DNS Records Explained for Website Owners

DNS records are the instructions that tell the internet where your website, email, and other services actually live. Get them right and everything works invisibly. Get them wrong and your site goes down, your emails vanish, and you spend an afternoon questioning your life choices.

I'm Chris… been building websites long enough to have broken DNS more times than I'd like to admit. This is the guide I wish someone had handed me earlier.

What are DNS records?

At their core, DNS records are instructions stored in the Domain Name System — basically the internet's address book. When someone types your domain (like yourbusiness.co.uk), DNS records tell the internet where to go and what to do next.

Think of it like this:

No records = nobody gets served.

What DNS records do I need for a new website?

If you're setting up a brand new site, at minimum you need an A record pointing your domain to your hosting server's IP address, and an MX record if you're using a custom email address. If you're on a platform like Webflow or Shopify, you'll typically also need a CNAME for the www subdomain. That's genuinely all most small business websites need to get started.

DNS record types — quick reference

Record TypeWhat It DoesCommon Use CaseA RecordPoints domain to an IP addressConnecting your domain to your web serverCNAMEPoints one domain to another domainwww subdomain, Webflow/Shopify connectionsMX RecordRoutes email to your mail serverGoogle Workspace, Outlook setupTXT RecordStores text-based verification dataSPF, DKIM, DMARC, domain verificationNS RecordPoints to your DNS providerDelegating DNS management to Cloudflare etc.

The key DNS records in plain English

A Record (Address Record)

The bread-and-butter one. It points your domain directly to an IP address — the server where your website lives.

Example: yourdomain.com → 192.0.2.1

If your site isn't loading, this is the first place to look. Wrong IP = dead website. Simple as that.

CNAME Record (Alias Record)

This one says: "Don't look here, go over there instead." It points one domain or subdomain to another domain name.

Example: www.yourdomain.com → yourdomain.com

Useful for connecting to services like Shopify, Webflow, or any SaaS tool that needs a subdomain pointed at them. Common mistake: people try to use a CNAME on the root domain. Not all DNS providers handle that properly… and the ones that do often cause other headaches.

MX Record (Mail Exchange)

This tells email where to go. Routes incoming messages to your mail server — whether that's Google Workspace, Outlook, or something else.

Mess this up and your emails either disappear into the void or never arrive in the first place. Neither is great for business, funnily enough.

TXT Record

The "miscellaneous drawer" of DNS. Stores text-based data used for verification and security — SPF, DKIM, DMARC, domain verification for Google or Meta.

Classic pitfall: people copy-paste TXT values with extra spaces or missing quotes. DNS is not forgiving. It will silently fail and ruin your day.

NS Record (Name Server)

This controls who's in charge. Points your domain to the DNS provider managing all your records.

If your NS records are wrong, none of your other records matter. It's like putting the wrong postcode on your business — everything else becomes irrelevant.

What's the difference between an A record and a CNAME?

An A record points your domain directly to a numerical IP address. A CNAME points it to another domain name instead, which then resolves to an IP. A records are more direct and slightly faster. CNAMEs are more flexible — useful when the IP behind a service might change, because you only need to update it in one place. You can't use a CNAME at the root domain level on most providers… use an A record there.

How long does it take for DNS to update?

Depends on your TTL (Time To Live) setting. With a default TTL of 24 hours, changes can take up to a day to fully propagate worldwide. The expert move: lower your TTL to 300 seconds (5 minutes) before making any changes. Then the internet stops caching the old info much faster, and your update goes live in minutes rather than hours.

How professionals actually think about DNS

DNS isn't "set it and forget it." It's more like: set it, test it, wait, question your life choices, then test it again.

Always know who controls your DNS

This sounds obvious. It's not. Your DNS could be managed by your domain registrar, your hosting provider, or a service like Cloudflare. Classic chaos scenario: client says the website's down, you log in, wrong DNS panel, panic begins. Document where your DNS lives. Future you will be grateful.

Small mistakes = big problems

DNS is brutally literal. Wrong IP? Site down. Missing dot? Doesn't work. Extra space? Broken. No warnings, no friendly error messages. Just… nothing. This is exactly why the technical foundations of your site matter more than most people realise — DNS is the foundation of the foundation.

Use DNS as a control layer

Professionals don't just use DNS to "point things." They use it to switch servers with minimal downtime, route traffic through CDNs, manage email deliverability, and verify services securely. It's less "settings page" and more "control panel for your entire online presence."

How to check your DNS records

The quickest way: use a free tool like dnschecker.org or MXToolbox. Type in your domain and you'll see every active record, what it's pointing to, and whether it's propagated globally. Worth bookmarking — you'll use it more than you expect.

If you're migrating to a new host or switching platforms like from WordPress to Webflow, checking your DNS at each stage is what keeps the site online through the transition.

Common beginner mistakes (that still happen all the time)

DNS doesn't reward guesswork. It punishes it.

Why is my DNS not working?

Nine times out of ten it's one of these: the A record is pointing to the wrong IP, the NS records are pointing to a DNS provider you're no longer using, a TXT record has a stray space or missing character, or you just haven't waited long enough for propagation. Start with the A record and NS records — get those right first before touching anything else.

A simple mental model

DNS records are instructions that tell the internet where your stuff lives. When something breaks, it's usually because those instructions are wrong, missing, or pointing somewhere they shouldn't be.

Treat it with a bit of respect, double-check your changes, and maybe don't make big DNS edits five minutes before logging off for the day.