Web for Small Business

How to use your own domain with a TypePad blog

Posted on 09. Oct, 2009 by Catherine in Blogging

TypePad lets you use your own domain name for your blogs so that when someone types in www.yourdomain.com they actually see the content at yourdomain.typepad.com while still thinking they are at www.yourdomain.com. To do this, you need to do something called “mapping” your domains.  

We recommend using NameCheap.com as they are cheap and reliable. They also have a good reputation for being ethical. We will be using NameCheap in these instructions. We will also just be showing you how to map a normal domain that is not currently hosting anything, not subdomains.

Step 1: Access the Domain Mapping Section

In your Site Access tab in your Control Panel, click on the Domain Mapping link.

Read through the Important Requirements carefully. In summary, you need to have a domain name registered, you need to be very careful with your settings and you need to make sure your domain “resolves” first before setting the domain mapping to active (more on this last point later).

If you have any trouble or are confused, you should contact your domain registry. 

Step 2: Begin Domain Mapping

When you’re ready, hit “Begin Here: Map a Domain Name”

Step 3: Enter your registered domain address

You will get a pop up that asks you to enter your domain name – this is the domain name that you registered eg www.yourdomain.com – hit “Get DNS settings”.

Step 4: Read your Recommended DNS Settings

TypePad will look up your domain details and give you the recommended settings for your domain name.

Here is an example:

Leave this page open – you will need to set up your CNAME record at your domain registrar before proceeding.

Step 5: Set up your CNAME record at your domain registry

All registries have their own conventions for the following steps. We will demonstrate with our recommended domain registry, NameCheap but if you are with another registry, it’s likely to be different. If you are unsure what to do, it’s best to contact your registry for advice as they will know what to do.

In NameCheap, select Manage Domains to get to your domain management panel.

Find your domain name and click on it.

Once in your domain’s management, look for the Host Management section in the lefthand side column.

Click on “All Host Records”

Find “www” in the Host Name column, replace the contents of its IP Address/URL field with the “Points to:” address that TypePad gave you in Step 4. In the example this is “commerceshop.typepad.com”.

Find the “@” in the Host Name column, replace the contents of its IP Address/URL field with the “Domain” address that TypePad gave you in Step 4. This is your domain name with the “www” tacked on. In the example this is “www.commerceshop.com”.

It should look similar to below (obviously with your own domain names substituted):

Once you’re satisfied that these match with TypePad’s instructions, hit “Save Changes”

Step 5: Return to TypePad

Once you’ve done this, return to your open TypePad window from Step 4 and click “Complete Final Step”.

Step 6: Choose which blog you want mapped

You now have to choose which blog to map your domain name to. Some TypePad accounts let you have multiple accounts, all mapped to different domain names if you wish. 

If you just want your domain mapped to your main account which should also be your main blog then keep it at the default “My main site”.

But if you have more blogs, you can map a different blog by selecting “My weblog” and finding it in the dropdown.

You can also map your domain name to a photo album.

Hit “Add Domain” and you will get a confirmation screen which you can read then close.

Step 7: Wait until your domain name is mapped on the registry side

It can sometimes take 1-2 days for the internet to pick up on your changes. You can test this by putting in your domain name (eg www.yourdomain.com) and if you are transferred to your TypePad blog then you know it is working. Often it does take quicker than 1-2 days, but if 2 days have passed and nothing’s happening, contact your domain registry for help.

Do not do the next step until this step is working or else when someone visits your TypePad blog, it will no longer work (they will be transferred to a site that is not your blog like your registry’s holding page or an error page – not a good look!).

Step 8: Activate your domain mapping on TypePad

Back on your Domain Mapping section in your Control Panel, at the end of the page, you will have a list of any blogs you’ve set up or are setting up domain mapping for.

Find your blog and to activate the mapping on TypePad’s end, tick the checkbox for that blog in the “Active” column and then hit “Set”.

Remember to only do this step when your domain name is already goes to your Typepad blog. What this final step does is mean that whenever someone visits your blog they will see “www.yourdomain.com” in their browser address line, even if they typed in “yourdomain.typepad.com”. Typepad will still keep your Typepad address functional and preserve all the links.

(If you need to remove domain mapping for any reason, then you can do this by ticking the relevant Remove checkbox and hitting “Remove”. You will also need to change your settings at your domain registry to point to something else if you don’t want that domain going to your TypePad blog).

Remember 

If you have any troubles with the CNAME instructions, contact your domain registry.

Tags: Blogging, TypePad