Sooner or later a service will ask you to "verify your domain" before it lets you manage something. Apple Business Connect asks before you can edit your Apple Maps listing, Google Search Console before it shows you search traffic, and Facebook and Bing ask as well.
All of them want a TXT record added to your domain's DNS. It's a short line of text, something like:
apple-domain-verification=0RaNdOm1LeTtErS2aNd3NuMbErS4
Only someone with the password to your domain can add that line, which is why these services accept it as proof. The service generates the value, you paste it into your DNS, and it goes looking for it.
ECA can't add this one for you
Your ECA site runs on your domain, but your DNS still lives wherever you bought the domain: Porkbun, Namecheap, GoDaddy, Cloudflare. That account controls which records exist, and ECA has no key to it.
So this one is a few minutes in your registrar's dashboard, about five clicks once you know where to look.
Step 1: get the record from the service
Whoever asked for verification will show you a value (the long random string) and sometimes a host or name. Copy the value exactly. Extra spaces, quotes you add yourself, or a character trimmed off the end will all make it fail.
Leave that tab open. Most services expire the code if you take too long. Apple gives you 14 days.
Step 2: add it at your registrar
Log in to wherever you bought your domain and find DNS settings:
| Registrar | Where to go |
|---|---|
| Porkbun | Domain Management → Details (far right) → edit icon next to DNS Records → Add Record |
| Namecheap | Domain List → Manage → Advanced DNS → Add New Record |
| Cloudflare | Websites → your domain → DNS → Records → Add record |
| GoDaddy | My Products → your domain → DNS → Manage DNS → Add |
Then fill in three fields:
- Type:
TXT - Host (some call it Name): leave blank on Porkbun, or type
@on Namecheap, Cloudflare, and GoDaddy. Both mean the domain itself, with no subdomain in front. If the service gave you a specific host like_dmarc, use that instead. - Answer (some call it Value, or Content): paste the string from step 1.
Save it. Leave TTL alone if you're asked; the default is fine.
Step 3: check it, then click verify
Give it a few minutes. Most registrars publish the change in under 30, though DNS can take longer.
You can confirm it's live before you hand it back to the service. Go to dnschecker.org, pick TXT from the dropdown, type your domain, and look for your string in the results.
Then go back to the service's tab and click its verify button.
Two things that trip people up
Don't overwrite a TXT record that's already there. Some churches already have one for email, starting with v=spf1. A domain can hold many TXT records at once, so use your registrar's Add button and leave the existing record alone. Editing the email one can stop your church email from being delivered.
Your website keeps working. A TXT record is text sitting in a lookup table. It can't affect the A and CNAME records that point your domain at ECA, so your site, your giving page, and your links stay exactly as they are.
If verification keeps failing
- Re-copy the value from the service and compare it character by character. A truncated paste is the usual culprit.
- Check you didn't add the record to the wrong domain, easy to do if you own more than one.
- Some registrars wrap the value in quotes automatically. If yours shows
""apple-domain-verification=...""with doubled quotes, remove the pair you pasted. - Wait longer. An hour is normal at some registrars, and a few take most of a day.
About Apple Maps specifically
If your church is already on Apple Maps and you're claiming the existing listing, you may not need DNS at all. Apple can call the phone number on the listing and read you a four-digit code, or accept a document like a utility bill in your church's name at that address. For most churches one of those is quicker than editing DNS.
The TXT record is what Apple falls back to when it can't reach you by phone, or when you're setting up a brand-new listing.