Introduction
Improving email deliverability is crucial for ensuring that your emails reach their intended recipients and are not marked as spam. This guide will show you how to enhance your email deliverability by setting up Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) records for your domain using cPanel.
SPF & DKIM Records:
- Access SPF & DKIM records in cPanel by going to Email Deliverability in the EMAIL section.
- Click “Manage” next to the domain you want to set up.
- The top two sections will show suggested DKIM and SPF records. Click “Install the suggested record” for each to set up the default records.
DMARC Records:
- In cPanel, you can add a DMARC record via the cPanel DNS Zone Editor.
- Open the Zone Editor from the DOMAINS section in cPanel.
- Click “Manage” next to the domain where you want to add a DMARC record.
- Check if there are existing DMARC records listed; you can edit them if needed.
- Click the “+ Add Record” drop-down and select “Add DMARC Record.”
- Click “Optional Parameters” to see all DMARC options.
- cPanel typically defaults to adding a v1 DMARC record (v=DMARC1).
- Configure the following DMARC parameters:
- Policy (p): Defines how email received from your domain is handled.
- Subdomain Policy (sp): Defines how email from your sub-domains is handled.
- DKIM mode (adkim): Defines whether email failing your DKIM policy should be delivered (Relaxed) or rejected (Strict).
- SPF mode (aspf): Defines whether email failing your SPF policy should be delivered (Relaxed) or rejected (Strict).
- Percentage (pct): Defines the percentage of emails from your domain to which your DMARC policy should apply.
- Generate Failure Reports When (fo): Choose when you’d like to receive reports.
- Report Format (rf): Select the report format for your reports.
- Report Interval (ri): Define how often you’d like to receive reports.
- Send Aggregate Mail Reports To (rua): Specify where aggregate reports containing details about received emails and check results should be sent.
- Send Failure Reports To (ruf): Specify where forensic reports containing full email messages that failed DMARC authentication should be sent.
- Click the “Raw” tab to view the actual record that will be added to DNS when you click “Add Record.”
Implementing a DMARC Policy:
- Start with a “None” DMARC policy and the other options set to default. This will allow you to receive reports to check email authentication.
- Gradually increase the percentage of emails checked as you confirm that only spam or spoofed emails are being quarantined.
- Once you’re confident that all genuine emails from your domain are correctly authenticated, switch to a “Reject” policy.
By following these steps, you can improve your email deliverability and reduce the chances of your emails being marked as spam or rejected by recipient servers.