If you’ve noticed, I shifted my other blog Food Corner, and this blog to custom domains recently. Earlier I used free BlogSpot blogs. Though I wanted to shift to a custom domain, I didn’t have much idea about that. On the other way, my free Blogspot blog ranked well and attracted good traffic daily. So I was scared of losing those things I earned hardly during more than 2 years of blogging. Anyway, after reading a lot, I understood that shifting to a blogger custom domain is not very difficult and it does not cost much money.
I never knew anything about domain name registration. This is why I spent more time on reading different blog posts about domain name registration and choosing a domain name provider. Those posts were really helpful for me to make a great decision. I never regret of buying custom domains for my blogs and I have many reasons for that.
Reasons for moving to a custom domain
Here are a few reasons that helped me to decide to move my blog to a custom domain. If you still use a free blog, I think these reasons may help you to make a decision.
1) Your free blog can vanish anytime
This is the first and most important reason that made me change from Blogspot to a custom domain. Though I don’t violate any terms and conditions set up under Blogspot, my blog can be removed by Google at any time for violation of its terms. (maybe for a reason of which I am not aware of). How would I feel if I could not find my blog when I got up the next day? I know I can’t bear it. Once I found this reason, I quickly checked on how to shift to a custom domain. Other than this reason, below are some other benefits of using a custom domain for the blog.
2) Custom domains rank well in search engines and are good for SEO
Having your own custom domain will increase your website’s ranking in search results. You will gain good exposure in search engines, due to the fact that search engines like to index domains rather than subdomains like Blogspot, WordPress, etc. My recent posts such as this 3D2N Bintan Itinerary and 3D2N Batam Itinerary rank well in search engines bringing me more web traffic.
3) Give yourself a true web presence.
A custom domain is helpful in establishing your brand as a blogger. It is easy to remember.
ex: yourbrand.com is short and memorable rather than having yourbrand.blogspot.com or yourbrand.wordpress.com etc
In addition to being memorable, .com domains are widely recognized and trusted by internet users. This trust can increase your site’s credibility and make it easier for visitors to find and return to your blog. Investing in a custom domain is a small step that can make a big difference in your online presence.
4) Easy to monetize the blog
If you plan to monetize your blog, it is better to have a custom domain. Most advertisers prefer a custom domain and don’t accept subdomains.
5) It is easy to afford a custom domain
It is cheap to buy a domain name for one year and mostly it costs around $10.If you are a less techy person like me, then you will be afraid of shifting to another domain because of other factors like losing content, subscribers, etc.
However, it is really easy to set up a custom domain through blogger. Blogger will host the custom domain for free and we only need to buy a domain name. Interestingly, blogger will re-direct all the previous posts in your old blog to a new custom domain. If you plan to buy a custom domain GoDaddy is an option
Though there are other sites to buy a domain name, I used GoDaddy as it is one of the sites mentioned by google on their help page. There is a post about how to use a custom domain for the blog.
I hope the above information is useful if you decide to shift to a new custom domain. Wait for my next post on tips on selecting a domain name and how to set up the blog from blogger to Custom domain.
What is your idea about a custom domain? or still, you are in a free domain like Blogspot? Please leave a comment.
I've been using custom domain quite long ago. Still there's no guarantee on anything because I lost my blog for 5 days because of the renewal set-up. That said and with overloading of info, the domain stills belongs to you. Wherever you buy your domain does not really matter because blogger is the host.
Thanks for visiting my blog, I would love to follow you too! Followed you now on GFC, waiting for your follow back now!
didianadi.blogspot.mx
love your blog! it's so fab! mind following me (via GFC and bloglovin')? Ill give you a cookie (and a follow back hehe)
aziaanderson.blogspot.com
Thank you so much for following me dear, just started to follow you on GFC, bloglovin' and Google+.
Kisses, Ana
http://xoxocitygirl.blogspot.pt
Thanks for sharing,thats something i need to consider
Wanna follow each other via gfc & bloglovin
Kisses
followed you back dear !!!
keep in touch !
xoxo
http://www.mychoicebysorana.blogspot.ro