E-mail providers such as Gmail, Outlook and Yandex want to verify that an incoming e-mail was really sent from your domain. If it cannot be verified, your e-mail goes to the spam folder or is not delivered at all. Since 2024, Gmail and Yahoo require these records, especially for bulk senders.
1. SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
A TXT record that lists which servers may send e-mail on behalf of your domain.
Example: v=spf1 a mx ~all
- Plesk and cPanel add a default SPF record when the domain is created.
- If you use Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or a newsletter service (Mailchimp etc.), add their
include:value to the same record. - A domain should have only one SPF record. Two separate records make SPF completely invalid.
2. DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
Adds a digital signature to every e-mail you send. The receiving server checks this signature against the public key in DNS.
- Plesk: Mail > Mail Settings > domain > select Use DKIM spam protection system to sign outgoing email messages.
- cPanel: Email > Email Deliverability, check the DKIM status and install it with Install the suggested record.
3. DMARC
Tells receiving servers what to do with e-mails that fail SPF or DKIM. It is added as a TXT record named _dmarc.
Recommended starting record: v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com
If you see no problems for a few weeks, you can switch to p=quarantine.
Other causes
- Words like "FREE" or "YOU WON" in the subject line, or too many capital letters
- E-mails made only of images with very little text
- Shortened links (such as bit.ly)
- Sending the same e-mail to many recipients at once (use a newsletter service for bulk mail)
- The server IP address being on a blacklist (open a support ticket in this case)
How do I test it?
Send an e-mail to the address shown on mail-tester.com. It shows your score and missing records in detail. A score of 9 out of 10 or higher is good.
