How to set up a custom domain on Blogger using 1&1

I’ve had a couple of emails lately about how to set up a custom domain on Blogger using a domain name from 1&1. I don’t have much experience with 1&1 having never used them myself but the experience I do have is enough for me not to recommend them to clients.

If you do a quick Google you’ll see plenty of reviews about them and you can decide what’s best for you but I’ve found them to be rather slow and difficult. I always recommend not going for cheap domain or hosting as, amoung other reasons, there tends to be a lack of support.

In saying that I know some of you have already purchased your domain or want to buy something cheap just to test it out, so here is a tutorial for setting up a domain using 1&1. At the time of posting, this is the steps. However domain providers tend to change the process and dashboard a lot so apologies if that happens.

How to set up a custom domain on Blogger using 1&1

If you have purchased a domain from somewhere other than 1&1, I have a general tutorial here on setting up a custom domain on Blogger, why you should and answers to some FAQ and issues.

If you don’t want to mess around with this yourself, you can hire me to do it for you!

Retrieve your details on Blogger

1. Login to Blogger, go to Settings > Publishing > Blog Address. Click on Add a Custom Domain Name.

2. Add Custom Domain Name, add in your new domain name www.domain-name.com and click save.

3. You should now see an error. This gives you the details you need to properly set up your new domain so keep this page open for the next step. The first CNAME is the same for everyone. The second is a specific CNAME for your blog.

blogger-error-custom-domain

4. Open the Settings Instructions in a new tab to refer back to later. Here you can see the settings for a top-level or sub domain. For this tutorial, I’ll be using top-level domain – www.domain-name.com.

If your details aren’t coming up, visit this page on Google Webmaster and click Verification Details beside your domain. At the top, click the drop-down Details and you will see your Host and Points To information there.

Enter your details on 1&1

1. Login to the control panel, scroll down until you see the heading “Domains” and click Domain Centre.

2. Click the checkbox beside your domain and select Domain Settings > Edit DNS Settings.

add custom domain using 1&1 on Blogger

3. Under Basic DNS Settings choose 1&1 name servers, under Advanced DNS Settings choose Other IP address and in the space for IPv4 Address enter 216.239.32.21 and save.

custom domain using 1&1 on Blogger

4. Go back to Domain Overview Dashboard, click Add Domain > Create Subdomain. Enter the first Name/Host/Label field from Blogger, which is www

5. Click on the subdomain and click DNS Settings. Under Advanced DNS Settings choose CNAME and enter the first Destination/Target/Points To from Blogger, which is ghs.google.com

custom domain using 1and1 on Blogger

6. Go back to Domain Overview Dashboard, click Add Domain > Create Subdomain. Enter the second Name/Host/Label field from Blogger, which is unique to you and will look like 00aa0aaaaaa

custom domain on blogger using 1and1

7. Click on the subdomain and click DNS Settings. Under Advanced DNS Settings choose CNAME and enter the second Destination/Target/Points To from Blogger, which is unique to you and will look like gv-a0aaaa0aaaaaa.dv.googlehosted.com

custom domain using 1and1 on Blogger

8. On your domain settings for your custom domain you should now see the URL you bought and two subdomains. We now have to wait for the settings to update. This could take a couple of hours.

Final steps on Blogger

Go back onto Blogger > Settings > Publishing > Blog Address and enter your domain name and hit save. This time there shouldn’t be an error. Make sure to tick the option of redirecting from domain-name.com to www.domain-name.com.

Readers who click on your old-domain-name.blogspot.com URL should be redirected to your new custom domain domain-name.com automatically.

These changes and settings can take up to 48 hours so don’t panic if it’s not working straight away. If it still isn’t working after 48hours, go back through the steps and make sure that everything is correct.

37 Comments

I generally try to not be negative, but I would not recommend 1&1 for domain registration at ALL. They are so, so slow and needlessly complicated to use. Just saying that in case someone comes across this post in trying to decide where to register. NameCheap FTW! But thank you for taking the time to explain the ridiculousness of the 1&1 dashboard.

Thank you, I haven’t used them myself so I don’t know exactly what they are like but found them extremely slow too. Happy to have you share your experience 🙂

By Post Author

I was searching for redirecting the blogger to custom domain and my domain was on 1 and 1 but was not able to.
After going through your post, i’hv done successfully. Thanks for the great help !!

You saved my life !
Was searching for solutions to set my domain name on blogger since an hour and finally i got the best explanation and steps.
Thanks alot.

Thank you so much, I think I have sent myself round the bend in the last two days, I even called up 1 and 1 and they didn’t seem to know what I was on about but you saved me from tearing my hair out! 🙂

Thank you!

Lucy

This tutorial was perfect thank you! I have had a positive experience with 1and1 and would definitely recommend them. Now, I have only specifically ever used them for my domain name purchases, but my experience has been positive.

Thanks for the info. This is the only post on the whole web that makes sense to me as far as Blogger and 1 and 1 domain names are concerned. But I should ask like others: Why do they have to make it so damn complicated?

Thank you for your tutorial. Although it is a bit complicated at first but I can do it. I dont know about others experience but for me no need to wait 48 hours after done setting it on blogger and 1&1.