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Most Internet Service Providers (ISPs), like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, use SPF authentication as a way to scan incoming emails for spam or spoofed addresses. Emails that fail Sender Policy Framework (SPF) authentication are more likely to arrive in a spam or junk folder.

To help ensure your emails to your subscribers reach your recipients’ inboxes and to make your store look more professional, you can set up custom SPF authentication for your custom domain.

In this article, you’ll learn how to setup SPF in your DNS records.

Benefits of Custom Domain Authentication

Authenticating your own domain has three important benefits.

• It removes the default Cratejoy authentication information (e.g "via m70-73.cratejoy.com” or “on behalf of m70-73.cratejoy.com”) that shows up next to your campaign’s From name in certain email clients.

• It causes email clients like Gmail to automatically load images, rather than asking your subscribers to allow them every time.

• It can help your campaigns arrive in subscriber inboxes, rather than spam or junk folders.

Do I need custom domain authentication?

Before you authenticate your domain with SPF, review these questions to make sure it’s a good fit.

• Is your Cratejoy From email address associated with your email domain, rather than a public webmail address like gmail.com or hotmail.com?

• Are you or your IT team able to access and modify your DNS settings?

• Do some email clients automatically block images in your notifications that come from Cratejoy?

• Do your delivered email notifications show “on behalf of m70-73.cratejoy.com” or “via m70-73.cratejoy.com” in the sender details section?

If you answered yes to all or most of these questions, custom authentication is a good fit for you. If you answered no to most of these questions, you probably don't need to set up SPF authentication at this time.

Before You Start

Here are some things to know before you begin this process.

• Custom domain authentication is optional for Cratejoy merchants and must be set up by them. Learn more about setting up a custom domain.

• To set up authentication, you need to change some account settings with your custom domain provider. This process varies a lot based on the hosting provider (like GoDaddy or NameCheap), domain registrar, or DNS provider you use, so we recommend you contact your provider DIRECTLY or search their help site for instructions.

• Domain updates can sometimes take up to 72 hours to process.

• Not all ISPs use SPF for authentication but most major ISPs do that subscribers use as their email provider. MailChimp has a great table of which email providers support what. Most people find that adding SPF solves ~99% of their email deliverability problems.

About DNS Record Changes

To authenticate your domain, navigate to your domain provider’s site. Then, use the the SPF information from Cratejoy (listed below) to update your DNS records.

Domain providers use different names for the page where you’ll update the DNS record, like cPanel, Zone Editor, Zone File Settings, Manage Domains, Domain Manager, DNS Manager, or something similar.

Example TXT Record for SPF

Here’s an approximate example of what your TXT record will need to look like to set up SPF authentication. Remember, when you edit your own records, these columns and their labels may look different.

The URLs above are examples only. Replace “yoursite.com” with the domain you want to authenticate.

SPF Tips

• SPF should be set up with a TXT record, rather than an SPF record.

• Avoid creating more than one TXT record for SPF. However, you can create multiple values in the same record with an include statement.
  
  Example:

v=spf1 include:servers.mcsv.net include:m70-73.cratejoy.com ~all

• Depending on your provider, you may need to add quotation marks around your entire SPF record.
  
  Example:

“v=spf1 include:m70-73.cratejoy.com ~all”

• After you get your SPF TXT record all set up in your DNS settings, then try using a free online SPF checker (e.g. MXToolBox SPF checker) to make sure that yours is working properly.

How to Edit DNS Records in Common Domain Providers

Here are some instructions for editing DNS records with popular domain providers. If your service isn’t listed here, log in to your provider’s site and search their help documents, or contact their customer support team.

1&1: Add or Remove TXT Records

A Small Orange: DNS

Bluehost: Modify a DNS record

Cloudflare: SPF

Dreamhost: SPF

GoDaddy: Plesk Panel 9, Plesk Panel 10

Google Domains: DNS Basics

Hostgator: Manage DNS records

HostMonster: Modify your DNS records

Hover: Edit DNS Record

Namecheap: SPF

Network Solutions: Edit DNS Record

Squarespace: Advanced DNS Settings

After records are entered into your DNS correctly, your domain should authenticate within 48-72 hours, or sooner.

Troubleshooting

If you've entered all records correctly and your authentication isn’t working right away, there typically isn’t a cause for concern. You may need to wait a bit longer since it can take time for servers to recognize your changes.

If you still experience problems after waiting a few days, reach out to your domain provider’s help site for tips on troubleshooting DNS records in their service.

Cratejoy does NOT have the ability to integrate and use DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) authentication at the moment. If you'd like to see Cratejoy add this ability, please add your upvote and comment to the DKIM on Cratejoy idea.