[New post] Your Own Domain Address on WordPress.com? Absolutely!

Your Own Domain Address on WordPress.com? Absolutely!

Sara Rosso | June 14, 2011 at 5:07 pm | Tags: upgrades, WordPress.com | Categories: Customization, Domains, HowTo, Upgrade | URL: http://wp.me/pf2B5-1Te

Here at Automattic we feel really lucky to be able to interact with so many WordPress.com users through our awesome Happiness Engineers in Support, meeting WordPress users and lovers at various global WordCamps, and even Matt runs into WordPress users when he's on a plane (is there a better way to get Support? We think not. But let him sleep a little).

One of the most common questions we answer is, "Can I have my own domain on WordPress.com?" The answer to that question is a resounding YES!

We are happy to give you a free website at WordPress.com (something like anyaddress.wordpress.com) but if you want to also use your own domain, you can do that very easily.

You don't need to create another site - you simply need the inexpensive Domain Mapping Upgrade. In layman's terms, domain mapping just means pointing example.com to your anyaddress.wordpress.com site, so when your friends visit example.com they will see your super-cool site hosted at WordPress.com, and example.com will remain the visible address.

That's it!

It doesn't matter where you registered your domain - you can still map it to your WordPress.com site. Check out How to Map an Existing Domain.

Still need to get a custom domain? You can do it all through WordPress.com. Check out How to Register and Map a New Domain.

Have a domain already, but want to put your WordPress.com site on a subdomain (like blog.example.com)? We can do that, too. Read How to Map a Subdomain.

After you map your domain, make sure you Update the Primary Domain to your shiny new personalized domain so when people visit your example.com site, that's the address that stays visible in the address bar. Instructions for doing that are in each of the above posts, or you can find it under Upgrades > Domains on that blog's dashboard after you've completed the domain mapping process.

Oh, and we're not jealous, either. If you ever decide to transfer the site off WordPress.com, you can take your domain with you, too. Check out How to Transfer a Domain and if you prefer one of our super talented Happiness Engineers to move your entire website for you to a self-hosted WordPress solution, check out Guided Transfer.

Spread the Word!

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