Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
We realize that your domain and domain name are important elements of your
organization.
Your domain name serves as part of the e-mail address you and others within
your organization
use on a daily basis.
It helps to ensure that sensitive, confidential, and private email finds the
right individual within your organization.
Because your domain is important, verifying it is a necessary step in
setting up your Google Apps account.
Verifying your domain does two things. First, it allows us to validate that
you own your domain and therefore have the ability to modify any DNS or
Domain Name System settings.
Secondly, it helps ensure that no one else can use your domain with a
different Google Apps account.
In order to complete the domain verification process, you'll need the
following information:
The username and password you defined when creating your Google Apps account,
and the username and password you use when signing in to your domain providers
account.
Your domain provider is the online site where you first purchased your domain
name.
There are a number of ways to verify your domain,
but the most common and easiest method
is to create a TXT or text record.
To use this method
you'll need to complete these three easy steps.
First, from your Google Apps administrator control panel. or C-Panel,
you'll access a site that provides you with a unique Google Apps security token to
copy.
Next, you'll log into your domain providers website and paste the token into a new
text record that you'll create and save for your domain.
Lastly, you'll go back to the previous site and check for a successful
verification.
In this video we are using a domain purchased from a domain provider which
may be different from the provider you used to purchase your domain.
It's important to mention
because every domain providers' web application interface is different,
and they sometimes name things differently.
If you have questions about your domain provider's site,
we suggest you view the help provided by your provider or contact them directly
for assistance.
So, let's verify your domain!
Sign in to your Google Apps account
by entering www.google.com
slash a slash yourdomain.com into the URL field.
Just replace yourdomain.com with your domain's name.
For the purpose of this video, will be using a domain called mygappsdomain.com.
For the purpose of this video, will be using a domain called mygappsdomain.com.
On the login page,
enter the username and password you created
after signing up for Google Apps for Business.
To begin the verification process, click Setup.
This brings you to the Google Apps setup sizard area of your control panel.
The Google Apps setup wizard is designed to walk you through the steps to set up
your Google Apps account.
To get started,
make sure you are on the Welcome section of the wizard so the verify domain
ownership step is visible.
Select this step and click Next.
Click Next again to begin the verification process.
Note that this step temporarily removes you from the Google Apps setup wizard
and displays a new webpage.
In this site, click Alternate methods.
Select Add a DNS record your domain's configuration.
Click the instructions menu to view a list of domain providers for which we
provide specific instructions on verifying your domain.
We highly recommend that you follow the instructions for your particular domain.
If your domain provider is not listed,
choose Other, to instead see generic step-by-step instructions.
The main domain provider for our domain, mygappsdomain.com,
is GoDaddy.com.
So we'll choose that to view our instructions.
Next, copy your unique security token.
You will need this information later
when you access your domain provider.
Log in to your domain provider
using the username and password you initially used when you purchased your
domain.
In our case, a direct link is provided.
If you forgot your username or password,
please follow your provider's instructions to recover this information.
Note that your domain provider's web interface will look different,
and their login section may be located in a different area. They may also use a
different name for the section such as
Control Panel Login,
Customer Login, or Customer Area.
After logging in, access the management control panel.
Some providers will send you directly to their domain control or management panel.
In our case, we'll click My Account,
and then Launch in the Domains row to access the panel.
From the panel, select the domain that you will be using for your Google Apps
account.
Next, access the DNS setting section.
In GoDaddy,
access the DNS settings by clicking Launch located below the DNS Manager
section.
Remember,
every domain provider has a similar section, you will just need to locate it.
Depending on your provider,
this section may be called DNS Administration,
Domain Management,
Domains and DNS,
DNS Settings,
Configuration, or Zone File Editor as it is in GoDaddy.
Also note that some providers may also require premium access to manage and
modify DNS settings.
If this is the case for your provider, please contact them to gain further
access.
Now we can add a text record to our DNS settings.
Some providers will first ask you to add a record,
and then select the record type.
In our case, we'll click on Add Record and select TXT, or text, as the record type.
Depending on your provider,
you may need to enter information in a few fields.
In our case, they are the TXT Name or hostname, the TXT Value,
and TTL or time to live value.
In the TXT Name field,
you can leave this field blank,
enter your domain name,
or, depending on your provider, insert a default value like the at symbol.
In the case of GoDaddy,
use the at symbol. The at symbol automatically refers back to your domain
name as the hostname.
The TXT value field holds the key information needed to verify your domain.
Paste the unique security token you copied earlier into this field.
For the TTL value, keep the default value or select the smallest value
provided.
Note that this field might not be available for some domain providers.
Ff your provider doesn't have it,
don't worry about it.
It's not needed.
In our example, will keep the default value of one hour.
To complete the process,
save your changes.
Depending on the provider, you may be asked to validate the modification.
In our example, we'll click OK,
and then click Save Zone File.
One or more confirmation messages will generally display. Click OK to close the
confirmation messages.
Make sure the security token appears as expected in your DNS settings table.
Here we can see the TXT value under the TXT section of our DNS
settings table.
Finally,
please keep in mind that the creation of the your DNS records may take between one
and twenty-four hours depending on your provider.
Return to Alternate methods instructions tab
and click Verify.
Click Continue to return to the Google Apps setup wizard to begin setting up your
users and groups.
Congratulations!
You just verified your domain.
If you need to use an alternate method to verify your domain,
please visit this page.
Thank you for choosing Google Apps for Business.