Changing Your Custom Domain - The Next Chapter

We see some blog owners deciding to change their custom domain URLs - and discovering an unexpected limitation, in re indexing the blog, under the new URL

I received email from Google, advising that my previous domain is pulling up a number of 404 errors. I've noticed that these are for individual blog posts.

When you change one custom domain to another, you may not see the domain re indexed, transparently.

Changing a Blogger blog, from one custom domain to another, is a reasonably simple project - if you're able to plan the change.

A domain change should involve simply re indexing the blog.

A simple custom domain name change involves republishing the blog, under a new domain. Retaining readers, and search engine access, requires slightly more work.

Renaming a custom domain - if it involves a BlogSpot rename - becomes significantly more complicated.

Renaming a custom domain - and having the individual post URLs in the old domain working, after the change - will require slightly more effort, than any of the above requirements.

With GoDaddy, using specific settings, you may be able to forward post URLs.

In one forum topic, a domain owner was able to forward a domain, using instructions provided by GoDaddy - so individual post URLs redirect properly.

In the GoDaddy domain settings for the old (original) custom domain, activate Domain Forwarding.

1. Set the "Forward to:" address to the new custom domain.
2. Choose the Redirect Type as "301 Permanent".
3. Choose the Forward Settings as "Forward only".

This may not be the effect seen, by all blog owners. Not all registrars will provide this ability.

This is the GoDaddy DNS wizard, as of 2016.



If your domain was not registered by GoDaddy, you will have a different wizard - and most likely, ""Forward only" will be a different option. Maybe, "Forward without masking" will be a useful description.

Blogger does not support redirection, from blog URL to blog URL.

Blogger does not support redirection, between BlogSpot or custom domain URLs - as transparent redirection would simply encourage spam activity. Any redirection, from the old custom domain, has to be provided by the domain registrar.

Most registrars provide simple DNS forwarding, from one domain to another - if you are able to pay for both domains, simultaneously. Generally, most registrars will setup forwarding, from the old domain to the new published blog URL.

Not all blog owners may get the redirection, for their domain, correct.

With a domain forwarded to the published URL - using most registrar provided instructions - readers who click on the URL to a specific post, using the old domain URL, will find themselves unexpectedly viewing the blog home page, under the new domain. This will cause some confusion.

Search engine bots won't find a specific blog post, under the new domain.

A search engine bot, indexing a specific post, using the old domain URL, will be redirected to the blog home page, under the new domain URL. This will not enhance indexing of the blog.

Some search engine bots may report this as a "404 Not Found" - and blog reputation will suffer.

Here's an example of the problem.

The specific post URL ("www.chloellio.co.uk/2016/05/ fashion-river-island-plus.html") redirects to the main page ("www.chloeincurve.com").



For most obvious benefit, "www.chloellio.co.uk/2016/05/fashion-river-island-plus.html" should redirect to "www.chloeincurve.com/2016/05/fashion-river-island-plus.html" - not to the blog main page "www.chloeincurve.com".

Let's look at an HTTP trace. This shows an individual post in the blog, with forwarding provided by GoDaddy.

http://www.rexswain.com/cgi-bin/httpview.cgi?url=http://www.chloellio.co.uk/2016/05/fashion-river-island-plus.html&uag=Mozilla/5.0+(X11%3B+CrOS+armv7l+7978.66.0)+AppleWebKit/537.36+(KHTML,+like+Gecko)+Chrome/50.0.2661.91+Safari/537.36&ref=http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html&aen=&req=GET&ver=1.1&fmt=AUTO

Sending request:

GET /2016/05/fashion-river-island-plus.html HTTP/1.1
Host: www.chloellio.co.uk
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; CrOS armv7l 7978.66.0) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/50.0.2661.91 Safari/537.36
Referer: http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html
Connection: close
• Finding host IP address...
• Host IP address = 79.170.40.4
• Finding TCP protocol...
• Binding to local socket...
• Connecting to host...
• Sending request...
• Waiting for response...
Receiving Header:

HTTP/1.1·302·Found
Date:·Sun,·15·May·2016·17:17:57·GMT
Server:·Apache/2.2.24·(Red·Hat)
Location:·http://chloellio.co.uk/2016/05/fashion-river-island-plus.html

http://www.rexswain.com/cgi-bin/httpview.cgi?url=http://chloellio.co.uk/2016/05/fashion-river-island-plus.html&uag=Mozilla/5.0+(X11%3B+CrOS+armv7l+7978.66.0)+AppleWebKit/537.36+(KHTML,+like+Gecko)+Chrome/50.0.2661.91+Safari/537.36&ref=http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html&aen=&req=GET&ver=1.1&fmt=TXT

Sending request:

GET /2016/05/fashion-river-island-plus.html HTTP/1.1
Host: chloellio.co.uk
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; CrOS armv7l 7978.66.0) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/50.0.2661.91 Safari/537.36
Referer: http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html
Connection: close
• Finding host IP address...
• Host IP address = 79.170.40.4
• Finding TCP protocol...
• Binding to local socket...
• Connecting to host...
• Sending request...
• Waiting for response...
Receiving Header:

HTTP/1.1·302·Found
Date:·Sun,·15·May·2016·17:17:58·GMT
Server:·Apache/2.2.24·(Red·Hat)
Location:·http://www.ChloeInCurve.com

http://www.rexswain.com/cgi-bin/httpview.cgi?url=http://www.ChloeInCurve.com&uag=Mozilla/5.0+(X11%3B+CrOS+armv7l+7978.66.0)+AppleWebKit/537.36+(KHTML,+like+Gecko)+Chrome/50.0.2661.91+Safari/537.36&ref=http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html&aen=&req=GET&ver=1.1&fmt=TXT

Sending request:

GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: www.ChloeInCurve.com
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; CrOS armv7l 7978.66.0) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/50.0.2661.91 Safari/537.36
Referer: http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html
Connection: close
• Finding host IP address...
• Host IP address = 74.125.28.121
• Finding TCP protocol...
• Binding to local socket...
• Connecting to host...
• Sending request...
• Waiting for response...
Receiving Header:

HTTP/1.1·200·OK(CR)

<meta·content='blogger'·name='generator'/>
<link·href='http://www.chloeincurve.com/favicon.ico'·rel='icon'·type='image/x-icon'/>
<link·href='http://www.chloeincurve.com/'·rel='canonical'/>
<link·rel="alternate"·type="application/atom+xml"·title="ChloeInCurve·-·Atom"·href="http://www.chloeincurve.com/feeds/posts/default"·/>
<link·rel="alternate"·type="application/rss+xml"·title="ChloeInCurve·-·RSS"·href="http://www.chloeincurve.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss"·/>
<link·rel="service.post"·type="application/atom+xml"·title="ChloeInCurve·-·Atom"·href="https://www.blogger.com/feeds/5573572064729110417/posts/default"·/>
<link·rel="me"·href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/03895481660022671513"·/>
<link·rel="openid.server"·href="https://www.blogger.com/openid-server.g"·/>
<link·rel="openid.delegate"·href="http://www.chloeincurve.com/"·/>

Even if the domain, redirected to the new domain home page, does not generate a "404", blog reputation will not benefit. An individual post, will not be indexed immediately, when hidden behind the home page.

Not all registrars will help you change domain URLs - and retain post URLs.

If you are going to change custom domain names - and transparently redirect readers and search engines, you will need the extra effort, as described above.

Alternately, simply forward the domain, to the published Blogger URL (generally, the "www" domain host) - then concentrate on getting the blog re indexed, under the new URL. Once the blog is completely indexed under the new domain URL, people won't bookmark the old domain - and the new domain URL will be the reference, for the blog. That's what you want, at the end of the day.

Your readers will see the home page of the blog, when clicking on individual posts, indexed under the old domain URL. Then add a Featured Post, mentioning the domain change - and maybe setup one or both blog searches, for reader convenience.

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It's possible to redirect a #Blogger blog, as published under a custom domain, to a new domain. It's not always possible to transparently redirect an individual post URL, to the new domain, however.

If you change your custom domain, you may have to expect some problems from readers and search engines.

https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/ZiozKZOS07Q/discussion

https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/9rTL7U2ZMvU/discussion

https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/Yd5qUg77wUw/discussion

Using A Custom Domain Outside Blogger

From time to time, we see questions about using a Blogger / Google custom domain, with publishing services outside Blogger / Google.

Some Blogger blog owners want to combine their Blogger blogs, with non Blogger blogs and websites - and others want simply to move their blogging activity to non Blogger services. And a few think ahead, and wonder how adding or moving to another service will affect the ability of their existing readers to find their blog, and / or their ability to get new readers.

As with using a Blogger blog with an existing non Google domain, this is not a simple project - and to do this properly will require research - and well informed decisions. Some assistance can be provided by Blogger or in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger - and other portions of the project will require advice or instruction from the support groups for the new service.

Start by deciding how the domain is to be used, with the new website.

Consider The Options

There are several ways to add / substitute a non Blogger blog / website, in a domain purchased for use with a Blogger blog.

1. Transfer domain registration, to the registrar, as required by the new hosting service.
2. Update DNS for the domain, to use name servers, as required by the new hosting service.
3. Update DNS for the domain, to use only addresses pointing to the new hosting service.
4. Update DNS for the domain, to use additional addresses pointing to the new hosting service.

Which of these options, that you are able to use, will depend upon requirements of the new hosting service.

WordPress provides detailed instructions, in WordPress Support: Coming from Blogger?. Not all hosting services will be so helpful, however.

Retain / Transfer Existing Traffic

Options #1 - #3 will require you to start a new URL, published by the new hosting service. Blogger will not permit blogs to be used as gateways. You'll have to get your new blog / website indexed, from the bottom up - with no automatic traffic from your Blogger blog.

Any followers or readers, that are associated with your Blogger blog, will have to be redirected to your new blog / website using visual instructions - or at best a clickable link, in a stub blog. You may be able to redirect subscribers - if the new host offers a compatible newsfeed.

You probably won't be able to publish your stub Blogger blog to the domain, though - so chances are, any of these options will leave you starting over - with no instructions to your existing followers and readers, excepting what you provide before moving the domain.

Option #4 will require you to add an additional host, in the domain with your existing Blogger blog. If your new hosting service supports, you may be able to make your Blogger blog and new blog / website equal members of a domain based cluster.

For a domain cluster to be really effective, you will need to maintain both the existing Blogger blog, and the new non Blogger website as separate entities - and have unique content, regularly updated for each.

Access The Current Registrar Dashboard

Whether you transfer domain hosting, or update the domain, you will need access to the current registrar's dashboard.

• For domains purchased using Blogger / Google "Buy a domain ..." or similar services, access to the registrar's dashboard will require access to the Google Apps / Control Panel utility.
• For domains purchased directly from the registrar, access to the registrar's dashboard will require an account / password that (hopefully) was setup when the domain was purchased.

You will need access to the registrar's dashboard to obtain the EPP code, required by Option #1 - or to make changes to the domain, required by Options #2 - #4.

You May Need Google Apps Access

Most projects - but not all - which involve custom domains require Google Apps access - and establishing Google Apps access is the most common concern, when access to the registrar's dashboard is needed.

1. Get access to Google Apps.
2. That will give you access to the registrar's dashboard.
3. Retrieve the EPP code, or update the DNS addresses per instructions of the additional / new blogging host service - depending upon which Option you are taking.

In some cases, and if you are considering multiple non Google services, choice of what new service you go with may start with identifying migration / setup options provided by each different service.

Regain Followers, Readers, Subcribers, Search Engine Reputation - And Traffic

A domain moved to use outside Blogger will be similar to a new blog / website - with some characteristics of a renamed Blogger blog, and / or a newly published custom domain blog. Just as all Blogger blogs are unique, so will be any domain migration.

You may consider moving existing blog content, to the new service. This will require planning, and testing.

Both the actual movement of the content - and preventing Blogger spam classification, if you move the content - will be important.

You need to understand all of these issues, to regain traffic sources. Blog / website traffic is a complex subject.

Respect Your Existing Audience

If the question of existing / new followers, subscribers, and readers, and search engine reputation, resulting from the move, is a serious issue with you, you may want to plan your move from Blogger with great care.

You won't be able to blatantly redirect your existing readers to your new website - you will need a carefully planned dual website publishing strategy.

Start With The Support Group For The Chosen Service

If you are going to host a blog or website outside Blogger / Google, you must start with instructions from the support group for the new blog / website. DNS is a key issue, in any domain migration - whether BlogSpot to non BlogSpot, or non BlogSpot to non Google.

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Occasionally, a #Blogger blog owner decides to move their blog to a non Google website. Starting with advice in Blogger Help Forum, the owner learns that many necessary decisions, related to a hosting change, require support from the new website host.

Not every blog owner realises why setting up and publishing a Blogger blog is so simple, until they have to make decisions about hosting outside Google.

Custom Domain Migration, And Google+ Comments

With both custom domain publishing, and Google+ hosted comments, becoming more popular, it is inevitable that the two subjects would interact.

One key difference between Blogger hosted comments, and Google+ hosted comments, is how they associate with the host blog. Blogger hosted comments link to the blog - but Google+ hosted comments (aka Google+ stream posts) link to the URL.

Any time you change the URL of your blog, you will lose Google+ hosted comments - from your blog. The Google+ stream posts, however, are still out there - and they still link back to your blog.

Any existing Google+ stream posts, mentioning your blog, will link to the BlogSpot URL of your blog, after you migrate to a custom domain.

A properly executed custom domain migration will produce a BlogSpot URL redirected to the Domain URL. Any existing Google+ Stream posts will continue to link to the blog, because of the redirect.

Any existing Google+ comments, that are associated with your blog, are out there, in your readers Google+ streams.

All that you lose, with custom domain migration, is the ability to associate all of the different conversations about your blog, between the people conversing about your blog. Like URL changes in general, you lose a tiny bit of control - but you gain visibility.

Blogger Does Not Support ".htaccess" Based Redirection

If you rename a non Blogger hosted website - and you retain ownership of the previous domain (or re publish a website within the same domain), you can redirect traffic from the old URL to the new URL, for some websites, using the ".htaccess" control file.

Some Blogger blog owners, used to setting up ".htaccess" based redirection for non Blogger websites, have renamed their blog - either from one BlogSpot URL to another, or maybe from a custom domain URL to another URL. Finding the links in the blog now broken, they wonder.

How do I setup .htaccess for the old URL?

This is an option that Blogger does not provide.

Blogger, in general, does not encourage redirection of traffic.

Traffic redirection is an option which many spammers would appreciate. Blogger hosts too many spammers and other miscreants, and they want less spammers - not more.

Redirect within a blog, using custom redirects.

You can use custom redirects, for redirecting specific URLs within a blog. Custom redirects work on a single URL basis, they do not support any type of masking or URL patterns. And custom redirects can't be used for redirecting from one blog to another - or for redirecting outside Blogger.

Blogger does not provide file / folder access.

".htaccess" is a file that is installed in the domain root - and blog owners do not have access to the "blogspot.com" root folder.

If you have just re published a blog from a custom domain back to BlogSpot, you are retaining the domain, and you do not plan to re use the domain for a non Blogger hosted website, you may be able to setup .htaccess on the domain - if the domain host supports it.

Short of that, you are going to have to focus on getting the blog re indexed, under the new URL - and get on with publishing the blog.

Before Publishing Back To BlogSpot, Get The DNS Addresses Right

One problem, occasionally seen in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, involves blog owners preparing to re use their custom domain for publishing their website - and who now need to publish their Blogger blog back to BlogSpot.

I need to reuse my domain for my website - but when I try to re publish my blog, I keep seeing

Another blog is already hosted at this address.

How can I get my blog back online?

When we look at the domain, and the DNS addresses, we see the domain pointing to the website, already. And this is where many custom domain publishing problems start.

Any time you make any change to a blog, that involves custom domain publishing, the changes will go much more smoothly with the domain properly pointing to the blog.

Whether you are setting up a new custom domain publishing, changing a custom domain publishing, or maybe removing a custom domain publishing, the publishing process works much better with the domain properly redirected to the Google database.

One of the causes of the mysterious message

Another blog is already hosted at this address

comes from the domain not being properly redirected to the Google servers. When the Blogger re publishing process can't continue because the domain DNS addresses are not correct, the process terminates with an error. Whenever any database change terminates with an error, it's always possible that the process may not clean up after itself before ending - and artifacts (aka broken pointers) will be left behind in the database.

The next time that you try to re publish the blog - or when you (or your readers) try to view the blog - you (or they) will see, yet again

Another blog is already hosted at this address.

or an alternate

Server Not Found Error 404

When that happens, you have only one choice - recycle the domain settings - and pray to the deity of your choice.

The latter processes are not known to be 100% effective. The best way to deal with them is to never deal with them - to not start by causing a problem. That means to always keep the domain DNS addresses righteous, whenever maintaining a custom domain published blog.

If you are going to use your domain for a non Blogger website, always publish your Blogger blog back to BlogSpot, first. Then, verify the status of the blog. Finally, and with no problems discovered, change the DNS addresses.

Custom Domain Publishing - Moving Back To BlogSpot, Using The New GUI, Isn't Obvious

The New Blogger GUI (2011) has been available for just over 6 months - and we see new confusion about using it, daily, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?.

How do I cancel my custom domain redirect, in the New GUI?

This is one specific question, that's been asked, recently.

The answer to that specific question is actually right there, in front of us - we just don't see it.

Blogger, like Google, likes to use overlay panels for some displays, such as how you see the picture below - when you click on it.

In the new GUI, if I look at the Blog Address settings for this blog, in Settings - Basic - Publishing, I see

See the "X"?
(Click on the picture, to better see the details.)



"Edit" is a link, that lets me "Edit" my custom domain settings. The "Edit" wizard (which simply pops up in the same display, when I click on "Edit") does not let me change the URL of the blog back to BlogSpot - and this is the start of some confusion.

To remove the custom domain redirect, and re publish the blog to the domain - or publish back to BlogSpot - one must click on the "X" in the top right. With the publishing shown as

blogging.nitecruzr.net                Edit               X
bloggerstatusforreal.blogspot.com     redirects

clicking on the "X" lets me remove the custom domain redirect. Clicking on "Edit" only lets me change specific custom domain settings, such as selecting the "naked domain" redirect option.

When you click on the "X", you will get a verification popup.

Are you sure? This will remove the current custom domain.

And you'll want to hit "Yes".

So, click on the "X" (it's actually in black - I show it in red, above, to make it more obvious), to clear the custom domain redirect and publish back to the original BlogSpot URL. If you don't see the "X", click in the upper right corner of that window - to the right of "Edit" and just left of the window border. Apparently, not all browsers display the "X" properly.

Republishing A Custom Domain Blog

Sometimes, when you are publishing a blog to a custom domain, you'll have a problem with the settings. Some settings problems can only be solved by repeating the publishing process. But you can't repeat the process - once a blog is published to a URL, you can't just publish again, to the domain URL.

In some cases, you have to publish the blog back to BlogSpot, then re publish to the domain. In other cases, you have to return the blog to a BlogSpot publishing, so you can solve some problems now - and return to the domain publishing, at some unknown time in the future.

This is all done from the Settings - Publishing wizard, which you access from the Blogger dashboard - and it's as easy as 1 - 2 - 3 - 4.

1. Always start by getting a new ownership verification token, and adding it to the domain DNS address list. Pay careful attention to DNS address entry conventions! If you are instructed to add a "CNAME", you do have to add a "CNAME" - regardless of older instructions!
2. If the blog is currently published to the non BlogSpot domain, you'll simply have to click on the "X", to re publish to the previous BlogSpot URL.
3. Click on

   Add a custom domain

4. Now, you have several possibilities.
   1. In many cases, you will be republishing to an otherwise properly purchased domain. Click on

      Switch to advanced settings

      The previously used custom domain should be already displayed, in the Advanced settings window. Click on the Save button, and your domain should be online.
   2. Occasionally, the domain was not successfully purchased, even though the BlogSpot URL redirects. Alternately, you may have let the domain expire - and you now have to buy a new domain. In either case, you have to purchase a domain, again.
5. OK, it couldn't be quite that simple, could it? Don't forget to select

   Redirect mydomain.com to www.mydomain.com

   if desired - and if you are not publishing to the domain root.

Solve the CAPTCHAs handily enough, and you can be done in 5 minutes. It's 5 minutes well spent, too.

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For more details on the re publishing process, see Roberto's Report: Re-Publishing to blogspot.com, and back to a Custom Domain.

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Custom Domain Setup, Your Blog, and Your Readers

Periodically, someone interested but uncertain asks about the practical effects of publishing their blog to a custom domain.

Will all the posts (the comments, the customised template, ...) be the same?

or

Will my readers be able to find my blog?

or even

Will I lose Page Rank, and if so, how long?

These are all valid concerns.

Publishing your blog to a custom domain is pretty much like publishing it to another BlogSpot URL, except you end up with two (maybe 3) URLs, each of which will work equally well.

• The BlogSpot URL.
• The primary URL for the domain.
• A possible secondary URL for the domain.

There's no visible change to the content - it simply republishes to the new (non-BlogSpot) URL. If you want to go back to normal publishing, you republish to BlogSpot. Simple?

Since the BlogSpot URL continues to work, everybody who has the BlogSpot URL bookmarked can continue to access the blog, transparently. You'll experience a brief loss of page rank, but you'll still get some traffic from your established readers, and from the search engines, and other robotic services.

You will have to update your membership in external services, such as search engines and similar robotic processes.

If you are vigorously attentive to the needs of your readers, and external services, your search engine reputation / Page Rank will pick up, somewhat faster than you acquired it originally. And if you publish content and update the blog at the same rate as before you got the custom domain, your search engine reputation / Page Rank will keep on going up, after it has regained its former level. And that's what a custom domain will do for you.

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Exchanging One Custom Domain For Another

Custom domains, which give us the ability to publish a blog, hosted on a Google server (and using a Layouts template), to a non-BlogSpot URL, are great.

If we don't plan what we're doing, though, sometimes we wind up with a URL that we later decide, just won't suit our long term needs.

Like used underwear, you can't return a used custom domain name. You buy it, you're stuck with it.

Buy another domain, and move on.

1. Publish the blog back to its original BlogSpot URL.
2. If you have properly setup DNS addresses for your new domain, use "Advanced Settings", and setup the new domain inside Google. If not, buy a new domain, using the "Buy A Domain" wizard.
3. If you run into the old "Another blog ..." error, recycle the domain settings using Google Apps.
4. Done.

Easy enough, if you think about what you're doing.

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Setting Up A Custom Domain? Check Your References!

When you setup a Custom Domain, the migration process for Blogger access to the blog is transparent.

The setup wizard provides encouraging advice

We won't leave your readers behind!
http://myblog.blogspot.com will redirect to your custom domain.

Not all non Google services will update the blog URL properly, when you publish to a custom domain.

When you publish your blog to a custom domain, two things happen instantaneously.

• All dynamic links within the blog are changed, from "myblog.blogspot.com" to "mydomain.com".
• Blogger sets up a server based "301 Moved Permanently" for your blog.

The URL change, from custom domain publishing, is not always immediate.

Your readers, and the search engine spiders, see the change the next time that they visit. Any automated processes that support a "301 Redirect" know to replace the old address, "myblog.blogspot.com", with the new address "mydomain.com".

All that said, you shouldn't expect for every search engine on the web to immediately acknowledge the new blog address. Just as establishing a search engine presence, updating one to a new address could take weeks.

With the initial setup out of the way, you may have a major amount of work yet to do, and a small but significant part needs to be done at your earliest convenience. Various third party elements that reference the blog by its URL may have to be updated. Some, if not updated immediately, may present a problem to your online reputation.

Webmaster Tools / Search Console is an essential service to be updated.

If your blog has a Google Sitemap, you'll have to use Google Webmaster Tools / Search Console to re verify site ownership, and to setup a new sitemap. If you've added a Google Sitemap to your blog before, you sort of know what to expect. Also, the sitemap setup wizard was improved in early 2008, so you'll find the sitemap addition process somewhat simplified and more intuitive.

You can probably update (re add) one blog in 5 minutes, if you read the instructions. You do need to do this part fairly promptly (though after the transition period if you used the "Buy A Domain" wizard), as the sitemap is an important component in access by the Google spider, and secondarily affects your blog in Google searches.

Internal blog links may or may not deserve updating.

With the sitemap updated, you can change all of the internal links in the blog, if you wish, and as time permits. Thanks to the "301 Moved Permanently", any internal references to the BlogSpot URL are simply replaced when any given link in the blog is followed. This dual personality effect will last for eternity.

Your friends web sites, that may have static references to yours (blogroll entries, generally), will likewise produce referrals to your blog, and to its new address. The static references can be updated at the convenience of the owners of the other web sites.

Publishing To A Custom Domain? Going Back To Blog*Spot Isn't Difficult

If you're currently publishing your blog to a custom domain, because you wanted to use a non-Blog*Spot address with some of the shiny Layouts template features, maybe you're tired of the occasional problems. Maybe you require the automatic redirect from BlogSpot to the custom domain, and the BlogSpot URL is redirecting to a bogus, unwanted warning.

Whatever your motivation, it's not hard to go back to publishing on Blog*Spot.

Just go to your Blogger dashboard, and click on the Settings link for the blog. Then, from the Publishing link under Settings, select "Switch to: • blogspot.com".

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You Buy It, You're Stuck With It

When you buy a new automobile in the USA, there's a consumer protection clause in most finance plans.

This protection is called "right of recession". When invoked properly, it gives you, the consumer, the choice of terminating the purchase up to 3 days following your signing on the bottom line.

Many retail stores give you the choice of returning some (not all) items purchased in their store, when accompanied by the right contents and documentation, for full or partial refund of purchase price.

When you purchase a Custom Domain, whether using a Google Partner purchase or a separate contract, that may not be the case.

Generally, once you hit the "Purchase This Domain" button, you're stuck with the purchase.

When you purchase a domain, you generally pay just over $10 USD for a one year term. If you decide later that you needed a different name, just buy a second name.

• Publish the blog back to the original BlogSpot address.
• Rerun the "Buy a domain for your blog" wizard, and select the preferred name (if available).
• If you get the old "Another blog ..." error, recycle the domain settings, using Google Apps.

When the one year runs out on the first name, just let it go. Buy 2 less coffees at Starsmucks this year, and move on.

Custom Domains Use 301 Redirect, From BlogSpot

When you setup a Custom Domain, the setup wizard provides encouraging advice

We won't leave your readers behind!
http://myblog.blogspot.com will redirect to your custom domain.

Blogger accomplishes this bit of trickery, using standard Internet protocol - a 301 Redirect - but it's done in two steps.

Blogger redirects a Blogger blog, using two steps.

• When you publish your blog, "myblog.blogspot.com", to your custom domain, "mydomain.com", all internal links within the blog are changed, from "myblog.blogspot.com" to "mydomain.com".
• When the transition period ends 72 hours later, Blogger sets up a standard server based "301 Moved Permanently" for your blog.
• Note that only the blog internal links are changed - any links which you added, from post to post, are your responsibility. Likewise, all external links are your responsibility.

The search engine spiders, which previously indexed your blog as "myblog.blogspot.com", now index it as "www.mydomain.com".

Everybody who looks at the URL sees the blog published as the domain URL.

Similarly, your readers see "www.mydomain.com". To everybody, even those intending to look at the old BlogSpot URL, you now have "www.mydomain.com" for a blog URL.

The "301 Moved Permanently" referral from BlogSpot is similar to the "301 Moved Permanently" referral used in Custom Domain DNS setups, to equate "mydomain.com" to "www.mydomain.com".

In both cases, when this technique is used properly, the clients - either the people who read the blog, or the search engine spiders that index the blog - see the contents of the blog as being part of the redirect target. Now, they see "www.mydomain.com", instead of "myblog.blogspot.com".

The BlogSpot to domain redirect is installed in the Blogger server, not in the blog.

This "301 Redirect" is server based. If you put a meta tag, or JavaScript, based "301 Redirect" or "302 Redirect" into your blog, you will cause problems for your readers. Both are treated similar to a "302 Moved Temporarily", and your blog loses search engine weight.

In some cases, your readers will see

Too many redirects!

or a similar error, following a gratuitous redirection to block country local domain redirection, installed by you. In other cases, the BlogSpot URL simply does not operate.

The "Too many redirects!" error is more frequently seen, with "HTTPS" accessible blogs published to custom domains - and with the "HTTP" to "HTTPS" redirection. Here, too, a properly setup custom domain is essential.

Some non Google services, which use a URL to identify you, must be updated.

Note that this redirect applies mainly to search engines, following links. It won't apply to feeds, which need the updated URL in their database. It will apply to your readers - but readers who monitor the address window in the browser may become confused, if they see the new, non-BlogSpot URL where they are accustomed to seeing a BlogSpot URL.

You still need to notify your readers, and you still need to update all external fixed URL references to the blog, such as FeedBurner and other custom feeds, Google Webmaster Tools, and the various visitor meters.