Step 2: Change DNS from GoDaddy to Cloudflare

Owned by Brent Meriwether (Unlicensed)
Sept 16, 2021
3 min read

In this step we will modify our domain in GoDaddy so that instead of using GoDaddy’s DNS services, our DNS for the domain will point at Cloudflare.

We will continue to use our example of freeiot.io as our custom domain which already exists within GoDaddy.

  1. After adding your site into Cloudflare, you will be shown the nameserver screen which shows you the two DNS nameservers to use going forward. Make sure you have these now before proceeding.

    Tip: If you closed this screen already, or you need to refer to it again, you can find this same information shown on the Overview screen in Cloudflare.

  2. Within your GoDaddy account, select the domain for your app (freeiot.io in our example) and select DNS to take you to the DNS Management screen.

  3. Under Nameservers, select the Change button.

  4. If prompted, select Enter my own nameserver (advanced). This will allow you to specify which nameservers to use.

  5. Enter the two nameservers provided to you by Cloudflare and Save the changes.


    Note: After saving the change, you may notice that GoDaddy continues to show the old DNS information for a while. It seems to take a little bit before the correct information is shown in GoDaddy after this change. Eventually, you should see the correct Clouldflare DNS servers shown and a note that DNS is being managed externally.

  6. If you haven’t already done so, switch back to Cloudflare and complete the setup. After clicking Done, check nameservers you may be prompted to configure security and speed settings for your website – make sure this is set to Full and click Done.

After finishing the DNS configuration, you should wait a little bit to allow for both Clouldflare and GoDaddy to synchronize the changes. This process normally happens quickly, but could take a little bit for everything to propagate.

You may want to restart your browser before running this check. Browser side caching is very aggressive when it comes to DNS, typically even if DNS propagates in minutes, the browser cache would take much longer to expire (your browser would still be using the IP address discovered before the changes).

When it appears the changes are synchronized, double-check that your website and services are working normally (in the case that you have a domain being used by your customers). If everything is working normally, you can then proceed with the final step, which is finally adding your white label subdomain so that your app works.