Why you need to authenticate your domain:
Major Internet Service Providers (aka ISPs), such as Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft scan incoming emails to check for spam or spoofed email addresses. This scan is looking for records on the from address domain that indicate that the displayed sender is, in fact, the same person who controls the domain. These records include a DKIM signature, as well as the SPF record. In addition to DKIM and SPF, you can further control your domain’s security by publishing a DMARC record.
Instructions for editing DNS records for some popular domain providers are listed at the bottom of this article.
Before you begin
- Custom Domain Authentication is required. The domain of your From Email Address must be authenticated, and must pass the DKIM, DMARC, and SPF tests, before you can continue past the Content step of an email.
- Free email addresses (such as gmail.com, yahoo.com, aol.com, or outlook.com) can not be used as the From Email Address. Use an email address on a domain that you own, and authenticate that domain.
- Using Custom Domain Authentication also eliminates the “via” or “on behalf of” that some email programs show. Additionally, by setting up a DMARC policy, you should expect to see improvement in your sending reputation and inbox delivery.
- In order to set up custom domain authentication, you will need to change some of the settings with your DNS provider. The DNS records are most commonly found where you have your domain registered or hosted.
- If you are not sure how to edit your DNS contact support, or your domain hosting provider
Quick Overview of Process
- Verify Domain in email marketing account
- Creating a CNAME record from the email marketing account and add it to your DNS records at your domain hosting provider
- Return to email marketing account and click authenticate button to finish DKIM setup
- Copy the generated DMARC and SPF records from the email marketing account
- Paste DMARC and SPF records into DNS zone editor
- Test the records in the email marketing account. The test checks the DKIM, then DMARC, then SPF records, and stops at the first one that fails. When all of the records pass, the setup was done correctly.
Verify your domain
Login to your Email Marketing account and go to the account settings page located under Account > Settings.
In the panel titled “Authenticated Domains”. Select Add Domain.
Custom Domain Authentication – DKIM
Custom Domain Authentication requires adding a CNAME to your DNS records at your domain provider.
Creating a CNAME record
After you add the domain, the CNAME record will be shown.
Type: CNAME
Name: fd._domainkey.your_domain.com
Value: dkim.vetsend.com.au
Add this record to your DNS where your domain is registered. If you are not sure how to edit your DNS contact support, or your domain hosting provider.
Once you add the DNS record, you then click the Authenticate button, and the app will confirm that the DNS record is set up correctly and add the domain to the list of authenticated domains.
Changes to DNS records can take up to 24hrs or more. If your domain will not authenticate, wait 1 hour and try again.
Once the domain has been authenticated, the following records will be shown for you to finish setting up your DMARC and SPF records in the Authenticated Domains section. The DKIM CNAME record will also remain visible.
Setting up DMARC
DMARC works with DKIM and SPF to add a stronger custom authentication to your emails. DMARC will increase your deliverability than just using Custom DKIM alone. DMARC consists of 4 parts: Custom Domain Authentication (see above), creating a DMARC TXT record, creating an SPF TXT record and Test DNS Records. All of DNS records are stored in your domain name server or “DNS” server. If you are not sure how to edit your DNS records contact support, or your domain hosting provider.
Creating a DMARC TXT record
You can find the DMARC records in the Authenticated Domains section. An example is below. You must have the CNAME record published first before the other records appear.
Type: TXT
Name: _dmarc.your_domain.com
Value: v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@your_domain.com
Note that your particular system for DNS records may require the trailing dot after (Your From Domain). If not having the dot doesn’t work, try it with the trailing dot.
IMPORTANT: If your domain already has a DMARC record, do not add another one. You do not need to update your existing DMARC record to use this application.
Creating an SPF TXT record
You can find the SPF records in the Authenticated Domains section. You must have the CNAME record published first before the other records appear. Add this text record to your DNS – or update your SPF record to include our MTAS
Type: TXT
Name: @
Value: v=spf1 mx include:mtas.vetsend.com.au ~all
IMPORTANT: If an existing SPF record is already in your DNS simply append the “include:mtas.vetsend.com.au” before ~all and save the record
Forward the DMARC Reports (Optional)
Create a mail forward for dmarc@your_domain.com
If you need to change this mailbox name, that’s fine, just be sure to change the mailbox in the “rua” value of your DMARC record above. If you want to forward it to multiple people, that’s fine too.
Test DNS Records
Changes to DNS records can take up to 24hrs or more. If your tests are not working, wait 1 hour and try again.
Once you have added an Authenticated Domain, you’ll see it listed in a new section under Authenticated Domains. Select Test DNS Records for the domain you want to test. The test will indicate if the DKIM, DMARC, and SPF records have been configured correctly.
The records are tested in order: DKIM first, then DMARC, then SPF. The test stops at the first record that fails, so a later record will not be shown until the records before it pass. Fix the failing record, wait for the DNS change to take effect, and then run the test again.
If all records are setup correctly you’ll see a green checkmark at the top of the results.
For each record tested, red indicates that there’s an issue with that DNS record. Look at the output of the test for the cause of the error. Green indicates that the record is correct.
If you can’t seem to get this to work, contact support for assistance.
A list of popular domain providers:
If your service isn’t listed here, log in to your provider’s site and search their help documents, or contact the customer support team.
GoDaddy: Add a CNAME Record
For CNAME:
In the Name field, enter fd._domainkey
In the Value field, enter dkim.vetsend.com.au
For DMARC TXT record:
In the Name field, enter _dmarc
In the Value field, enter v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@your_domain.com
For SPF TXT record:
If there is already a SPF record present, add this to the Value field include:mtas.vetsend.com.au
If there is NOT already a SPF record present:
In the Name field, enter @
In the Value field, enter v=spf1 mx include:mtas.vetsend.com.au ~all
Amazon Web Services: Configuring DNS, Resource Record Types
Dreamhost: DNS Overview
Hostgator: Manage DNS records
Hover: Edit DNS Record
Namecheap: SPF & DKIM
Squarespace: Advanced DNS Settings
For CNAME:
In the Host field, enter fd._domainkey
In the Data field, enter dkim.vetsend.com.au
For DMARC TXT record:
In the Host field, enter _dmarc
In the Data field, enter v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@your_domain.com
For SPF TXT record:
If there is already a SPF record present, add this to the Data field include:mtas.vetsend.com.au
If there is NOT already a SPF record present:
In the Host field, enter @
In the Data field, enter v=spf1 mx include:mtas.vetsend.com.au ~all
Stablehost: How do I get to cpanel?
1&1: Domain Guidelines