Domain verification
Good inbox placement with domain verification
Delivering your email marketing to your subscriber’s inboxes is vital in order to maximise your conversions.
Modern spam filters can be quite strict, so as an email marketer, it’s well worthwhile taking the time to be aware of everything that can be done. This really helps to make sure that your lovingly crafted email marketing reaches the inbox of your subscribers.
Background to achieving better email marketing delivery
Modern email marketing software will give you access to everything that you need to make this task as easy as possible. If you are an email blaster user, then be sure to check out our spam score app. This great, easy to use app will run thousands of pre-flight checks on your mailer. In a matter of seconds, you’ll have access to a full report on how inbox friendly your mailer is.
Spam score will identify any changes that you need to make to your mailer, if you have any spam phrases inside your mailer that may trigger a spam filter, then spam score will identify these. This makes Spam score an invaluable tool in determining how inbox friendly your mailer is.
Another important area to cover is verifying your sending domain, in the next section we’ll take a look at what this is and how to do it.
What is domain verifcation?
Verifying your sending domain name is adding a seal of authenticity to your send. It is a way for your recipient’s mail filter to effectively link your company domain name with the identity of the server that you are using to send your email marketing.
Why do you need to verify your domain?
Over the years, mail filters have got very good at identifying emails that look like they are from one person but are really from somebody else. This is primarily to protect against ‘phishing’ - this is an email that looks like it may be from your bank (for example) but is really from somebody else seeking to obtain confidential info by deception.
Whilst it’s great that mail filters are able to stop these messages from being to your inbox, legitimate email marketing messages from trusted senders that you have asked to receive may also be filtered in this way.
When you use email marketing software to send your email marketing, it will appear as being from you, but it is being sent via your software - this being another company effectively. So, to mail filters, your email can display similar characteristics as an email masquerading as somebody else.
If you add sending domain verification, then you are adding a seal of authenticity to your send. This process of verification effectively ties your sending domain to the network used to send your mailer.
This process of verification passes the mail filter’s main security checks - so it’s really worth verifying your sending domain, as it can offer some real deliverability boosts to your email marketing. This, of course results in much better sales conversions; if people are receiving your mailer, they are more likely to act upon it.
How to verify your domain
Verifying your domain is a two step process, it requires adding two pieces of information to the settings for your domain name.
The first is an SPF record - this involves creating a txt record and entering the SPF text supplied by your email marketing software supplier.
The second is inserting a DKIM record, this involves creating a CNAME record in the setting for your site and entering the DKIM information supplied by your email marketing software supplier. In Feb 2024, the standard domain verification requirements are changing.
Email Blaster domain verification guide
At email blaster, we make the process very easy for anyone to do, we have a handy guide that explains what needs to be done and how to add both SPF and DKIM to your domain:
Email Blaster Domain Verification Guide