Google and other major email service providers (ESP) are getting stricter towards email verification to combat SPAM activities. 

 

You will realise that your email which is hosted with your own server or shared hosting are flowing into your recipients SPAM/JUNK box even if you know your IP is clean & no SPAM activities within your server. The easiest way to prevent your email from going into SPAM is to sign up for email services by ESP such as Google Gsuits which cost USD7 per user, but is pricey for some companies.

 

Due to the huge amount of SPAM activities email domain verification plays an important role to combat SPAM. 

 

Domain verification plays an important role to combat SPAM activities due to there being too many unauthorised emails being sent as SPAM. DKIM & SPF is commonly used to verify the domain indeed is sent from unauthorised party by making sure that the domain DNS records has the value that paired with the server. Learn more about DKIM in here https://www.dmarcanalyzer.com/dkim/, and SPF in here https://www.dmarcanalyzer.com/spf/. 

 

How to set your email with DKIM & SPF in cPanel

 

  1. Login to your cPanel & look for Zone Editor
  2. Add your DKIM & SPF record in your DNS
    Check if your domain has the DKIM or SPF value in your DNS setting, it’s under TXT type and start with “v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=MIIBIjA…” and “v=spf1 +mx +a…” value.Example:
    If you couldn’t find your DKIM and SPF value you have to add a new one. First of all you need to get your DKIM value in your cPanel.Reference: https://www.liquidweb.com/kb/enabling-domainkeys-identified-mail-dkim/Your DKIM name should be in this format default._domainkey.yourdomain.com.Second is your SFP. SPF comes in a very standard format, usually  “v=spf1 +mx +a +ip4:100.59.107.41 ~all”If your email can be sent not only in one server, but you allow other authorised service providers to send email from your domain in their server, you can add multiple ip addresses or domains in your SPF value.For example:
    “v=spf1 +mx +a +ip4:100.59.107.41 include:zoho.com ~all”

Domain verification prevents the spammer from using your email to send from other servers. When the recipients received your email, they will check the source of sending, compare against your domain DNS’s value. If there is no match, the ESP will mark it as SPAM as they suspect that some unauthorised party trying to send email on behalf of you from a suspicious device.

 

If you wonder why your email went into SPAM you can check out this article https://www.bravonet.my/2020/04/25/why-is-your-corporate-email-went-into-recipients-junk-box/