DNS setup for your blog

Find where your DNS is managed

Use this guide when RankYourApp asks you to connect a managed blog at blog.yourcompany.com. DNS records tell other services how to reach and verify that hostname. Your website builder, domain registrar and DNS provider can be different companies. Use the provider that manages the domain's current authoritative nameservers; ask your domain administrator if you cannot identify it.

In RankYourApp, open Connect your own blog domain and request the records for your own blog hostname. You do not need to create a Cloudflare or registrar API key for this setup. You add the records in your provider's dashboard. Managed blog setup

Copy the records shown for your domain

Keep RankYourApp's domain setup open while editing DNS. Add every record it displays, including ownership or certificate-validation records when shown. Names and values are specific to your installation; examples from another customer's domain will not work.

Cloudflare

1. Open the domain in the Cloudflare dashboard and go to DNS → Records.
2. Choose Add record and select the type shown by RankYourApp.
3. Fill in the record name and content or target, then save.
4. Repeat for each record shown during your setup.

Cloudflare has a separate proxy setting for eligible records. Follow any instruction shown for your installation; do not change proxying across your whole domain. If your domain was added through a hosting partner, Cloudflare directs you to manage DNS through that partner. Cloudflare's official DNS instructions

Choose the Cloudflare proxy setting for the blog

For a normal customer-owned domain in a separate DNS zone from RankYourApp, use DNS only on the blog routing CNAME for the straightforward setup. Keep the exact CNAME target shown in RankYourApp. Other DNS providers do not have Cloudflare’s orange-cloud switch.

In Cloudflare, open DNS → Records, edit that blog CNAME, set Proxy status → DNS only and save. TXT records are always DNS-only. A CNAME used only for ownership or certificate validation must also remain DNS-only; it is different from the CNAME that serves the blog. Cloudflare’s proxy and verification-record guidance

If you deliberately proxy the blog CNAME through your own Cloudflare account, it becomes an Orange-to-Orange connection to RankYourApp’s hosting. That is a different routing choice, not a requirement to turn on proxying for your entire website. Check DNS, HTTPS and the public installation after any such change. Cloudflare’s O2O explanation

Do not copy the proxy settings of an internal RankYourApp test hostname, a verification record or your main website. They can follow different routing rules. If HTTPS or verification still fails, send support the exact hostname and error before changing unrelated DNS or security settings.

Namecheap

1. Sign in to Namecheap and open Domain List. Click Manage next to your domain.
2. Open Advanced DNS, find Host Records and click Add New Record.
3. Choose the record type shown by RankYourApp, such as TXT Record or CNAME Record.
4. Enter the requested host without the selected domain suffix. For blog.yourcompany.com under yourcompany.com, enter blog; for _rankyourapp.blog.yourcompany.com, enter _rankyourapp.blog.
5. Enter the exact supplied value or target and save the record. Repeat for every record shown in setup.

These controls apply to Namecheap BasicDNS, FreeDNS or PremiumDNS. With custom nameservers, edit records at that DNS provider instead. Namecheap’s official host-record steps · Namecheap’s TXT creation and saving instructions

GoDaddy

In GoDaddy's Domain Portfolio, select the domain, open DNS, then choose Add New Record. Select the required type, enter the name and value from RankYourApp and save. GoDaddy's CNAME Name field takes the prefix without the domain: a record for blog.yourcompany.com uses blog when your selected domain is yourcompany.com. Complete any account identity check GoDaddy requests.

Use the TXT type for a TXT verification record; do not turn it into a CNAME. GoDaddy's official CNAME instructions · GoDaddy DNS record types

Domains purchased through Bolt

1. Open a Bolt project, click your profile icon at the top right, then Settings.
2. Open Cloud and find the domain in Custom domains.
3. Open the domain row’s three-dot menu and choose Open domain settings.
4. Click Add new record, choose the required type, enter the host and value shown by RankYourApp and click Save.
5. Repeat for each record and return to RankYourApp to check the live domain.

Bolt documents these creation steps for domains purchased through Bolt. An externally registered domain may need editing at its actual DNS provider. Keep the records for your existing website; resolve any hostname conflict before adding the blog records. Bolt’s official DNS record guide

DNS managed by your website platform

• Bolt-purchased domain DNS
• Wix-managed DNS
• Shopify-managed DNS
• Squarespace-managed DNS

Use those dashboards only when they manage your DNS. Hosting your website on Webflow or another builder does not by itself make that builder your DNS provider.

Verify DNS, HTTPS and the installation

After saving all records, return to RankYourApp and click Check DNS, HTTPS and installation. Keep following the displayed reason until the card shows Live domain verified and Open live blog. If the records are not visible yet, recheck the DNS provider and allow its update to complete before checking again.

Open the live HTTPS blog from a signed-out browser. Add that exact live address to your website navigation using your platform's guide. Finish any remaining setup check before publishing starts. The temporary rankyourapp.io/blogs/ preview cannot activate your company blog.

Avoid common record mistakes

Check for a wrong DNS account, an extra domain suffix in the record name, a missing validation record or a CNAME value containing a page URL. If the provider reports a conflicting record at blog, establish what currently uses it before replacing anything. An existing blog needs a migration decision, not an unexplained DNS replacement.

Keep your main website, email and unrelated DNS records intact. Keep the blog's required records while it uses that hostname. Do not reset the entire DNS zone to fix one record. If validation remains pending, send support the hostname and exact error message; credentials are not needed.