Web & SEO
What is DNS records?
DNS records are the instructions stored with your domain that tell the internet where to send traffic: which server serves your website, where your email goes, and which services are allowed to act for your domain.
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Technical definition
DNS records are entries in a domain's zone file that define how the Domain Name System resolves queries for that domain. The types a small business encounters:
- A record: points a domain to an IPv4 address
- AAAA record: points a domain to an IPv6 address
- CNAME record: points a name at another name rather than an address
- MX record: directs email for the domain to a mail server
- TXT record: holds text used for verification and email authentication such as SPF and DKIM
Each record carries a time to live, which sets how long resolvers cache it. Changes take effect as caches expire, which is why propagation is not instant.
In plain terms
DNS records are the forwarding instructions for your domain. One says where the website is. Another says where email goes. They are separate, which is why you can move your site without touching your email.
Why it matters
DNS is where connecting a domain goes wrong, and the failure is unhelpful: the site does not load and nothing explains why.
Three things account for most of it. Changes take time to propagate, so a correct record can still look broken for an hour. Records are separate by purpose, so replacing website records while leaving email records alone is normal and expected. And a stray old record pointing somewhere else will quietly win.
The habit that saves the most trouble: change one record, wait, check, then change the next. Editing several at once removes your ability to tell which one was wrong.
