These days, getting your users to click on an email is easier said than done. This is especially true for an outbound email message to a potential lead or client.
People have grown quite suspicious lately about who the email sender is. People have grown in their awareness of the existence of hackers or spammers using false domains to appear legitimate.
These problems add fuel to the fire, burning your attempts at lead generation, client communication, and more. A good online reputation is in short supply these days, and an unsolicited email that appears suspicious with your domain will not help.
To retain, attain, or regain trust as you send mail, you will need an SPF record. Let’s dive into the details about what this is, how it works, and how having one can help you dodge spam filters and suspicious eyes.
Does this sound interesting to you? Keep reading.
What Is an SPF Record?
SPF means sender policy framework. A sender policy framework is a way to protect domain owners from hackers who want to use them.
A sender policy framework (SPF) record is a txt record of which mail servers can use your domain. The mail server information comes with IP addresses and other information mail servers have for them to be authentic.
An SPF record ensures email authentication by allowing email messages that come from its listed mail servers to find their way to a receiving mail server. The ones that are not on the SPF record go to spam filters — not where you want your high-converting email message to end up.
Where Did the Idea of an SPF Record Come From?
Unfortunately, the broad adoption of the internet and internet anonymity brought about the exploitation of hackers and spammers. Until the early 2000s, there was no way to determine legitimate email messages from phishing attacks.
Email systems at the time struggled with this problem, as did many domain owners looking to establish a positive digital signature and reputation. With the internet, spammers and hackers can send malicious emails using the domain name of any reputable company. Of course, this doesn’t end well for companies that have carved a good online reputation.
Something was necessary to prevent spammers from flooding inboxes with unnecessary emails. In the year 2000, SPF was conceptualized. It began with some early iterations of the SPF specification, undergoing changes as the years passed.
By 2006, several organizations had already worked on various iterations of email authentication methods like SPF. One of these organizations was the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The IETF developed an SPF specification that merged with Microsoft’s caller ID proposal.
This combination led to the classic SPF and the SPF record. In 2014, SPF record specification became more standard with the introduction of other email authentication methods like DKIM authentication and DMARC.
How Does an SPF Record Work? The Email Authentication Process in a Nutshell
The SPF record checker determines a valid SPF record by matching it to a domain name. This is the first step towards SPF authentication and email authentication.
Every email message comes from a domain. This domain can be your company or organization’s domain or your personal domain name.
Between you, the sender and domain owner, and the recipient of the email are the email servers. If you own a business or send emails on behalf of one, your organization will have an email server. If not, there are third-party email server service providers that can fill this role for you.
In any case, the email server makes it possible for your organization to send emails on behalf of its domain name.
Once the email is sent, it reaches the receiving mail server. Receiving mail servers will often be equipped with an SPF record checker.
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Why Should SPF Authentication Matter to You?
An SPF record checker looks up information like your SPF record, the domain to which you’ve linked it, and IP addresses. If there’s a mismatch anywhere, the receiving email server’s SPF authentication will mark your email as spam.
When this occurs, one of two things can occur.
Either your email does not reach the recipient, or it reaches the receiver of the email as spam. Either way, the email is likely to be seen as one of many spoofed messages. Also, like many unauthenticated messages and forged emails, the email will not fulfill whatever purpose you had for sending it.
Your existing SPF record also matters because it leads you towards other email authentication methods. If you are looking into more contemporary email authentication like DomainKeys identified mail or (DKIM) and DMARC, you’ll still need an SPF record.
What Does an SPF Record Do for You?
SPF records are important for ensuring email deliverability. An SPF record is a DNS txt record containing valuable information. This information includes your authorized IP addresses and domain names.
IP address information and domain names will be the only ones allowed to send email on behalf of whatever domain you register. The SPF record needs to be present as part of the DNS zone of a domain. The presence of the record designates the domain as linked, authenticated, and authorized.
As a result, an email sent from a given domain will reach the email receiving servers before reaching the actual recipient. Since the source of the email was from a domain with an existing SPF record, the email will make it straight to the inbox. This makes the email available for the recipient to open and read safely.
If an email is sent from an IP address not present in SPF records, receiving mail servers will pick up on it. Spam filters receive emails from receiving email servers that mark emails as suspicious. For this reason, suspicious emails risk rejection for not being part of the DNS txt records for DNS lookups.
In short, an SPF record ensures that email servers identify your email as authentic and coming from your domain. As a result, your email goes straight to a recipient’s inbox, ready to be opened and read.
Why You Need an SPF Record
As mentioned earlier, people receiving emails these days are suspicious of malware and spam. While you may not be sending malicious or annoying emails, hackers and spammers might. Allow them to do this, however, and you’ll be destroying what could be your stellar online reputation.
Here are a few reasons you need an SPF record:
Email Authentication
Email authentication will do wonders for your credibility as an email marketer. Again, it’s crucial for your clients to receive emails that reflect your message and the source — you. Without email authentication, spam senders can easily send emails using your domain name.
When this happens, a potential client will assume that the sender permitted the spammy email. This brings us conveniently to the next reason for having an SPF record.
A Better Reputation for Your Domain and Organization
Getting your SPF record published leads to email authentication. Authentication leads to better email deliverability. Deliverability means that your recipient gets the email, sees that it’s from a reputable and legit source (you), and opens it.
More Responses and Conversions When You Send Email
When you implement SPF, your receiver will know that you’re sending email from your organization’s domain. This adds credibility to the email message. For this reason, it will be highly likely that your recipient will open the email and respond.
How To Get an SPF Record That Passes an SPF Checker
It might seem technical. However, getting an SPF record is as simple as the basic concept that underlies it. Below are the steps to register:
Step 1: Take Stock of Your Organization’s IP Addresses
An IP address varies from one mail server and computer to another. It’s one of the best pieces of SPF information that will make it to an SPF check. Take note of each IP address, and ensure that these are linked to your organization’s source address and domain name.
Step 2: List Down Every Email Sending Domain
As a domain owner, you should list every specific domain you are authorizing to send email on behalf of your organization. This includes any third-party domain you have authorized.
Step 3: Locate Your Domain’s DNS Management Dashboard
The dashboard is a tool that allows you to add the SPF information you’ve noted in steps one and two. The dashboard will be part of the tools made available by your hosting provider.
Step 4: Create Your SPF Record
On the dashboard, you’ll see fields on which you can type the tag for an SPF record and the associated IP address. You cannot do this more than 10 times, meaning you’ll only be able to add 10 addresses or less.
On an empty field, type “v=spf1.” This is the basic tag for any SPF txt record. After that, copy and paste (or type) an IP address.
An example of how an SPF record entry will look like is:
v=spf1 ip2:1.1.6.7
Do this for every IP address from which you want to send emails. Once you’ve done that, add “~all” to end your record entry.
Do this, and you’ll have made your SPF record.
Step 5: Add Your New SPF Record to Your DNS
You’ll need to contact your IT support team for this step. Otherwise, you can get in touch with your hosting provider for assistance. They can help you publish your SPF record onto your DNS.
Once you’ve done this, you’ll now have the capabilities to send emails that don’t get marked as spam.
“Get a Record” and Be Trusted
An SPF record will do more for your business than you realize. From improving your email deliverability to maximizing your engagement and conversions, the benefits are undeniable.
Implement SPF records for your organization, and you’ll be gaining more trust from your customers — something that’s in short supply these days.
