Organically | Web Creative with Organic Potential

GoDaddy DNS Configuration Guide

Point organicallyseo.com to GitHub Pages

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🎯 Overview

You’ll configure DNS records to point your GoDaddy domain to GitHub Pages servers.

What you’re doing:

• Apex domain (organicallyseo.com) → GitHub Pages IPs
• WWW subdomain (www.organicallyseo.com) → GitHub Pages URL

Time to propagate: Usually 10-30 minutes, up to 48 hours maximum

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📋 Prerequisites

• GitHub Pages is enabled and working (test at username.github.io/repo-name)
• CNAME file is in your repository root
• Access to GoDaddy account with domain organicallyseo.com

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🔧 Step 1: Access GoDaddy DNS Management

1. Log in to GoDaddy.com
2. Click My Products (top right)
3. Find organicallyseo.com in your domains list
4. Click DNS button (or the three dots → Manage DNS)

You should see the DNS Management page with existing records.

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🗑️ Step 2: Remove Conflicting Records (If Webflow)

If you’re currently using Webflow, you’ll have these records:

Delete These Records:

• A Record pointing to Webflow IP (like 75.2.70.75)
• CNAME Record for www pointing to Webflow (proxy-ssl.webflow.com)

How to Delete:

1. Find the record in the list
2. Click the pencil icon or three dots → Delete
3. Confirm deletion

⚠️ WARNING: Your website will go down briefly until GitHub Pages DNS is configured!

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➕ Step 3: Add GitHub Pages A Records

Add FOUR A records (for redundancy and speed):

A Record #1

Type:     A
Name:     @ (represents your root domain)
Value:    185.199.108.153
TTL:      600 (or 1 hour / default)

A Record #2

Type:     A
Name:     @
Value:    185.199.109.153
TTL:      600

A Record #3

Type:     A
Name:     @
Value:    185.199.110.153
TTL:      600

A Record #4

Type:     A
Name:     @
Value:    185.199.111.153
TTL:      600

How to Add:

1. Click Add or Add Record button
2. Select Type: A
3. Name: @ (this means root domain)
4. Value: Paste the IP address
5. TTL: 600 or leave default
6. Click Save
7. Repeat for all 4 IP addresses

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🔗 Step 4: Add WWW CNAME Record

Add a CNAME record to redirect www.organicallyseo.com to your main domain:

CNAME Record

Type:     CNAME
Name:     www
Value:    YOUR-GITHUB-USERNAME.github.io
TTL:      1 Hour (or 600)

Replace YOUR-GITHUB-USERNAME with your actual GitHub username!

Example:

• If your GitHub username is ryan-organically
• Value should be: ryan-organically.github.io (no http://, no trailing slash)

How to Add:

1. Click Add button
2. Select Type: CNAME
3. Name: www
4. Value: YOUR-USERNAME.github.io
5. TTL: 1 Hour or 600
6. Click Save

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✅ Step 5: Verify Configuration

Your DNS Records Should Look Like This:

Type	Name	Value	TTL
A	@	185.199.108.153	600
A	@	185.199.109.153	600
A	@	185.199.110.153	600
A	@	185.199.111.153	600
CNAME	www	YOUR-USERNAME.github.io	1 Hour

Other Records to Keep:

• TXT records (for domain verification, email, etc.) - Keep these!
• MX records (for email) - Keep these!
• NS records (nameservers) - Don’t touch these!

Only delete/modify A and CNAME records related to your website hosting.

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🕐 Step 6: Wait for DNS Propagation

Expected Timeline:

• 10-30 minutes: Most DNS servers updated
• 1-2 hours: Usually fully propagated
• 24-48 hours: Maximum time (rare)

Check Propagation Status:

Option 1: Use DNS Checker

1. Go to https://dnschecker.org
2. Enter: organicallyseo.com
3. Select: A record type
4. Click Search
5. Look for green checkmarks showing GitHub IPs

Option 2: Command Line

# Check A records
nslookup organicallyseo.com

# Should show GitHub Pages IPs:
# 185.199.108.153
# 185.199.109.153
# 185.199.110.153
# 185.199.111.153

# Check CNAME for www
nslookup www.organicallyseo.com

# Should show: www.organicallyseo.com is an alias for YOUR-USERNAME.github.io

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🔒 Step 7: Enable HTTPS on GitHub Pages

After DNS is fully propagated (wait at least 30 minutes):

1. Go to your GitHub repository
2. Settings → Pages
3. Under Custom domain: Should show organicallyseo.com ✅
4. Check the box: ✅ Enforce HTTPS

Note: SSL certificate provisioning can take up to 24 hours.

If HTTPS Checkbox is Grayed Out:

• DNS not fully propagated yet - wait longer
• CNAME file missing from repo - check it exists
• Domain verification failed - re-enter domain in GitHub settings

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🧪 Testing Your Setup

Test These URLs (After DNS Propagates):

# Root domain (should work)
http://organicallyseo.com
https://organicallyseo.com

# WWW subdomain (should redirect to root)
http://www.organicallyseo.com
https://www.organicallyseo.com

# Pretty URLs (should work without .html)
https://organicallyseo.com/seo
https://organicallyseo.com/web-design
https://organicallyseo.com/blog

What to Expect:

1. First, HTTP will work (http://organicallyseo.com)
2. Then HTTPS will work after GitHub provisions SSL certificate
3. www subdomain should redirect to non-www (or vice versa)

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🐛 Troubleshooting

“This site can’t be reached” or DNS errors

Causes:

• DNS not propagated yet → Wait 30-60 more minutes
• A records typed wrong → Double-check IPs match exactly
• Old DNS cached → Clear browser cache, try incognito mode

Solutions:

# Flush DNS cache (Windows)
ipconfig /flushdns

# Flush DNS cache (Mac)
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

# Flush DNS cache (Linux)
sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches

“Not Secure” Warning (No HTTPS)

Causes:

• SSL certificate not provisioned yet → Wait up to 24 hours
• DNS not fully propagated → Check dnschecker.org
• “Enforce HTTPS” not enabled → Enable in GitHub Pages settings

Solution: Be patient! SSL can take time. Use HTTP temporarily.

WWW Not Working

Check:

• CNAME record exists for www
• Value is YOUR-USERNAME.github.io (not organicallyseo.com)
• No typos in GitHub username

GitHub Pages Shows Wrong Site

Check:

• CNAME file in repository contains only: organicallyseo.com
• No extra lines, spaces, or www. prefix
• File is named exactly CNAME (uppercase, no extension)

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📊 DNS Configuration Checklist

• Logged into GoDaddy DNS Management
• Removed old Webflow/hosting A records
• Removed old Webflow/hosting CNAME record for www
• Added 4 A records (185.199.108.153, .109., .110., .111.)
• Added CNAME record for www → YOUR-USERNAME.github.io
• Saved all changes in GoDaddy
• Waited 30+ minutes for propagation
• Tested organicallyseo.com in browser (HTTP works)
• Enabled “Enforce HTTPS” in GitHub Pages settings
• Tested https://organicallyseo.com (HTTPS works)
• Verified www.organicallyseo.com redirects properly

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🔄 Reverting to Webflow (Emergency)

If something goes wrong and you need to go back to Webflow temporarily:

1. GoDaddy DNS: Remove GitHub A records
2. Add back Webflow A record: 75.2.70.75
3. Add back Webflow CNAME for www: proxy-ssl.webflow.com
4. Wait 10-30 minutes for DNS to propagate

Note: Only do this if GitHub Pages deployment fails completely!

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📞 Additional Resources

GitHub Pages Custom Domain Docs: https://docs.github.com/en/pages/configuring-a-custom-domain-for-your-github-pages-site

GoDaddy DNS Help: https://www.godaddy.com/help/manage-dns-records-680

DNS Propagation Checker: https://dnschecker.org

SSL Certificate Status: https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/

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🎉 Success Criteria

Your setup is complete when:

✅ organicallyseo.com loads your GitHub Pages site ✅ www.organicallyseo.com redirects or works ✅ HTTPS works (green padlock in browser) ✅ Pretty URLs work (/seo instead of /seo.html) ✅ All images, CSS, and JS load correctly ✅ No mixed content warnings

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Last Updated: 2025-11-07 Status: Ready for DNS configuration