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Verify Domain Ownership (HTML or DNS)

When requesting an SSL certificate, we might require you verify that you control the URL for which you're requesting the certificate. To do this, we provide you one of two options:

Method How it works
HTML Page Upload an HTML page with content we specify to the highest-level directory of the website for the common name you're using
DNS Record Create a TXT record we specify in your domain name's zone (DNS) file

Which type of verification you can use depends on which type of certificate you're requesting:

Certificate Type HTML DNS
Standard   ✔   ✔
Deluxe   ✔   ✔
Extended Validation   ✔ -
Wildcard -   ✔
UCC   ✔   ✔

Click one of the following links for directions based on the information we emailed you.

HTML Page

You will receive an email from us with a unique identifier, which will be in a line of the email like this:

Your unique ID for these methods is [your unique ID].

Using a file like Notepad (Windows®) or TextEdit (Mac OS®), you need to create a file named your unique ID.html. Inside that document, the only content in it should be one line that is your unique ID. For example, if your unique ID was 12345, the content of your 12345.html file would be:

12345

You then need to upload this file to the highest-level directory of the website for the common name you're using — usually, this is the website's root directory (more info). This should make it accessible by going to http://[your common name]/[your unique ID].html/.

If you run into any issues and your website is hosted with us, view the Troubleshooting Links below.

Once you've uploaded the file and verified it's accessible through a Web browser, use the instructions in the To Verify Your Domain Name section of this article.

Troubleshooting Links

DNS Record

You will receive an email from us with a TXT value you need to create in your domain name's DNS zone file. Adding this TXT record won't impact your website at all; it's something you can only view through a special tool which performs DNS lookups.

You can only create the TXT record through the company whose nameservers your domain name uses. If your domain name uses our nameservers, see Manage DNS .

Use the following information to create your TXT record:

Field What to enter...
Name (Host) Type DZC
Value Enter the entire TXT value we sent you

Once you've created the DNS record, use the instructions in the To Verify Your Domain Name section of this article.

After uploading the HTML page or creating the TXT record, you need to let us know so we can verify your domain name ownership.

To Verify Your Domain Name Ownership

  1. Log in to your GoWebsite account.
  2. Click SSL Certificates.
  3. Next to the certificate you want to use, click Manage.
  4. Next to the certificate you want to use, in the Actions column, click View Status.
  5. Click Check my update.

It can take 5-10 minutes for your verification to complete.

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