How To Use NameCheap FREE DNS To Set Up Blogger Custom Domain With Registrars That Do Not Offer DNS Management

Recently, Blogger changed how we set up custom domain for Blogspot blogs, now making it compulsory to set up 2 CNAMEs before a custom domain can work with a blogspot address. Out of the 2 CNAMEs, one is the same for all blogger blogs (ghs.google.com) while the other is unique to each blog.


If your domain name registrar does not offer FREE DNS Management, you might find it difficult setting up a custom domain for your blog because you will not be able to edit the zone settings by yourself and even if the registrar have to set it up for you, that means you will have to get the details of the unique CNAME across to the registrar and this might delay things.

If you are stucked with such domain name registrar, do not worry, you can still set up your custom domain by yourself using the Namecheap Free DNS service. The service offers an easy-to-use DNS management console which you can use to fully manage your DNS settings irrespective of where you registered your domain name.

How To Get Started

I will be using www.syskay.com as an example. Syskay.com is a top Nigerian domain name registrar where you can buy cheap domain names in Nigeria but Syskay do not offer DNS management as at the time of publishing this post.

If you did not register your domain name with Syskay, you can still set up up a custom domain for your blogger blog using the Free DNS service of Namecheap if you follow the steps below carefully.

Let's get started

==> Login to your blog, go to settings=> publishing => add custom domain

==> Enter www.yourdomain.com in the box and save.

==> After clicking save, you will see an error message or redirected to a page where you have your two unique records displayed.

==> Copy the details (Name and destination) of the second CNAME quoted in the error message ( IP and value ) ans paste it in a notepad or elsewhere. (Very Important)


==> Go to www.syskay.com

==> Scroll down and click on the "Support" link

==> Use the log in form on the page to log into your Syskay account

==> Click on "Domains", then "My Domains"

==> Click "Manage Domain" next to the domain name you want to configure

==> Click on the "Nameservers" tab

==> Tick the "Use Custom Nameservers"

==> Enter the Nameservers below as seen in the picture above ( You can arrange anyhow)

    freedns1.registrar-servers.com
    freedns2.registrar-servers.com
    freedns3.registrar-servers.com
    freedns4.registrar-servers.com
    freedns5.registrar-servers.com

==> Click the "Change Nameservers" button

==> Go to www.namecheap.com and sign up for a free account

==> Log into your Namecheap account and go to www.namecheap.com/products/freedns.aspx

==> Enter your domain in the form "ogbongeblog.com" and click the "Get DNS" button

==> You will see ".....can be added to our system" as seen in the picture below

==> Click on the "Add DNS Service for Selected Domains" button as seen in the picture above

==> If successful, you should see "Congratulations! Your domain/ sub-domain is added to our DNS service....."

==> Since you have already added their Nameservers to your domain name earlier, you will just have to wait for your domain to be activated. This will take some few minutes.

==> You can follow up with the status here: https://manage.www.namecheap.com/myaccount/hosteddomainslist.aspx

==> Keep checking the page and once the domain is active (indicated by a green "tick" sign under "status"), you can set up the zone records as explained below

NOTE: You will have to be refreshing the page for you to confirm if it has been activated or not.

==> Click on the domain name and you will see a page similar to the one below:

==> In the first box (with host name : @), under IP Address/URL, enter http://www.yourblog.com/

Choose "URL Redirect" as the record type and enter 1800 as the TTL.

==> In the second box (with host name : www), under IP Address/URL, enter ghs.google.com.  (please take note of the dot after the com)

Choose "CNAME" as the record type and enter 1800 as the TTL

Now, go to the "Sub-Domain Settings". Right here, you will enter the name and destination of the second CNAME you copied earlier.

==> In the "Host Name" field, enter the value listed under Name, Label, or Host field of your second CNAME

==> In the "IP Address/URL" field, copy and paste the verification string (xxxxxxxxxxxxx.domainverify.googlehosted.com.) listed under Destination, Target, or Points for your second CNAME. (please take note of the dot after the com)

==> Select CNAME from the "Record type" drop-down menu under "Subdomains Settings" and enter 1800 as the TTL

==> Click Save Changes button at the bottom of the page.

==> Head back to Blogger.com, go to settings=> publishing => add custom domain

==> Click Save to finalize your custom domain setup. If saving does not work, then you’ll have to wait a little while and try again. Saving won’t be possible until the DNS changes have fully updated, and some registrars may take up to an hour or more before that happens.

==> Once it saves successfully, tick the "redirect .yourname..com to www.yourname.com" box. Thereafter,  if you access www.yourblog.com, it should take you to your blogger blog.

That's all.

I hope this helps.

If you have contributions to make, questions to ask or your face some challenges, kindly relay them via the comment form below.

Cheers!

Source : Namecheap Knowledgebase