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Troubleshooting Domain Verification Issues by DNS Provider

Overview

Written by Ardy Parto

What's Happening

ViralSweep uses SendGrid to send emails on your behalf. To verify your domain, it requires three CNAME records in your DNS. Verification failures are almost always caused by a provider-specific formatting or settings issue — not a problem with ViralSweep itself. Find your DNS provider below for the exact fix.

Symptom: The Sender Authentication panel shows ❌ “Your domain is not validated yet” after clicking Verify Domain.

Cloudflare

The orange cloud (proxy) icon on your SendGrid CNAME records in Cloudflare is intercepting DNS lookups and returning a Cloudflare IP instead of the expected SendGrid value. Switch all three records to DNS only.

Log in to Cloudflare → select your domain → DNS → Records

Find these three CNAME records: em5213, s1._domainkey, s2._domainkey

For each one: click Edit → change the cloud icon from orange → grey (DNS only) → Save

Return to ViralSweep → Sender Authentication → click Verify Domain

⚠️ All three records must be grey. Missing even one will cause verification to fail.

GoDaddy

GoDaddy automatically appends your root domain to the Name field. Entering the full CNAME host (e.g., em123.yourdomain.com) creates a duplicate entry that fails validation.

The fix:

  1. Log in to GoDaddy → Domains → Manage DNS for your domain

  2. In the Name field, enter only the short prefix: em123, s1._domainkey, or s2._domainkey — not the full domain

  3. In the Value/Points To field, paste the CNAME target exactly as provided — do not modify it

  4. Save each record, wait 5–10 minutes, then click Verify Domain in ViralSweep

⚠️ If the Name field shows em123.yourdomain.com after saving, delete the .yourdomain.com portion — GoDaddy appends it automatically and entering it manually creates a duplicate.

Namecheap

Namecheap does not auto-append the root domain, but labels its fields differently from other providers. Add records under Advanced DNS.

The fix:

  1. Log in to Namecheap → Domain List → click Manage next to your domain → Advanced DNS

  2. Click Add New Record and select CNAME Record as the type

  3. In the Host field, enter only the short prefix: em123, s1._domainkey, or s2._domainkey

  4. In the Value field, paste the CNAME target exactly as provided

  5. Leave TTL set to Automatic, then click the checkmark to save

  6. Wait 5–10 minutes, then click Verify Domain in ViralSweep

Amazon Route 53

Route 53 scopes records to your hosted zone automatically, so you enter only the subdomain prefix — not the full domain.

The fix:

  1. Log in to AWS Console → Route 53 → Hosted zones → select your domain

  2. Click Create record

  3. Set Record type to CNAME

  4. In Record name, enter only the short prefix: em123, s1._domainkey, or s2._domainkey

  5. In Value, paste the CNAME target exactly as provided

  6. Leave TTL at the default (300 seconds), then click Create records

  7. Wait 5–10 minutes, then click Verify Domain in ViralSweep

Still Failing?

Wait 5–10 minutes — DNS changes need a moment to propagate

Check for duplicate records — remove any extra entries with the same host name

Re-enter values manually — copy-paste can introduce invisible trailing spaces

Need More Help?

Contact ViralSweep support with a screenshot of your DNS records panel showing the current Host/Name and Value entries for all three CNAME records, the DNS provider you're using, and the domain or email address you're authenticating.

Related Articles
Sender Authentication (Domain Authentication)
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