Member Avatar for Goldfinch

Hi,

I'm trying to change some DNS records on GoDaddy so the website for a domain name is hosted by a different company but still ensure that the e-mail service that GoDaddy hosts for that domain is not interrupted. I have worked with the basics of Name Servers and NX records before but I am cloudy on how to do this.

Thank You.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Pcdoctor_1

Dani AI

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As described, the goal is to point the website to a new host while leaving GoDaddy to continue handling the mail. is right to think in terms of separate records for web and mail, and correctly pointed to GoDaddy docs for the mechanics. Below are two robust workflows (one simple, one needed only if you must change nameservers), plus practical checks and a small example zone.

Keep GoDaddy DNS (recommended, simplest)

  • Leave the domain's nameservers pointed at GoDaddy so the zone remains authoritative there.
  • Note every current mail-related record (all MX, any TXT/SPF, DKIM, DMARC, SRV and Autodiscover entries).
  • Reduce the TTL (if allowed) 24–48 hours before changes (eg. 300s) to speed propagation.
  • Change only the web records: update the apex A record and/or the www CNAME as your new host requires. Do NOT change MX/TXT records. Verify the new host has the domain added to its control panel and that SSL is configured if needed.
  • After propagation, raise TTL back to your normal value.

Move nameservers (only if required)

  • Copy every email-related record exactly to the new DNS provider before switching NS at the registrar. If you don’t, mail will stop.
  • Beware: you cannot place a CNAME at the zone apex; use an A, ANAME/ALIAS, or the host’s recommended method.
  • Once copied, verify MX and TXT from the new DNS before changing NS, then check again after the NS change.

Quick checks and an example (replace placeholders with real values):

; example zone (placeholders)
@     A     203.0.113.45
www   CNAME @
@     MX    10 mx1.mailprovider.example
@     MX    20 mx2.mailprovider.example
@     TXT   "v=spf1 include:mailprovider.example -all"
# verify
dig +short A example.com
dig +short MX example.com
nslookup -type=TXT example.com

Troubleshooting notes: send a test message from an external account, use dig/nslookup from different networks, and check mailbox login at GoDaddy. If unsure, copy the mail-records first and test; that approach is lowest-risk.

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Member Avatar for rproffitt

I let this stew for a day so I'm not going to get into actual record formats but comment on what a DNS does.

In short it takes an English (or words) and turns them into the IP address of the server. So let's go with your site is currently at goldfinch.com.
Why not put in a record for email.goldfinch.com and another for your web servers (www.goldfinch.com and goldfinch.com)?

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