Setting up custom subdomain links makes it easier to share links to specific pages on your website or to other sites (off your domain) that are an important part of your business. If you own a domain for your website, you can easily set up free subdomains to point just about anywhere – your store, a social media site, your podcast… the sky’s the limit. And best of all, it’s really easy to do!
A subdomain looks like this:
subdomain.yourwebsite.com
The advantage is that it’s much easier for you to say out loud and for your readers to remember than a longer domain (like the domain for your TeachersPayTeachers or Etsy store).
Step by Step Subdomain Setup for Blogger
The directions vary a little depending on where you purchased your domain and whether or not you have a self-hosted WordPress site. This tutorial is for Blogger blogs or anyone else not on a self-hosted WordPress site.
I’m going to use GoDaddy for this example since it’s the domain registrar I personally use and one of the most popular. If you use a different registrar, you will just look for the same or very similar settings in your account.
Log in to your GoDaddy account. Click your name in the top right and choose Manage Domains.
You will see a list of all your domains. Click the three dots beside the name of the domain you want to work with. Choose Manage DNS the menu that appears.
On the Manage DNS page, scroll all the way to the bottom and look for the Forwarding section. Click Add beside Subdomain.
Type in the subdomain you’d like to use. For example, if you’re linking to your store, you’d type “shop.”
Select either http:// or https:// to match what appears in the URL you are forwarding to. (Most sites today use https://) Paste in the complete URL you want to forward your subdomain to, leaving off the https:// at the beginning.
The forward type should be Permanent (301) and the Settings should be Forward only. Click Save.
You’ll get a notification that your redirect will be effective shortly. I’ve found that it is usually almost immediate but may vary depending on your browser. Give it up to 24 hours to update before panicking! (And don’t panic then either… It’ll usually work itself out quickly.)
Using your new subdomain
You can use this subdomain link anytime you want a shorter, easy to remember link for your store, social media, etc. It’s great for business cards or for sharing in videos and on podcasts, where your followers need to remember and type in the URL instead of copying and pasting.
Added bonus, if you’re on a mobile responsive Blogger design, your template will automatically populate a cute little shopping cart icon anytime you use a URL with the word “shop” in it on your social media links!
