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Email That Delivers: SPF, DKIM and DMARC

Why does email from your domain land in spam? Usually missing authentication. SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are DNS records that prove your mail really comes from you. Correct records improve deliverability, but nothing guarantees the inbox.

Updated

When email from your domain lands in spam, the usual cause is missing authentication. SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are three DNS records that prove to receiving mail servers that a message really came from you. Correct records improve deliverability. Nothing guarantees it, and anyone who promises the inbox is overpromising.

The three records in plain words

  • SPF is a public list of the servers allowed to send email for your domain. A receiving server checks the sender against that list, and mail from a server not on it looks forged.
  • DKIM adds a digital signature to every outgoing message. The receiving server verifies the signature against a key published in your DNS, which shows the message came from your domain and was not altered on the way.
  • DMARC is the policy on top. It tells receiving servers what to do with mail that fails SPF or DKIM, such as quarantine or reject it, and it can send you reports about who is sending as your domain.

What correct records do, and do not do

Section 8 of the Terms of Use states it exactly: email deliverability is not guaranteed, and correct SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records improve it but do not guarantee it. Receiving providers weigh many signals, including sending history and content. Authentication removes the biggest self inflicted reason to be filtered; it does not buy placement.

Where the records live

All three are DNS records on your domain, so changes follow the same rules as any DNS change and can take up to 48 hours to propagate. See DNS changes and propagation. If your email runs on our hosting, every plan includes unlimited email accounts, and the records need to match the servers that actually send your mail.

If mail from your domain keeps going to spam, contact us: checking SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is the natural first step. What Your Hosting Includes covers the email side of the hosting plans.

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