Emails Not Delivering? You Probably Need SPF, DKIM & DMARC

If your emails are going to spam or not arriving at all, your DNS email authentication records are probably missing or misconfigured.

You're sending emails but they're not arriving. Or they're landing in spam. Or your contact form confirmations vanish into thin air. The problem is almost certainly your email authentication records.

What Are SPF, DKIM, and DMARC?

These are DNS records that tell the world which servers are allowed to send email on behalf of your domain. Without them, email providers like Gmail and Outlook assume your emails might be spam — or reject them entirely.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

SPF is a DNS record that lists which servers are allowed to send email from your domain. Think of it as a guest list — if the sending server isn't on the list, the email gets rejected or flagged.

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

DKIM adds a digital signature to your emails that proves they haven't been tampered with in transit. It's like a wax seal on a letter — it proves the letter is genuine and unaltered.

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication)

DMARC tells email providers what to do when SPF or DKIM checks fail. Should they reject the email? Quarantine it? Let it through anyway? DMARC gives you control.

Why This Matters Now

Google and Yahoo made SPF, DKIM, and DMARC mandatory for bulk senders in 2024. Even if you're not a bulk sender, missing these records significantly hurts your email deliverability.

How to Check Your Records

Use a free tool like MXToolbox.com:
Enter your domain
Check SPF record
Check DKIM record
Check DMARC record

If any are missing or misconfigured, that's your problem.

Common Issues

No SPF record at all: Your emails have no authentication
SPF with too many lookups: SPF allows max 10 DNS lookups — exceeding this breaks it
DKIM not configured: Many hosting providers don't set this up by default
No DMARC record: Email providers don't know what to do with failed authentication
Multiple SPF records: You can only have ONE SPF record per domain

The Fix

Add or fix your SPF record to include all legitimate sending sources
Generate and configure DKIM keys with your email provider
Add a DMARC record starting with a monitoring policy
Test everything with MXToolbox or Google's Postmaster Tools
Monitor and adjust

Need Help?

Email authentication can be confusing, and getting it wrong can make things worse. I set up and fix SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records regularly. I'll audit your current setup, fix what's broken, and make sure your emails actually reach people's inboxes.