Moving from Blogger to WordPress : The How-to Guide Part 1

Computer How To Guide used to be a Blogger blog with the URL : http://computerhowtoguide.blogspot.com. Now it is a self-hosted WordPress blog with a new URL of : http://www.computerhowtoguide.com. Readers will be automatically redirected to the latter if they clicked on the old URL.

Moving from Blogger to WordPress : The How-to Guide

Moving from Blogger to WordPress

Today, I’m going to share my experience of moving from Blogger to WordPress in a step by step guide based on my own case in the hope that it will serve as a reference for those who are planning for such a move. This guide is a bit long and I will be separating it into Part 1 and Part 2. I assumed everyone who needs this guide is a newbie hence, I will try to explain every single step as detail and clear as possible. Let us begin.

[Read also : Blog Transition In Progress]

Purchase A Web Hosting Plan

Yes, you need to choose and purchase a web hosting plan. I took advantage of Cyber Monday 50% off promotion and purchased a 1-year hosting plan from HostGator. HostGator is one of the most famous and highly recommended web hosting providers around. If you are into self-hosting your blog, give HostGator a try and you’ll be amazed by the services they provided. They’ll even try to assist you in helping you to migrate from Blogger to WordPress.

Since there’s no more Cyber Monday deal, if you would like to purchase a web hosting plan from HostGator, use my Coupon Code to get a 25% discount.

25% discount Coupon Code : computerhowtoguide. Purchase HostGator web host here.

Purchase A Custom Domain

Your next step should be to purchase a custom domain. I strongly suggest you to purchase via the Blogger platform simply because it is fast and easy. Just log in to your Blogger, click > Settings > Publishing > Custom Domain

buy custom domain

Login to Blogger

On the next page, enter your desired custom domain name to check its availability. I strongly suggest that you try to use the name of your blog as domain name if possible. If the domain name is available, you will then be directed to the payment page to make your payment, just follow the easy instructions from there onwards to enter all your payment details and get your new custom domain registered. You will then be charged $10 and your new custom domain is registered with Godaddy for 1-year. HostGator also provides custom domain registration during your purchase of their web hosting plan but they charge $15 for this. So use Blogger to register a custom domain if you would like to save $5.

check custom domain availability

Purchase a custom domain

Access Google apps

Once you’ve done registering a custom domain, you will be sent an email by Google to allow you to access Google apps. Log in to your Google apps account and look for the link ‘domain names’ as shown in the image below. Click > domain names.

Google apps page

Google apps page

On the next page, click > Advanced DNS settings.

Advanced DNS settings

Click on ‘Advanced DNS settings’

After that, you’ll be brought to a page showing you your GoDaddy control center log in information. Write these information down and click > Sign in to DNS console. You will then be directed to the GoDaddy Domain Control Center log in page.

Sign in to DNS console

Click on ‘Sign in to DNS console’

GoDaddy Domain Control Center

Enter your Sign-in name and Password, log into your GoDaddy Domain Manager page and click on your domain name as shown below.

Godaddy Domain Manager

GoDaddy Domain Control Center

On the following page, click > Set Nameservers.

Set Nameservers

Click on ‘Set Nameservers’

Next, a Set Nameservers window will pop out. Enter the Nameserver 1 and Nameserver 2 details accordingly as shown below. Please refer to your web hosting service provider for details on Nameserver 1 and Nameserver 2. For HostGator users, you can easily get this details by logging in to your HostGator cPanel.

enter Nameservers

Redirecting your Nameservers

After entering Nameserver 1 and Nameserver 2, click > OK and your new custom domain will be pointed to your web hosting server very soon (although they said it will take around 24-48 hours, mine got pointed almost immediately). To double confirm if your custom domain has been successfully pointed to your web hosting server, you can go to Allwhois.com and enter your domain name to check. After clicking search, scroll down the output and look for ‘Domain servers in listed order’ (refer image below). If the the details matched the Nameserver 1 and Nameserver 2 that you’ve entered previously on Godaddy Control Center, this shows that your domain is now successfully pointed to your new web host.

Allwhois.com

Confirm Nameservers using Allwhois.com

By now, you’ve got a custom domain hosted on your choice of web hosting server (in my case, HostGator). In the next article, I will cover the parts including installing WordPress, Export and Import Blogger, Plugin Selections, the obstacles that I’ve encountered during the transition, how to solve those obstacles and what to do with your Blogger blog after the transition.

Stay tuned for Moving from Blogger to WordPress : The How-to Guide Part 2.

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