If you need to change your DNS records on Bluehost, you may discover a few things have changed.
During 2023, Bluehost updated its control panel layout, segmenting various domain management settings – and it is not intuitive.
For example, the MX records were relocated to a new lite version of the Zone Editor, which is now found in the CPanel under the Domains menu option.
Furthermore, the visible menu options can vary based on the user, such as those with an “external domain(s)” that is registered with a non-Bluehost domain name registrar:
- Squarespace (which now owns Google Domains)
- Godaddy
- Namecheap
- Domain.com
- Dynadot
An external domain is a domain that is registered with a separate and independant domain name registrar service (e.g. Bluehost web hosting with a domain that is registered with GoDaddy). Thus an internal domain is a domain that is registered with the same web hosting service.
Clinton Byrd – Growth Marketing Expert
Unfortunately, Bluehost Help Center articles focus on users with Bluehost-owned domains, not external ones. This poses a challenge for website administrators for two pressing reasons:
- The transition of Google Domains to Squarespace.
- Google’s latest Email Sender Guidelines.
On February 1, 2024, Google notified Search Console users that they “may lose verification to Search Console after migration to Squarespace Domains.” One method easy method to address this requires implementing a TXT record with a DNS token verification.
And, in February 2024, Google launched stricter Email Sender Guidelines to deter spam, requiring bulk senders to set up DKIM, SPF, and DMARC authentication.
Typically, Bluehost users can configure DNS records in the “Advanced Tools” menu in the Domain tab (as outlined in this Help Center resource). But this menu is only visible when the domain is registered with internal domains! This was confirmed with Bluehost Support.
So in this article, I will explain “How To Manage DNS Records For External Domains On Bluehost” by finding the hidden menu you need in 5 steps.
Select Hosting on the Homepage
To manage DNS records for an external domain on Bluehost, you must access the “Advanced DNS Editor.”
The first step to reaching this menu is to log in to your Bluehost control panel, then click on the “Hosting” menu item in the left panel.
At this Hosting menu, you can identify if you have an internal domain or an external domain.
Select Target Website
At the “Hosting” menu, you should see all websites that you administer on Bluehost. If you manage multiple websites, then you can type into the search field to quickly locate the target property.
Once you located the website that you want to configure DNS settings for, select the “Settings” option.
The next screen will be the overview page for the target domain you want to manage. Here you select the “settings” submenu yet again to reveal the “Domain Name & Site URL” page.
Here you can confirm again that you are in the right domain that you want to manage DNS settings.
Locate Advanced DNS Editor
Of all the steps, this is the most important and trickiest party, which can be easily overlooked:
The link to reach the DNS settings is not in the menu or a Call-to-action button – it is in a subheader description line!
Under this secondary “Settings” menu, you can finally locate and click on the anchor text “Advanced DNS Editor.”
This hidden hyperlink is arguably the most important link on this page – but it is buried inside of submenus!
Manage Your DNS Records
Finally, here you will find the hidden “Manage DNS Records” menu, where all of your DNS management settings reside.
Here you can view, create, edit, and delete your website’s DNS records:
- Address Records (a.k.a. A Records)
- Mail Exchanger Entry records (a.k.a. MX Records)
- Canonical Name Records (C Name records)
- TXT records
- SRV Records
- Nameservers
An important administration section like this should not be buried 5-clicks deep into menus.
And, generally, a click-depth of 5 does not make for an ideal user experience.
Click-depth is the number of clicks required for a user to navigate from the homepage/start menu to a target destination.
Clinton Byrd – Growth Marketing Expert
Not only have I found that 3 or fewer clicks are ideal when optimizing enterprise websites, but this is also a rule of thumb among digital marketing agencies as well.
So, hopefully, Bluehost will move it somewhere more convenient, where advanced website administrators can easily locate it.
If you are tech-savvy or have experience with DNS records, then you should be all set now.
If you are interested in more on this topic or to see how to add those DNS records for Google verifications, then feel free to connect with me on Linkedin and let me know!
