A few weeks ago, we introduced a new way of verifying site ownership, making it easy to share verified ownership of a site with another person. This week, we bring you another new way to verify. Verification by DNS record allows you to become a verified owner of an entire domain (and all of the sites within that domain) at once. It also provides an alternative way to verify for folks who struggle with the existing HTML file or meta tag methods.
I like to explain things by walking through an example, so let's try using the new verification method right now. For the sake of this example, we'll say I own the domain example.com. I have several websites under example.com, including http://www.example.com/, http://blog.example.com/ and http://beta.example.com/. I could individually verify ownership of each of those sites using the meta tag or HTML file method. But that means I'd need to go through the verification process three times, and if I wanted to add http://customers.example.com/, I'd need to do it a fourth time. DNS record verification gives me a better way!
First I'll add example.com to my account, either in Webmaster Tools or directly on the Verification Home page.
On the verification page, I select the "Add a DNS record" verification method, and follow the instructions to add the specified TXT record to my domain's DNS configuration.
When I click "Verify," Google will check for the TXT record, and if it's present, I'll be a verified owner of example.com and any associated websites and subdomains. Now I can use any of those sites in Webmaster Tools and other verification-enabled Google products without having to verify ownership of them individually.
If you try DNS record verification and it doesn't work right away, don't despair!
Sometimes DNS records take a while to make their way across the Internet, so Google may not see them immediately. Make sure you've added the record exactly as it’s shown on the verification page. We'll periodically check, and when we find the record we'll make you a verified owner without any further action from you.
DNS record verification isn't for everyone—if you don't understand DNS configuration, we recommend you continue to use the HTML file and meta tag methods. But for advanced users, this is a powerful new option for verifying ownership of your sites.
As always, please visit the Webmaster Help Forum if you have any questions.
