Tech Tuesday: Taking the Dot Com Plunge

You see that? Up there in my address bar? It says "www.katydidandkid.com" and not "katydidandkid.blogspot.com". That, dear readers is the key to shaving seconds off of your blogging time. I mean, you know how long it takes you to type that "blogspot" word in whenever you're referencing your blog!

All kidding aside, I finally went to a dot com address. I feel so legit, and it really wasn't hard at all. It cost me $10, or actually, it cost Mr. Geek $10 back in April when he bought the domain name for my birthday.

Google (via Blogger) makes it extremely easy to switch over, especially if you buy your domain name through GoDaddy, which they own. You don't even have to go outside of your Blogger dashboard to buy it.

So here's the scoop:
1. Log into Blogger and click on the "Settings" tab.
2. Click on the "Publishing" link
3. You'll see a button that says something like "switch to a custom domain". I should have taken a screen shot prior to writing this, since now that page only shows the option of switching back to the blogspot address.
4. You'll be able to check to see if the name you want is available. If the .com address isn't, it will give you some alternatives that are close to your name, like "katydid_and_kid.com", etc.
5. Then you just follow the instructions once you pick your name, and make sure your credit card is handy.

Also be sure to check the box that redirects the blogspot address to your new one. You don't even have to spend time alerting your readers to the change, since when they visit the old address, they'll automatically get transferred to the new one. It is nice though to let them know, of course.

I didn't even need to update my Feed settings. I just changed my email signature and a few other things and was good to go.

So go on, take the plunge! Join me in dot com land....