Why You Need to Validate Your Form Domain

Validating your domain ensures your public forms are securely connected to your domain host and can be served from your branded domain. This improves deliverability, maintains trust with visitors, and ensures form submissions are correctly processed and attributed to your account. Domain validation is specifically required for Unstyled HTML embeds — without it, form submissions using Unstyled HTML will fail and new leads and contacts will not be created or updated in your CRM. Styled HTML embeds do not require domain validation.

Validating your domain also protects your forms from unauthorized usage, bots, and spam submissions by ensuring only approved domains can submit data through Unstyled HTML embeds.

How to Validate a Custom Form Domain

1. Click Settings in the left-hand navigation of your Keap™ account.

   The screenshot below shows the Settings option in the Keap left-hand navigation menu. The Settings option appears near the bottom of the navigation menu as a gear icon with the label Settings.

   

2. Click Domains in the Settings menu.

   The screenshot below shows the Domains option in the Keap Settings menu. The Domains option appears as a row in the Settings navigation list with the label Domains.

   

3. Click the Form domains tab at the top of the Domains page.

   The screenshot below shows the Form domains tab at the top of the Domains page in Keap. The tab appears alongside other domain-related tabs. Clicking the Form domains tab displays the form domain validation settings and any currently connected form domains.

   

4. Click the Connect a domain button.

   The screenshot below shows the Form domains tab with the Connect a domain button visible. The button appears in the upper right area of the Form domains tab. No connected domains appear on this screen before the first domain has been added.

   

5. Enter your Domain URL in the Domain URL field and your Domain Host in the Domain Host field.

   The screenshot below shows the domain entry form in Keap with two labeled fields: Domain URL and Domain Host. The Domain URL field accepts the full URL of your domain. The Domain Host field accepts the name of your domain hosting provider. Both fields must be filled in before proceeding.

   

6. Click the Connect Domain button after entering your Domain URL and Domain Host.

   The screenshot below shows the domain entry form with the Connect Domain button active after both fields have been filled in. The Connect Domain button appears at the bottom of the form.

   

7. Log in to your domain host's DNS settings and create a new TXT record.

8. Return to Keap. Copy the TXT record values provided on the screen and paste each value into the corresponding field in the TXT record you created in your domain host's DNS settings.

   The screenshot below shows the TXT record values screen in Keap. The screen displays the values that must be copied and entered into your domain host's DNS TXT record. Each value is labeled to indicate which field in the TXT record it corresponds to.

   

9. Save the TXT record in your domain host's DNS settings.

10. Return to Keap and click Done to complete the domain validation setup.

    The screenshot below shows the Done button that appears in Keap after the TXT record values have been provided. Clicking Done confirms that you have completed the DNS setup in your domain host and returns you to the Form domains tab.

    

Important: Domain validation can take up to 48 hours to propagate successfully after completing the setup. To check the current status of your domain validation at any time, return to the Form domains tab in Settings and click Check Status next to your connected domain.

The screenshot below shows the Form domains tab in Keap with a connected domain listed. A Check Status button appears to the right of the connected domain row. The status column displays the current validation state of the domain — either pending, validated, or failed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this article cover?

This article covers how to validate a custom form domain in Keap, why domain validation is required for Unstyled HTML form embeds, and how to troubleshoot missing form submissions. This article does not cover validating your email sending domain. Email domain validation is a separate process from form domain validation.

Does domain validation apply to all form embed types?

No. Domain validation is required only for Unstyled HTML embeds. Styled HTML embeds do not require domain validation. If you are using only Styled HTML embeds on your website, you do not need to complete form domain validation.

What happens if I use an Unstyled HTML embed without validating my domain?

Form submissions using Unstyled HTML embeds will fail if your form domain has not been validated. New leads and contacts will not be created or updated in your CRM from those submissions. Validating your email sending domain alone is not sufficient — you must complete the form domain validation process described in this article.

Why am I not receiving form submissions from my Unstyled HTML embed?

If form submissions are not coming through from an Unstyled HTML embed, work through the following troubleshooting steps:

1. Click Settings in the left-hand navigation of your Keap account. Then click Domains and click the Form domains tab.

2. Check whether a form domain is already connected on the Form domains tab.

   • If no domain is connected, click Connect domain and complete the setup steps described in this article.

   • If a domain is connected, proceed to the next step.

3. Open your public form in Keap. Copy the Unstyled HTML code and paste it into your website again, replacing the existing embed code. Submit a test entry to confirm submissions are now working correctly.

4. If submissions are still not coming through after completing these steps, contact Keap Support for further assistance.

How long does domain validation take?

Domain validation can take up to 48 hours to propagate after the TXT record has been saved in your domain host's DNS settings. You can check the current status of your domain validation at any time by returning to the Form domains tab in Settings and clicking Check Status next to your connected domain.