I know the pros of having a personal domain are that it's more memorable and it just looks nicer, but I don't know of any other benefits, so I can't tell if it's worth it.
For one, I don't know who to buy it from. The only place I've heard of is GoDaddy. I've checked it out and it seems like as good a place as any, but I'm not an expert. Plus when you go through the process on their website they offer you to pay extra for privacy because apparently getting a public domain puts all of your personal details out on the internet for everyone to see which seems a little terrifying! (and honestly, why am I on the interent - it's a terrifying enough place as it is).
Speaking of money, I don't know if it's totally worth that cost. I mean, who knows how long I'll be blogging for? I feel I've been pretty dedicated these past 2 years and I can't envision myself writing book reviews for so many years to come, but I can never know if my life will change (at which point I don't know what to do because I think you pay yearly for a domain and idk if it's something you can just stop).
Plus in these 2 years I've only gained under 100 blog followers across bloglovin', feedburner, google+ and hellobar. Don't get me wrong - I'm so proud of the things I've done with this blog in that time given that I've never really been a computer/internet person, and I love discussing books with fellow bloggers so so much! I have never done this for the number of followers (I'm not a very social person IRL or on the internet and I've always been okay with that), but I just don't know if anyone will notice if I change my domain, ya know? 😂
So to my beautiful fellow bloggers: what were your experiences with getting a custom domain (or deciding not to get one)? Where did you buy your domain from and how did you get it all working? (consider me an utter computer novice). And finally, have you felt that getting a custom domain was worth it, and why?
Honestly, I don't think there are benefits other than it looks more professional and is easier to remember. But people can still find blogs pretty easily just by Googling if they forget anyway or by subscribing. And if you're worried you might want to stop paying for it---you can pay by the year and stop when a year runs out, but I don't know what'll happen to any links that have been created to your blog. Idk if they'd reroute to the URL with the blogspot in it or vice versa. So you might want to look that up before deciding :-) Oh, and I use namecheap for my domain. I've never had a problem with them. Here's my affiliate link if you want to check them out: http://www.namecheap.com/?aff=41314
ReplyDeleteThank you Kristen! Yeah I had my doubts over there being that many benefits other than what you said. I hadn't thought of links but thank you for pointing that out - I'll definitely look into it. I think I'll ponder on buying a domain a little more for now, but I'll check out namecheap and I'll absolutely use your affiliate link if I go for them :)
DeleteSo, I don't think there are like, a TON of benefits other than what you said, but I know that mine was only like, $8 a year when I was using blogger- so it was worth it for such a small price, for me. I think the only real drawback is like Kristen said- that if you decide not to continue, the links would probably not work anymore. Like- when you switch from blogger's domain TO a custom domain, those WILL reroute. But not vice versa. That was never a problem for me because I switched to WordPress while I still had my domain, but I figure it's like this- You'd probably keep paying (since it's such a small amount!) as long as you were blogging, and then if you weren't blogging anymore... would you even care about a few broken links? Your blog will still work and everything, it'll just revert back to this blogger domain.
ReplyDeleteAs for setting it up, it's pretty easy! There's a spot in Blogger to just put in the info (which you'll get from whoever you buy your domain from!) and I never had any issues. You just have to make sure you update Bloglovin and your email subscription- though it will redirect anyway, so if you don't do it immediately it won't be a huge problem!
And yeah, for me it was worth it- I liked having my own domain, made me feel more "legit", though I know it isn't true, and I have never judged anyone else for having a blogger domain, but it just made me feel fancy ;) And what else can you buy for $8 that makes you feel fancy? Good luck, and if you need any help, feel free to reach out!!
Thanks Shannon! A couple of places I've looked at were asking for something like £15 a year and then another £5 extra in order to not put my details out on the internet for all to see which was quite a lot. But I definitely haven't done too much looking so I'm sure I'll find something at a lower price as you said which will feel more worth it. Links were something I hadn't even thought about but I agree - broken links wouldn't be too much of a bother if I stopped blogging.
DeleteI think I'm like you in that I mainly want to do have my own domain to feel fancy! Although I know plenty of incredible blogs that still have the .blogspot and I'm realising it's not vital to a successful blog.
I'll take a little more time and think about how important having my own domain is to me, but if I need help I'll definitely reach out, thank you <3
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