Domains, delivery and craft
What is DNS?
The system translating a domain name into the server address a browser connects to. Your DNS zone holds the records deciding where the website, the email and the verification tokens point — which is why control of DNS is control of the whole presence.
Also called: Domain Name System · DNS records
The records a small site actually uses
- A / AAAA
- Points the domain at a server’s IPv4 or IPv6 address.
- CNAME
- Points one name at another name, commonly for www or a platform host.
- MX
- Where email for the domain is delivered.
- TXT
- Verification tokens, SPF, DKIM and DMARC policies.
- NS
- Which nameservers are authoritative for the zone.
Why DNS verification beats file verification
A Search Console verification file lives in the site and disappears on a redesign. A TXT record lives in the zone and survives redeploys, platform changes and supplier changes. It is the version that cannot be removed by accident.
Export your zone before changing anything
A full zone export takes a minute and is the difference between a five-minute rollback and an afternoon of reconstructing records from memory. It belongs in every backup routine alongside the files and the database.
Where this is covered in depth
A definition can only go so far. Technical SEO, in the order the problems actually block you covers this properly — 4 minutes, free, no email required.
Who wrote this
Anas Bin Masud builds e-commerce sites and does technical SEO for businesses in the UK, Canada and Pakistan. These definitions come from client work rather than from a content brief — where an entry describes a mistake, it is usually one found on a real site. More about how I work.