Many of you perhaps already know that you can utilize the Blogger blogging platform, but on your own domain. It's a free service which Blogger provides, except for the cost of the domain. Their service allows you to use their drag and drop widgets the same as you use now if your blog is on Blogger, but you must own or purchase a domain.
Blogger provides the ability to either purchase the domain from within your Blogger dashboard, or utilize an existing domain name you already own. You simply select which option is applicable to your situation. If you're wanting to migrate your Blogger blog from the .blogspot address, all you need to do to get started is to access your Blogger dashboard, watch this video for switching to a custom domain on blogger, or follow these simple steps below:
Step 1. From your Blogger dashboard, select the Blogger blog you wish to redirect to your own domain.
Step 2. Select the tab titled, "Publishing" as illustrated here in Blogger Buzz.
Step 3. Under the publishing tab, select "Custom Domain".
This is where you will have the option to purchase a new domain, or to utilize one you already have established. If you purchase a new domain from Blogger (Google) they are currently $10.00 a year, but you would also gain access to Google Apps too!
If you already own the domain, select "Switch to Advance Settings", which is where they provide you with step by step instructions on how to use a custom domain for your Blogger blog.
Why would you want to consider a redirect from your Blogger blog to your own domain using their blogging platform? There are many good reasons. First and foremost is the ease of switching your Blogger blog over to your own domain.
Secondly, it's a great option for those of you who wish to have your own domain, but do not want to mess with ftp (file transfer protocols) and cpanel responsibilities that come with a hosted domain. Finally, the third reason is the fact that you will not have to deal with any hosting fees since Blogger will host the redirect to your own domain without a charge for a host service!
As Blogger says,
"We'll continue to host all your content as before, but it will be displayed at your new address."
If you have a Blogger blog and like their platform, but hate the "blogspot" part of your name perhaps this might be the right solution for your blog. I'm giving it some consideration for two of my blogs.
I hope this information is helpful to you! Happy blogging! 
I just purchased a domain today. And logging in to my domain account, I was able to forward the site to my blogger blog (or at least that is what I thought I did). Anyway, the Blogger navigation bar is still there. What am I doing wrong? And which resources should I read to get my blog name and key words picked up by search engines?
Hi Beverly,
The Blogger navbar will remain on your site, if you have your blog hosted through Google. I believe their policy requires the navbar to remain if you are using their free hosting. If however, you hosted your blog through a different host, then you are supposed to be able to remove the Blogger navbar if you wish. In regards to getting your blog picked up by search engines, it can sometimes take several weeks before the Google spider finds your site as well as other search engines. It also takes time after you have written many posts to get your site ranked for specific keywords. You might want to read some of our posts here in regards to keywords. I hope that is of help to you!
Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Akex,
I certainly could be wrong, but here's my understanding of Blogger's policy for their nav bar (Navigation Bar for those who don't know what "Nav Bar" is). If you are using Blogger's free hosting for your blog, even if you have your blog on your own domain then yes, you do still have to comply with Blogger's policy to show the nav bar.
However, if your blog is hosted by another provider other than Blogger, then you are able to do away with the Blogger nav bar. Having your blog hosted for free by Blogger is the tradeoff for complying with their nav bar policy.
Their policy is perhaps different from what my understanding is, so you will want to refer to their terms of service for the correct information.
Thank you for your comment!
do you still need to comply with nav bar if you bought your own domain?
Hi Happy,
The only cost involved with using Blogger on your own domain is just the annual charge for the domain itself. That is, unless you select to use a host for the domain other than Blogger's free hosting.
The cost of a domain itself is only around $10.00 a year or less, depending on where you purchase the domain. When I set my two blogs up on my own domain I bought the domain at the same time through Google, using the Blogger platform dashboard option to do so. That was $10.00 through a Google partner. Purchasing the domain from within the Blogger dashboard was the easiest route to go since the domain is already pointed to their servers. So, for only $10.00 I rolled my existing blogspot blog onto my own domain! Total cost for both my blogs was of course $20.00 for the domains. In less than 15 minutes my blog was moved from the old blogspot address to my own domain! It was a very easy process!
The other option as mentioned above is to use the Blogger platform on your own domain, but hosted elsewhere. That is where you would incur more charges though, which would be a monthly amount or annual charge, and that varies quite a bit depending on what host you would go with.
For me, I decided I could live without ftp access for the two blogs I switched over to my own domains from a blogspot address, so it made sense to use Bloggers free hosting. If however, you want ftp access, and if you do not want to have to comply with Blogger's policy to display their ugly Navbar at the top of your site, then you will need to pay for hosting your domain somewhere other than Blogger.
Long explanation, but I hope that answers your question! Thank you for reading my article.
that sounds good. would you know how much would that cost?