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Less Bounce To The Ounce: How To Authenticate Your Email

Published by Pete G. on

I wanted to call this post "Bouncing is for balls, not your emails!" but I chickened out. Here's the deal: Google and others are cracking down on spammy emails. To make sure your emails aren't flagged as spam, you need to make sure that your email authentication settings are set up correctly. There are a few things you need to know. First, let's break down some key terms you might see floating around:

  • DNS: This is the phonebook of the internet. It translates website names into computer addresses.
  • CNAME record: This is like a nickname for your email address.
  • SPF (not sunscreen!), DKIM, DMARC: These are email authentication protocols that help prevent spam and spoofing.
  • ARC: This is like a receipt for your email, showing it wasn't tampered with.
  • TLS: This is like a padlock for your email, keeping it encrypted.

What are the new requirements? Google wants you to do 3 things before you send your marketing and sales email blasts:

  1. Verify your emails: This means having a DMARC pass, proper DNS records, and following best practices for sending emails.
  2. Make unsubscribing easy: One click and your recipients should be off your list, no more jumping through hoops!
  3. Send relevant emails: Keep your content interesting and avoid blasting folks with unwanted emails.

Yahoo's requirements are similar, but a little less strict. The good news is that HubSpot already recommends that you do this and makes it easy to update. But if you see a message about needing to authenticate your email domain, here's how to fix it:

  • Update your DNS records: You'll need to log in to your DNS provider (like GoDaddy or Cloudflare) and follow their instructions. It's a bit different for each provider, but HubSpot has a handy guide to help you out.
  • Verify your domain in HubSpot: Once you've updated your DNS records, go back to HubSpot and let them know. It can take up to 80 minutes for everything to sync up.

Need help setting up your DNS records for Email Authentication?

Adding a new email sending domain? No problem! We can walk you through the steps. If all this DNS and email authentication stuff sounds like gibberish, don't worry! You can book a meeting to get your HubSpot account in tip-top shape. Remember, these changes are all about making sure emails get delivered and land in inboxes, not spam folders. By following these steps, you can keep your email marketing clean and delivered to more people!