Sender Policy Framework is an important aspect of email marketing. Recipients can be sure by means of it that an email came from the domain or hostname related to the sender. Once the email server has verified this information, it will accept or reject the message. This process is quite simple, and it’s easy for an email user to understand and set SPF policies.
SPF
The SPF record for emails is an important piece of email authentication. It helps prevent email from being bounced due to forging sender addresses. Email servers use this record to ascertain that the email addresses which send the mail are legitimate. SPF records might be generated with an SPF record builder. You need to check on the validity of the SPF record for your address.
To acknowledge the validity of your SPF record, reach out to your ESP. ESPs usually publish SPF records for sending domains. Lawful IP addresses can be added to the record. When the SPF record is checked, your emails won’t be dismissed. To add email addresses to the SPF record, make use of the ‘add’ button.
The process is simple:
- Your sending mail server establishes a connection with the receiving mail server.
- The receiving mail server can access the IP address of your sending mail server.
- The two servers switch relevant data.
The SPF record can also be verified using DNSBL queries. However, a recipient email server will not trust an email that doesn’t have an SPF record.
The SPF record is crucial for email deliverability. In addition to increasing your chances of reaching your targeted inbox, SPF also promotes the health of your email network. It’s possible to perform an email delivery test or an email spam check to determine the email spam score, to provide proper landing of your messages and get the possibility to improve sender reputation. In a nutshell, the SPF record will assist you in protecting from spoofing. If you’re unable to keep an SPF record on your domain, you will risk losing your reputation forever.
Companies should care about their SPF records to build a good sender reputation which, for its part, affects relations with their customers and sales. It’s essential to maintain a high email deliverability rate which can be checked with an email delivery test. This can be done on your own or you can obtain assistance from experts of a B2B lead generation company Belkins.io. Its employees are ready to assist you in all areas of lead generation from mailing to arranging appointments with customers.
Return-Path Domain
Your email needs to possess an SPF Authentication and Alignment Record, if you are willing to pass a Sender Policy Framework (SPF) test. To get it, your email must have the right Return-Path domain and correspond to the domain stated in the FROM address. By default, email clients only show the From header, and do not display the Return-Path domain.
Some ESPs are elaborated to align the Return-Path domain with the SPF Record. Others submit a CNAME record to simplify this process. Unfortunately, MailChimp, Sendinblue, and Constant Contact have provided misleading and outdated information. Instead of providing the correct information, these ESPs want you to apply their domain in the Return-Path address, which tends to waste Lookup space.
Nevertheless, this is not an absolute requirement. It is possible that SPF validation will pass based on the Return-Path domain if the Sender Policy Framework is configured properly by an SPF record builder. For example, if the sender’s domain is set to “SPF-authority-checked”, but it fails due to inconsistent implementations of the standard, the email will not pass SPF checks.
The Return-Path domain must be properly registered in order to be recognized by email providers. The process for adding an SPF record is relatively simple. Once you have the relevant information, the SPF Lookup tool will automatically display it. Once you have the necessary information, you can then proceed to add the SPF record to your email servers. A CNAME record contains key information such as the hostname and IP address of your server.
An SPF record is an important email authentication protocol. This record identifies the mail servers authorized by the domain owner. When this record is published in the DNS, email receivers check the Sender Policy Framework to identify any forged email. If an email address is not written in this record, the email recipient will not be able to receive it. The email receivers reject it in such a case. The SPF records are used to prevent spam, but this does not mean that it is 100% safe. Spam checkers may also be implemented to avoid being marked as spam.
Validation of the Sender
SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework, and it allows a receiving mail server to verify a domain’s authenticity. The SPF record publishes a list of authorized sending hosts.
SPF prevents malicious activities like email abuse. It’s best to implement this service on all your domains. This will complicate sending emails that appear to come from your domain. You can also use this record to ensure that your email addresses are safe from abuse and will be received. If you want to check on the addresses of your subscribers, you can take advantage of an email checker. Make certain that you are using the right domain name in your headers to avoid being blacklisted by spam filters.
SPF and a sender ID let email providers validate the sender address of their emails. Both services publish policy records in DNS. The SPF record validates the MAIL FROM address, and the sender’s HELO domain is verified. Sender ID validates only a single field of the email header, but it works well in both scenarios.
SPF checks are made using TXT records, and you can create several of them for your domain. These records will be used by the mail server as well as SPF verification.
Creating an SPF Record
To create an SPF record, you first need to identify your sending mail servers:
- Email service providers;
- Office mail servers which send your emails;
- even third-party mail servers.
By comparing the sending mail server’s IP address to authorized sender IP addresses, SPF can help ensure that only your email servers are authenticating emails and preventing any spoofing.
You can access the Manage DNS Records page for your domains by selecting the DNS column in the My Domains section. Then, choose the Add New DNS Record option. In the Type drop-down menu, select TXT. Type the hostname for your domain or subdomain. You must also enter the value of the SPF record in the Answer field. To add an SPF record for your email domain, leave the TTL as 300.
An SPF record contains a string of information which tells an ISP what policy should be applied to emails sent by unauthorized servers. If you leave this field blank, your emails will be ignored. If you wish to add more IP addresses, add them as well. Make sure you type in the correct information. Additionally, you can include an “all” or “redirect” string in your SPF record to exclude all other domains from sending emails from your domain.
The SPF TXT record you create will tell the other email servers that your emails are coming from a valid server. The instructions for setting up an SPF record will vary between DNS providers. After you’ve set up an SPF record for your email, you can check your emails to ascertain they are relevant. If you’re not satisfied with this process, you can purchase a pre-configured SPF record.
Limitation of Lookups
There are several factors influencing SPF email deliverability, but one of them is the limit on the number of DNS lookups allowed per an SPF record. Specifically, the limit on the number of SPF DNS lookups is 10. If the mailbox provider gets more than 10 requests for the same SPF record, the mail will fail SPF validation and be marked as permerror, preventing delivery. It is possible to exceed the SPF 10 lookup limit with many marketing platforms and cloud-based email exchange services.
To determine if your SPF record is allowed, you can use the Proofpoint SPF Check Tool. It is free to use, but you may want to consider removing any email services that you no longer use. It’s important to remember that a validator will evaluate the terms in the SPF policy from left to right, stopping once it finds a match for the sender’s IP address.
Limitation of lookups for SPF Records in email is one of the primary reasons why many senders are not using it. Many hosting services set a default policy, usually v=spf1 a mx, which is a DNS record for a web server that does not send emails. However, this policy does not always reflect a sender’s intent, and can lead to an enormous increase in required lookups.
Another factor that can cause the SPF to fail is the SPF PermError which is caused by too many DNS lookups and may negatively impact email deliverability. By limiting the number of DNS lookups, you can ensure that your email is not subject to SPF PermErrors and can keep on delivering email. In the meantime, you should consider implementing a Safe SPF feature.
