Latest: How to Set Up Blogger (blogspot) Custom Domain Using Namecheap (Screenshots)

This is a latest step by step guide for setting up the custom domain for Blogger.com (Blogspot) by using the domain name registered at Namecheap. It aims to work with Google's new requirement of 2 CNAME records to be added in your Domain Registrar (Namecheap.com)'s  DNS setting.

Many online guides have expired after Google's process updated in late September. Here I'd like to share that I did, which works well and has been running successfully with no issue.

The following tutorial has been uploaded to Youtube as well, I embed it below for your reference.


There are 2 big steps to take:

• 1nd step, login to your Blogger dashboard, to get the 2 CNAME records
• 2st Step, login to the control panel at Namecheap, add the 2 CNAME records we just got, as well as other 4 A-records.

Here's the details:

1. Go to Blogger.com, login by using your Blogger email account

Go to your Blogger dashboard, click on Settings->basic, look at the Publishing section in the main content page, under your Blog Address, click on "Add a custom domian"

2. click on 'Switch to advanced settings'. (screenshot below)

3. Now type in your full domain address (starts with WWW.) , and then click on Save. 

Note: make sure your domain address starts with WWW ! In my case, I typed in www.bloggerjourney.com, and click on 'save' .

4. You will see an error message under your domain name "We have not been able to verify your authority to this domain. Error 12." It's normal.

You will see 2 line of records showing under the error, that's the two CNAME records we need later.

- The first line is same for everybody, it's as this:

1  www.yourdomain.com          ghs.google.com

- The 2nd line is different for every one, copy the whole line. 

In my case the 2nd line is like this:


2    g6ncjiusd5ft     gv-ftqlj5qbkz2ajngptbfi32x6i2dlyisvexjg4a2l2jxliktisx5q.domainverify.googlehosted.com.

Meaning:

•  "g6ncjiusd5ft" is the Host Name
•  the long string  "gv-ftqlj5qbkz2ajngptbfi32x6i2dlyisvexjg4a2l2jxliktisx5q.domainverify.googlehosted.com." is the url . Notice the dot '.' at the end of the line ? Copy it do not miss!

Make sure to copy both of Host Name and long url, paste into your notepad or word document for later using.

5. Now go to Namecheap.com, login to your account.

 look at left side under "Account Information" section, at the first line, click on 'View"

6.  On the main content page, look at the Domain Name section. If you purchased several domain names from Namecheap, your will see all of their names here. Click on the domain name you'd like to set up for your Blogger. In my case I click on BloggerJourney.com.

 7. At left side, under Host Management Section, click on All Host Records

 8. Now at the main content page, let's add all 4 A-records and 2 CNAME records.


According to Google's official help page, following 4 Google IP addresses need to be added as A-records:

216.239.32.21
216.239.34.21
216.239.36.21
216.239.38.21

And, two CNAME records that we got at step 4 need to be added as well.

Fill the chart as this screenshot

Let's set up all these records line by line (see screenshot above):

- On the 1st line, the Host Name already shows as "@" (you can't change it), for IP address you type in 216.239.38.21, for Record Type you change it to A(Address), for TTL you type in 1800 (if it's not there)

- On the 2nd line, the Host Name already shows as WWW, you can't change it, just leave it there. For 'IP Addess/URL' you type in ghs.google.com - this is the 1st CANME record we got at step 4. For 'Record Type' you change to CNAME(Alias), for TTL you type in 1800 (if it's not there)

- On the 3rd line:

• For 'Sub-Domain Setting' you type in your domain name. In my case it's BloggerJourney.com .
• For IP Address/URL you type in 216.239.32.21
  For Record Type you change it to A(Address) 
• For TTL you type in 1800 (if it's not there)

- On the 4th line, 'Sub-Domain Setting' you still type in your domain name, add IP Address as 216.239.34.21, all others are the same as the 3rd line
- On the 5th line, 'Sub-Domain Setting' you still type in your domain name, add IP Address as 216.239.36.21, all others are the same as the 3rd line

- On the 6th line we need to add the 2nd CNAME record we got at step 4:

• For Sub-Domain Setting you type in the Host Name you got at step4, in my case I type in:
  g6ncjiusd5ft
• For IP Address/URL you paste the long url string you got at step 4(with the dot '.' at the end), in my case it's:
  gv-ftqlj5qbkz2ajngptbfi32x6i2dlyisvexjg4a2l2jxliktisx5q.domainverify.googlehosted.com.
•  For Record Type you change it to CNAME
• For TTL you type in 1800 (if it's not there)

Once you fill up all above 6 lines, you are good to save it.

9. Save your settings:

Make sure to click on 'Save Changes' at the bottom of the page

10. check the settings:

Once setting saved, your screen will be refreshed and it should be looks like following:

We have finished the settings at Namecheap.com. Almost done.

11. Verify

Now let's wait for one minute...

And open a new browser window, at the top address bar type in your Domain name starts with WWW, such as WWW.MyDomianName.Com and let it go. What do you see?

If you get a 404 error with a big Google logo on it, your Namecheap records have been set up properly and you can go to next step now !

If you do not see the 404 error with a big Google logo, please wait, refresh the page after a few minutes.

Namecheap service is pretty fast, wait for a few minutes should be good enough.

Let's go to next step.

You are good to go to next step if you see above error with Google logo !

12. Go back to you Blogger account dashboard, re-do step 1,  2 and 3 again. 

This time, at step 3, after you click on 'Save' you should not see any error at all. Then, the screen will go back to publishing section again, you will see the Blog Address now is your Namecheap domain name, not the free Blogspot subdomain any more.

13. Click on 'Edit'  (behind your new domain name).

14. Under your new domain name, put a check mark infront of the option "Redirect YourDomainName.com to WWW.YourDomainName.Com", and then click on "Save" 

You done !

15. Check your new web address now

Open your browser, first try to open your website using the new domain name starts with WWW, like www.yourdomainname.com. You should be able to see your blog coming out instantly.

- My experience was, it took effect also instantly. I was able to access my web page by using the new domain name in only a few minutes after the settings updated.

Then, open your site by using your naked domain name without WWW in front, like yourdomainname.com.

 What do you see?

- Probably you see an error page. No worries, it may take several hours for the naked name to be populated. So, you can check back again later after several hours.

16. Congratulations ! You Done.

Till now, we have successfully set up the Namecheap domain name on Blogger (blogspot)!

About NameCheap

Namecheap is one of the best domain name registrar on the market, currently its service is rated 4.6 out of 5 on Google Checkout.

Namecheap's domain price is cheap ($10.69 per year) but not the cheapest ($7.99.com Domain with Free InstantPage Website Builder from GoDaddy.com! ), while if you consider to get Domain Name together with Domain Privacy, then Namecheap is the most cheapest- it provides free Domain Privacy (calls it WhoIsGuard service) for the first year, and $1.99 afterwards. Compare with other companies' above $10 charge for the domain privacy, it's a big save.

Register domain name at Namecheap is simple and easy, and it's service is reliable, the speed is amazing fast - it almost instantly took effect after I point my domain to the hosting company !

That's why I like Namecheap and highly recommend it if you are considering to get a new domain.

(Disclosure statement for this post: cmp.ly/5)