- \n
- Generating a SPF record<\/li>\n
- Setting up SPF for your domain<\/li>\n
- Testing to make sure everything worked<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
And we\u2019ll do it all in five minutes or less<\/strong>. (Well, setup will take five minutes or less. Then waiting for DNS records to propagate can take up to 48 hours.)<\/p>\n
This guide is focused on GMass users \u2014 meaning you\u2019re sending emails through a Google Workspace account.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s get started.<\/p>\n
Set Up SPF: Table of Contents<\/h2>\n
- \n
- What Is SPF (Sender Policy Framework) in Under 100 Words?<\/a><\/li>\n
- Step 1: Creating Your SPF Record<\/a><\/li>\n
- Step 2: Adding Your SPF Record to Your Domain<\/a><\/li>\n
- Step 3: Verifying You\u2019ve Added Your SPF Record<\/a><\/li>\n
- Set Up SPF: Next Steps<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
What Is SPF (Sender Policy Framework) in Under 100 Words?<\/h2>\n
Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a record where you specify what mail servers are authorized to send emails using your domain.<\/p>\n
When a mail server receives an email message from an address at your domain, it uses SPF to verify that the message came from an authorized server<\/strong>\u00a0(and not from someone spoofing you or sending without your permission).<\/p>\n
SPF is one of the three main email authentication methods<\/strong>\u00a0that mail servers use to check the legitimacy and veracity of messages.<\/p>\n
You set up SPF by adding a TXT file to your domain name\u2019s Domain Name System (DNS) records.<\/p>\n
What are DKIM and DMARC, and what do they have to do with SPF?<\/h3>\n
SPF is one of the three primary email authentication methods. The other two are:<\/p>\n
- \n
- DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)<\/li>\n
- Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
DKIM is like a \u201cdigital signature\u201d for your emails<\/strong>\u00a0which, much like SPF, is used by mail servers to check if a message from your domain comes from an authorized sender. DKIM<\/a>\u00a0uses a public key, which is contained in a TXT record in your domain\u2019s DNS settings.<\/p>\n
DMARC is another record, one that works with SPF and DKIM<\/strong>. A DMARC policy record indicates that your messages are using SPF and\/or DKIM authentication and gives instructions<\/strong>\u00a0to a mail server on what to do if those methods fail.<\/p>\n
Do I need to set up SPF?<\/h3>\n
As of February 1st, 2024, all mail senders<\/strong>\u00a0who send email using their own domain name (e.g., whatever@yourdomain.com) rather than a shared email system (e.g., whatever@gmail.com\u00a0or whatever@yahoo.com) are required to have either a SPF or DKIM record<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
So yes, you need to set up SPF (or DKIM).<\/p>\n
Bulk senders<\/a>\u00a0(basically people sending more than 5,000+ emails per day) need to have both SPF and DKIM records, along with DMARC.<\/p>\n
Does having a SPF record help deliverability?<\/h3>\n
Yes, having a SPF record can help your emails reach the inbox<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
To quote<\/a>\u00a0Google directly: \u201cWithout SPF, messages sent from your organization or domain are more likely to be marked as spam by receiving mail servers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, it\u2019s important to know: SPF isn\u2019t going to be the only difference between hitting the inbox versus the spam folder. It\u2019s one of many factors that play into your deliverability. But having the email authentication methods in place is certainly helpful.<\/p>\n
Do I need to set up SPF if I have a gmail.com email address?<\/h3>\n
No\u2026 because you can\u2019t.<\/p>\n
In order to set up SPF, you\u2019ll need to be able to create DNS records for a domain. Google controls the gmail.com domain \u2014 and they certainly aren\u2019t about to let random people create DNS records.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, they have SPF set up for the domain already so you don\u2019t have to worry about any of this.<\/p>\n
What can I do if someone else owns my domain (like the company I work for).<\/h3>\n
Let\u2019s say you\u2019re a salesperson for Big Corp and your email is frank@bigcorp.net. You don\u2019t own the bigcorp.net domain and don\u2019t have access to its DNS records \u2014 so you can\u2019t set up SPF on your own.<\/p>\n
In this case, what you should do is:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Run the test I show you in the next step to see if there\u2019s already an SPF record in place.<\/li>\n
- If not, talk to your boss, the IT department, the domain owner, or anyone else who could<\/em>\u00a0get someone to add a DNS record. Explain why you need SPF in place. Celebrate bureaucracy doing its job and eventually hope they do add the SPF record so you can get back to work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Step 1: Creating Your SPF Record<\/h2>\n
Time to set up your SPF record. But first\u2026 let\u2019s make sure there\u2019s not already one there.<\/p>\n
How to check whether you have an SPF record in place<\/h3>\n
GMass has a free<\/a><\/em>\u00a0email analyzer tool<\/a>\u00a0which you can use to check whether you have a SPF record set up for your domain.<\/p>\n
Go to the tool, then copy the email address it provides.<\/p>\n
Send an email to that address from your email account.<\/p>\n
A few moments later, the tool will show you all the underlying technical details of your email. Click on the SPF<\/strong>\u00a0tab to see your SPF record.<\/p>\n
If you have a SPF record in place, it will show in the SPF Record:<\/strong>\u00a0line. And if your email passed SPF authentication, you\u2019ll see that result in the SPF Result: <\/strong>line.<\/p>\n
![\"Test](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image2-1.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nIf you do not have an SPF record in place, here\u2019s what you\u2019ll see:<\/p>\n
![\"If](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image6-1.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nIf you\u2019ve already got a record in place and you passed SPF authentication, you\u2019re definitely<\/em> good with Gmail.<\/p>\n
(If you\u2019re sending emails through both Google Workspace and<\/em> another SMTP server, you want to make sure SPF is also set up for the SMTP. That’s covered next.)<\/p>\n
Creating a SPF record<\/h3>\n
If you use Google Workspace and don\u2019t use a third-party SMTP server (maybe you don\u2019t even know what a third-party SMTP server is<\/em>), your SPF record can be a single line<\/strong>:<\/p>\n
v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all<\/p>\n
Jump ahead to the next section of this article on adding your record at your domain provider.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re using an additional server to send emails<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 like, perhaps, a third-party SMTP to break Gmail\u2019s limits<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 you\u2019ll need to add that sender as well.<\/p>\n
The SMTP service you\u2019re using will tell you what you need to add to your SPF record (just Google it). And usually, they’ll have you add that record to a subdomain<\/strong> (for instance, with SendGrid, it’s generally something like emXXXXX.yourdomain.com).<\/p>\n
For example, if you\u2019re using <\/strong>SendGrid<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in addition to Google Workspace to send emails<\/strong>, your SPF record should look like this:<\/p>\n
v=spf1 include:sendgrid.net ~all<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re using Amazon SES<\/strong>\u00a0in addition to Google Workspace to send your emails, your SPF record should look like this:<\/p>\n
v=spf1 include:amazonses.com -all<\/p>\n
This should cover the vast<\/em>\u00a0majority of GMass users.<\/p>\n
If you need to authorize an IP address or other mail servers, you can find more details on adding those to your SPF record in Google\u2019s documentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Step 2: Adding Your SPF Record to Your Domain<\/h2>\n
Now that you have your SPF record, you\u2019ll need to add it to your domain.<\/p>\n
Note: You should only have one SPF record for each domain. You should merge multiple files into one.<\/p>\n
You can do that at your domain registrar<\/strong>\u00a0(this is most likely if you\u2019re a beginner or solo operation), your web host if it manages your DNS (possible), or your domain\u2019s third-party DNS management service (unlikely for beginners).<\/p>\n
In this section, I\u2019ll show you how to add the record at your domain registrar.<\/p>\n
If you go to your domain registrar to add this info and it tells you your DNS is managed at your web host, log into your host and look for their DNS management area. You can also ask their support for help if needed. You\u2019ll see something like this if your name servers are managed elsewhere:<\/em><\/p>\n
![\"If](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image3-1.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nHow to input your SPF record at your domain registrar<\/h3>\n
Here\u2019s an example at GoDaddy. Your registrar\u2019s interface won\u2019t look exactly like this but it should work in a similar fashion.<\/p>\n
Go to the DNS management for your domain<\/strong>\u00a0and click on the button (or link, or whatever they use) to add a new record<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
![\"Go](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image5-1.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nNow you\u2019ll enter the following things:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Type: <\/strong>TXT<\/li>\n
- Name\/Host:<\/strong>\u00a0@<\/li>\n
- Value: <\/strong>the SPF record you generated in the previous step<\/em><\/li>\n
- Time-to-Live (TTL): <\/strong>1 hour or 3600 seconds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Then Save<\/strong>\u00a0your new record.<\/p>\n
![\"What](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image4-1.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nYou can now scroll through the DNS records for your domain. Look for your new TXT record and make sure everything looks correct<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
![\"Your](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image1-1.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nNow you need to wait a little bit for your new record to work its way through the internet.<\/p>\n
It can take up to 48 hours<\/strong>\u00a0for SPF authentication to start working.<\/p>\n
In my experience it\u2019s never taken that long\u2026 but I have had it take close to 24 hours on the high end.<\/p>\n
Step 3: Verifying You\u2019ve Added Your SPF Record<\/h2>\n
Once you\u2019ve patiently waited for your record to get through the internet\u2019s tubes, you can check to make sure your record is properly set up<\/strong>\u00a0and you\u2019re passing SPF alignment.<\/p>\n
Head over to GMass\u2019s email analyzer<\/a>. Copy the email address it provides you.<\/p>\n
Send an email to that address and make sure you pass SPF.<\/p>\n
If<\/strong>\u00a0you added a third-party SMTP server to your SPF record, you should also send an email to the analyzer using that server to make sure all is good there as well.<\/p>\n
How GMass Keeps an Eye on Your SPF Record<\/h2>\n
Whenever you send a campaign, GMass checks to make sure you have a SPF record set up for the “from” domain.<\/p>\n
If your SPF record is\u00a0missing<\/strong> or incorrect<\/strong>, you’ll receive an email notice (and our deliverability support team will also get that notice).<\/p>\n
Here’s a look at those notices:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/spf-recordalerts-tinified.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nYou’ll receive these notifications (at most) once per week.<\/p>\n
And if you get one, we recommend coming back to this article and going through the SPF setup steps once again.<\/p>\n
Also, if you have\u00a0multiple SPF records<\/strong> set up \u2014 which can cause an authentication error \u2014 you’ll get a notification from GMass when you send your campaign.<\/p>\n
Set Up SPF: Next Steps<\/h2>\n
Congratulations, you\u2019ve now successfully set up SPF for your domain<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
That authentication puts you in compliance with <\/strong>Google and Yahoo\u2019s sender policies<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for all senders<\/strong>\u00a0(if you\u2019re a bulk sender, you also need DKIM and DMARC).<\/p>\n
Now that you\u2019ve set up SPF and you\u2019re comfortable-ish with editing DNS settings for your domain, there are a few other things you should do to continue to improve your deliverability.<\/p>\n
You can set up DKIM<\/a>. It has an extra step that SPF doesn\u2019t, but again just requires adding a TXT record to your domain.<\/p>\n
You should set up DMARC<\/a>. It works with SPF\/DKIM and helps with deliverability. Once again, it just requires adding another TXT record to your domain.<\/p>\n
And again, while you\u2019re updating DNS records, you should set up a custom tracking domain<\/a>. It\u2019s a great way to help deliverability<\/strong>\u00a0if you\u2019re using open tracking, click tracking, or an unsubscribe link in your emails. It also requires adding a new record to your domain.<\/p>\n
- Name\/Host:<\/strong>\u00a0@<\/li>\n
- Type: <\/strong>TXT<\/li>\n
- Step 1: Creating Your SPF Record<\/a><\/li>\n
- What Is SPF (Sender Policy Framework) in Under 100 Words?<\/a><\/li>\n