[SOLVED] Blogger Custom Domain Not Opening On Airtel, Glo, And Other Networks

As a blogger, getting a custom domain name is one of the most important things you must do if you want to add value to your blog. A custom domain name will give your blog a professional look and can also have a massive impact on your SEO.

However, getting a domain name is not enough, you need to ensure that your blog is accessible to all Internet users in every part of the world irrespective of the type of device, the Internet service provider (ISP), or network being used. 

Those using WordPress don't have an issue in this aspect, the Blogspot users are the ones having work to do. Unlike WordPress, connecting your new custom domain name to your blogger or Blogspot blog alone without using a third-party DNS will cause your blog not to be accessible on certain networks or internet service providers (ISPs).

In Nigeria, Airtel and Glo are examples of such internet service providers that throttle communication with Blogger/Blogspot blogs. This can only be solved by changing your DNS setting to the Cloudflare server (a third-party DNS server).

The Cloudflare network helps improves site performance and speeds up loading time by using multiple data centers that are located around the world. It acts like a giant VPN. It speeds up web requests from browsers by redirecting them to the closest server in that region and delivers the response (webpage) within the barest minimum time. 

How To Make Blogger Custom Domain Open On Airtel, Glo, And other ISPs

Now, let's discuss how this issue can be solved using Cloudflare. 

First of all, you need to activate HTTPS on your blog, to do this, open your blogger.com dashboard, locate Settings from the navigation menu, and click on it. Thereafter, click on Basic from the settings menu and scroll down to locate "HTTPS Availability" and "HTTPS Redirect", turn on both by setting "Yes" in both settings. 

Once that is done then you're good to proceed to the next step which is the Cloudflare aspect. Now, this is going to be in steps: 

Step 1: You need a free Cloudflare account, to sign up, visit the Cloudflare sign up page. Fill the form and submit by clicking "Create Account"

Step 2: To complete your sign up, a verification mail will be sent to your email address, you can then proceed to verify by checking your mailbox for the mail. 

Step 3: After activating your account with the above step, you will be directed to the Cloudflare dashboard where you'll be required to provide your blog URL. After inputting your URL, click "add site" to proceed to the next step

Step 4: Here, you're required to select a Cloudflare plan. From the list, select the "FREE" plan and click Confirm plan to proceed

Step 5: Now, Cloudflare will fetch and display DNS records from your domain registrar. All you need to do is to toggle ON (turns yellow when on) all the records status that are available for that action. Leave the rest without editing any other thing and click Continue to proceed to the next page

Step 6: Here, your current nameservers, and a new set of nameservers by Cloudflare that you're expected to change to will be displayed. Copy the Cloudflare nameservers and proceed to your domain registrar client area

Step 7: Depending on the domain registrar you're using, I use Garanntor.ng, For Garrantor: 

• After Login, your Client Area will be displayed 
• Here, you'll see "Domains" as shown below

• The list of your registered domain names will be displayed as shown below

• Now, move to the right end of the domain you want to edit and click on the small downward arrow 
• 'Manage Nameservers' and other options will pop up as shown in the below image
• Choose Manage Nameservers and the below page will be displayed

Here, you can now change your default nameservers to that of Cloudflare by choosing "Use custom nameservers" and pasting each of the two nameservers in Nameserver 1 and Nameserver 2 respectively.

Having done all these, then you can now wait for your changes to take effect. Be aware that this propagation process can take up to 24 hours which is the time it takes all servers across the web to update the latest DNS information or changes.

Also Read: 5 Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a Blogger Template

You can be checking your URL at intervals to know if the propagation process has been completed. once it's completed, HTTPS will be added to your address and a padlock icon will appear near your address on your chrome browser. You can now load your site with any of Glo, Airtel, or any other ISPs that you've been finding difficult to browse your blog with before.

Conclusion

You never can tell the tons of traffic you lose from different parts of the world daily due to this mess, so it's advisable you take a few minutes of your time and apply the above steps to put an end to the unnecessary traffic loss. 

In case you have any challenge implementing any of the above steps, you can drop a comment in the comments section, and we'll respond as soon as possible. 

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