm trying to do the opposite, meaning I want to have my domain used instead of the blogspot domain. I don't want to do a simple redirect as it does not help with search engine traffic etc.

Does that make sense? Is there a way to integrate my custom domain/url into blogger?

Scott Stevens February 1, 2013 at 2:36 AM    

Ignore my last post, that's exactly what you've explained... It just took a while for all the info to update I guess.

Thanks, great article!

Masteratul February 3, 2013 at 5:31 PM    

really good post it heals me alot....

Ali February 9, 2013 at 7:04 PM    

i added a custom domain by reading your guide. it was really helpful .

Umer Rock February 18, 2013 at 12:47 AM    

Thank you nice tips for adding domain.

chamal February 22, 2013 at 12:16 AM    

Good post..thanks for this post...

Rachael Jess February 25, 2013 at 11:58 PM    

You are a star! Thank yo so much :D

American Eyes February 28, 2013 at 7:50 AM    

Awesome. It worked perfect ;) Google should pay you cause they don't give these instructions as straightforward as you do.

Anonymous,  March 11, 2013 at 5:37 PM    

Thanks for this. I have moved my blog from blogger to my custom domain name. How do I get my articles mapped to my new domain

Mellissa March 24, 2013 at 9:05 PM    

THANK YOU! Last time I set up a blog it did it automatically. I searched articles for hours before I found this one and it is finally working!

Sumi Hisahara,  March 29, 2013 at 6:23 PM    

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!! I also searched articles for hours before finding this one and mine is finally working too! I couldn't have figured it out if it wasn't for you. Much appreciation!

AnswersBD March 29, 2013 at 10:25 PM    

nice share
i have linked to this post to my question & answers site
Thanks

Unknown April 3, 2013 at 11:57 PM    

Bundle of thanks for providing great tutorial

mithun April 9, 2013 at 2:54 AM    

This is very helpful article. I have followed this instruction and become successful.

Crave-Worthy Maine May 23, 2013 at 9:18 PM    

Oh my goodness! Thank you so so so much!! This is the ONLY way that I was able to figure out how to do this! You're the best!

anlob June 17, 2013 at 11:38 AM    

Thanx to share this useful information, I was searching this info for my new blog www.anlob.org but I was confused how to do it . Then I came across to your blog and my problem has been solved thanx to share this amazing info thanx..

Haroon Gul June 18, 2013 at 1:52 AM    

thanks very helpful instructions

jamie June 18, 2013 at 4:38 AM    

Thank you so much! This tutorial helped so much more than what blogger and Go-daddy were using for explanations!

Unknown June 19, 2013 at 7:59 PM    

Thanks for the info . I want to use a domain name from an old site that I am closing down. Do I have to also delete the old named servers where the site is currently hosted.

I have changed the DNS names as instructed.

manu August 28, 2013 at 2:29 PM    

thanks dude ::: it worked for me...

Anonymous,  September 22, 2013 at 3:47 AM    

A very neatly written article. and it worked!

Divya N September 29, 2013 at 11:23 PM    

Seriously thank you so much...I just changed my blog domain

Obat ginjal bengkak October 3, 2013 at 2:44 PM    

Hopefully always succeeded for admin who always give the information and I say thank you a lot

Softfreakz October 9, 2013 at 11:29 PM    

Thank you very much...

Obat ginjal bengkak October 11, 2013 at 3:33 PM    

Hopefully always succeeded for admin who always give the information and I say thank you a lot

Mohd Shubhi October 13, 2013 at 10:56 AM    

tqvm...it works for me in a few second after following your instruction..

Unknown October 14, 2013 at 7:22 AM    

great.....i try mine

Unknown October 24, 2013 at 8:08 AM    

Let's say I have website www.example.com and I want to include blog in that i.e.www.blog.example.com, so do i need to buy a separate domain or is there any other way to do this?

Greenlava October 27, 2013 at 12:22 PM    

@Sharlene Mani
Just enter "www.blog.example.com" in Step 1.5, opt for "On a subdomain (foo.example.com)" in Step 2.2, and use "blog.example.com" (instead of "example.com") in your DNS settings.

Imran Murtaza November 3, 2013 at 7:05 AM    

Nice Post.. Thanks For Sharing..

Abhishek November 14, 2013 at 9:19 PM    

Is buying domain name for blogger blog which is three years old can harm to adsense earning and pageviews or it will be good. Please guide me http://abhicareer.blogspot.in

Himanshu Pandey November 19, 2013 at 9:47 PM    

Once I've set up my blogger blog to a custom subdomain blog.example.com and completed every step successfully and also verified my authority adding two CNAME's. My problem is that accidently two CNAME's has been deleted from my DNS records and I am unable to live my blog.

Though I have republished my blogger blog again to my custom domain blog.example.com but unablet to set it up. I would like to notice you that I was unable to find second CNAME (specific to blog) while republishing the blog and therefore could not add it in my DNS records.

Please help me to republish my blogger blog to my subdomain same as before. Thanks!

Unknown December 3, 2013 at 1:19 AM    

nice article
thank you brother

Unknown November 26, 2014 at 7:47 PM    

Great information provided. I appreciate your work. domain name

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