DNS Records Explained for Business Owners

By Next Level Web Solutions · 2 October 2026 · 7 min read · Hosting, domains and email

DNS records explained simply: they are the entries in your domain's settings that tell the internet where your website lives, where your email goes and how to prove you own the domain. The four you will meet most often are A and CNAME records for your website, MX records for email and TXT records for verification and email security.

You do not need to become a network engineer. You need to know what each record does, where to find them and how to change them without taking your business offline.

DNS records explained: DNS as the phone book of the web

Computers find each other using numbers called Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, but people remember names like yourbusiness.co.za. DNS, the Domain Name System, is the phone book that translates one into the other.

When a customer types your address, their device asks a chain of DNS servers where to go. The answer comes from the records you or your web developer published for your domain. Each record is a short line with a type, a name, a value and sometimes a priority.

Think of the domain as your business name on a shopfront, and the DNS records as the signs that say "deliveries round the back", "post goes to the PO box" and "yes, this really is our shop". If the signs are wrong or missing, customers and couriers end up in the wrong place.

If you do not yet own a domain, see how to register a .co.za domain.

A and CNAME records for your website

These two records point visitors to your website.

A record. Connects a name to an IPv4 address, for example pointing yourbusiness.co.za to the server where your site is hosted. There is also an AAAA record for the newer IPv6 address format.
CNAME record. Makes one name an alias of another name. For example, www.yourbusiness.co.za can be a canonical name (CNAME) that points to yourbusiness.co.za, or to a hostname given by your hosting platform.

The practical point: your host or website platform will tell you exactly which A or CNAME records to publish. Copy them exactly. A typical setup has the root of the domain pointing one way and the `www` version pointing another, and both should end up showing the same site.

One rule worth remembering is that a CNAME generally cannot sit on the bare root of a domain alongside other records such as MX, which is why the root usually uses A records, or a special alias record offered by some DNS providers.

MX records for email

MX stands for mail exchanger. These records tell other mail servers where to deliver email addressed to you@yourbusiness.co.za. When you use Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, they give you the MX values to publish.

Each MX record has a priority number. Lower numbers are tried first, and higher ones act as backups. Getting these wrong is one of the quickest ways to stop receiving email, so do not mix your old provider's records with the new ones unless the new provider tells you to. Our business email setup guide walks through the full switch.

TXT records for verification and email security

TXT records hold plain text, and they do two important jobs.

Proving ownership. Services such as Google Search Console, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 ask you to add a TXT record with a unique code. If they can see it, you control the domain. This is also how many people verify a site for search reporting. Our Google Search Console setup guide shows one example.
Email authentication. Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) records are both published as TXT records, and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) often is too. They help your messages reach inboxes rather than spam folders. See our SPF, DKIM and DMARC guide for the details.

A domain can have many TXT records at once, with one exception: only one SPF record should exist. Verification TXT records can usually stay in place after verification, and some services check them again later, so do not delete them without a reason.

Where DNS is managed

A common confusion is that records are edited in one place, but your domain is bought in another. DNS is controlled by whichever company runs your nameservers. That might be:

your domain registrar,
your web host,
a separate DNS service such as Cloudflare.

To find out, look up your domain's nameservers using a free online lookup tool, or check the nameserver setting in your registrar's panel. If the nameservers belong to your host, edit records in the host's panel. If they belong to your registrar, edit them there. Editing records in a place that is not your active DNS has no effect, which wastes hours.

Make sure you have your own login for whichever place that is. If an agency or past developer holds the only login, ask for access or a transfer now, before a crisis.

Propagation and why changes take time

When you change a record, the update does not appear everywhere instantly. DNS servers around the world keep copies of records for a period called the TTL, or time to live, so they do not need to ask again for every visit. Until old copies expire, some visitors see the old information and some see the new.

This is what people mean by DNS propagation. In practice:

Many changes show up within minutes to a few hours.
Some take up to a day or two, depending on the TTL and the servers involved.
If you plan a change in advance, lowering the TTL a day beforehand makes the switch quicker.

Do not panic if a change appears to work on your phone but not your laptop. Wait, and check again before undoing anything.

Safe change checklist

Because a wrong record can take your site or email offline, treat DNS edits like a small operation.

Record the current state. Screenshot or export every existing record before you touch anything.
Confirm where DNS is managed, using the nameserver check above.
Change one thing at a time, and note what you changed and when.
Copy values exactly from your provider's instructions, without extra spaces or missing dots.
Do not delete records you do not understand. If an unfamiliar record exists, it may be serving email, a subdomain or a verification.
Choose a quiet time for MX or A record changes.
Test afterwards: load the website, send an email in and out, and check any verified services still show as connected.
Keep the old setup running for a few days where possible, so you can roll back.

If any of that makes you nervous, that is a sensible reaction. We handle DNS changes as part of our hosting and domains work, so see what we offer or ask us to look over your records before you change them.

Frequently asked questions

How long do DNS changes take?

Often minutes to hours, sometimes up to a day or two. The TTL on the old record and the DNS servers involved both affect the speed.

Can I break my site by editing DNS?

Yes. A wrong A record can take your site offline and a wrong MX record can stop your email. Note down existing records first and change one thing at a time.

What is the difference between a registrar and DNS hosting?

The registrar is where the domain is registered and renewed. DNS hosting is where the records are published, which may be the same company or a different one depending on your nameservers.

Do I need to understand all of this to run a website?

No, but you should know where your DNS is managed and that you have a login. That alone prevents most nasty surprises. If you would like help, contact us.

How to Register a .co.za Domain Name
How to register a .co.za domain in South Africa: pick a name, search through an accredited registrar, give owner details and keep control of your domain. (7 min read)
How to Create a Business Email Address
How to create a business email address on your own domain: Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, MX records, verifying the domain and securing every mailbox. (8 min read)
SPF DKIM DMARC Setup: A Business Email Guide
SPF, DKIM and DMARC setup: what each record does, why business emails land in spam without them, and a safe order to add them in your domain DNS. (7 min read)