Occasionally, your emails may end up in another user's junk mail folder or get blocked entirely if the receiving server judges that the server sending the emails has a poor reputation. You can improve your email's reputation by activating two important features through your cPanel: SPF & DomainKeys.
What are SPF and DKIM?
SPF and DKIM are special configurations of a mail server, allowing you to identify yourself as the legitimate sender of an email.
Why add an SPF/DKIM to my domain?
By configuring an SPF/DomainKey on your domain, you significantly reduce the chance of having your sent emails identified as spam (aka junk mail). Large email service providers such as Hotmail, Yahoo! and Gmail all use SPF as a criterion of the legitimacy of an email.
How can I add an SPF/DKIM configuration to my domain?
With the cPanel, adding an SPF/DomainKey is simple:
- Connect to your cPanel
- Click on Email Authentication in the Mail section
- In the DKIM section, click on Enable
- In the SPF section, click on Enable
- Please plan several hours before your configuration is active (Internet propagation delay).
If you send emails from other servers (if, for instance, you use a third-party service to write to your domain's mailing lists), you will need to add the mail server's coordinates (host, IP address) in the Advanced Settingssection of the Email Authentication section of your cPanel. Consult your mail service provider for details.
For more information about SPF, consult: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sender_Policy_Framework.
For DKIM information, consult: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DomainKeys_Identified_Mail
