DNS Settings for mail senders

Table of Contents


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A domain name – what is it #

A domain name is the text that you can enter into the adress bar of an internet browser.
Eg. “ Tattoogenda.com”  which will take you to a specific website. In truth ‘the text’ is the translated version of a piece of computer language ( known as an IP address ) but just translated into an understandable language for the user. A domain name can also be used for a mail sender with a customised name Eg. “@tattoogenda.com”.  In many cases a domain provider will offer a bundle that holds your chosen domain name and custom mail sender. A domain name is your identity as a business on the internet.

Why is a domain name important #

You can compare a domain name to the web version of an address.
It’s how people on the internet can find and distinguish you from others.
Having a domain name for your business will give credibility and strongly reinforces your brand or company’s name. Plenty of reasons to get a domain name if you do not already own one.

If you already own a domain name the rest of this guide will be of great assistance for your business in helping to understand why configuring certain settings are valuable for your business.

Sending & receiving emails #

Emails might very well be a part of the beating heart of your business.
We send and receive emails without really thinking about it, which means they are a part of our daily routines. However, there’s a few things we need to think about when it comes to emails.

As a company you do not want your email to end up in spam / junk folders.
These days emails need to go through a whole ecosystem and spam filters before they end up in a recipient’s inbox. When no configurations on your domain name are made for your mail sender, your emails might very well not make it to its destination or end up in the ‘junk folder’.

Tattoogenda can help you understand why these configurations are necessary and why they are important.


What is DNS and why is it important #

DNS stands for ‘Domain Name System’.
The internet is one huge network of connected computers and devices who communicate together.  Browsing a domain name ( could be your company’s website ) eg. “tattoogenda.com” will let you navigate to that website. Without going into too much detail, while your browser is loading your website DNS acts as a translator that translates your domain name into computer language ( into an IP address ) When it comes back from the server it translates the computer language (  the IP address )  back into your domain name. You might be wondering how all this relates to emails?

The answer is DNS records.
DNS records are little pieces of stored information that hold data like a domain name, an IP address and mail server information. DNS records are therefore crucial for your business when you would like to send emails to clients or users and ensure your emails actually reach the intended recipients. To ensure your business emails pass the security checks and have a good reputation, we will need to configure some domain DNS records.

Now that we have discovered what DNS is and why it is important
Let’s get started!

WHICH DNS RECORDS #

DNS records relevant for mail senders #

There are a few DNS records that we will need to configure.
All of these are related to emails on your domain name. 

  • MX Record
  • SPF Record ( TXT Record ) 
  • DKIM Record  ( TXT Record ) 
  • DMARC Record  ( TXT Record ) 


Sadly there is not “one way to guide all” so it might depend on your provider’s documentation about DNS records which others you might find.
But we are sure these records will be mentioned

MX Record #

MX stands for ‘mail exchange’ .
These types of records have an impact on incoming emails.
MX records will direct the incoming email to the right mail server.
Without MX records you won’t receive incoming emails to your domain.

SPF Record & DKIM Record #

These records are related to outgoing emails and are methods to validate or check the sender of the emails. This means that these records handle the authentication and deliverability of outgoing emails. SPF-, & DKIM-Records will determine whether your email will end up in the inbox or the spam / junk folder. 

DMARC Record #

DMARC stands for ‘Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance’. These records are related to outgoing emails and control what happens when an email fails the SPF and / or DKIM checks. DMARC will tell the recipient’s server to either:
quarantine, reject or allow the email and if a report should be sent about the ‘failed’ email.

FIND YOUR DNS SETTINGS #


First you need to know who your hosting company is. That’s the business/website through which you rent your domainname. Here we listed the most puplar ones today.
Login to your dashboard of your hosting company to find your DNS settings.

Through GoDaddy #

You can find a guide here that will help you find you DNS settings using GoDaddy.

Through CloudFare #

You can find a guide here that will help you find your DNS settings using CloudFare.

Through Microsoft 365 #

In some cases you can link Microsoft 365 to your domain to see if you can link your domain name to Microsoft 365 you can take a look here. Once you’ve linked your domain to Microsoft 365 you can find the follow up guide here that will help you find your DNS settings using Microsoft 365.

Through an other domain provider #

With your domain provider you are able to access your DNS settings or your DNS Records. How to access these settings is different for each provider. You should be able to find them in your provider’s documentation. You can look for the following keywords: DNS Records, mail records, MX record, TXT record, SPF record, DMARC record, DKIM record.

SETUP YOUR DNS RECORDS #

Great! You’ve found your DNS record. Now it’s time to set them up.
Lucky for us most providers should have documentation on how to set them up exactly. In the following we will list the most popular ones we’ve mentioned before and where to find this documentation.

Setup with GoDaddy #

Setup with CloudFare #

Setup with Microsoft 365 #

Setup with an other provider #

Sadly, as mentioned before there’s no guide ‘to guide all’.
Look into your providers documentation for the following keywords:
DNS Records, mail records, MX record, TXT record, SPF record, DMARC record, DKIM record.

YOUR JOURNEY CONTINUES #

DNS can be complex, and maybe even frustrating..
Hopefully this guide helped you get started!

It’s important to maintain DNS records to ensure quick and safe delivery of your business emails. Always make sure to check your provider’s documentation on any updates. Thanks to these records your emails won’t be dropped, bounced back or flagged as spam or junk.

Tattoogenda wishes you a blessed journey and we are happy to be a part of it!

You still have a problem or a question?
You can find a little link below called ‘Still stuck? How can we help!’

Written by
Sharice Vandenhende

By Tattoogenda


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