Improve email Deliverability Print

Gmail, Outlook and other providers check that email really comes from your domain. Three DNS records prove this: SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Without them, your emails are much more likely to land in spam or be rejected.

Check and fix SPF and DKIM

1. In cPanel, go to Email › Email Deliverability.
2. Each domain shows a status. If you see Problems Exist, click Manage.
3. cPanel shows the suggested DKIM and SPF records.
   • If your domain uses our nameservers, click Install the suggested record for each one.
   • If your DNS is managed elsewhere (e.g. Cloudflare or your domain registrar), copy the suggested records and add them as TXT records there.
4. Go back to Email Deliverability after a few minutes. The status should show as Valid.

Add a DMARC record

DMARC tells receiving servers what to do with mail that fails SPF or DKIM. Add a TXT record (see How to edit DNS records with the Zone Editor):

Start with p=none (monitor only). Once you're confident all your legitimate mail passes, you can change it to p=quarantine or p=reject.

Using Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace for email?

If your mailboxes are hosted with Microsoft or Google rather than on cPanel:

• Set up the SPF, DKIM and MX records they give you instead.
• Go to Email › Email Routing and choose Remote Mail Exchanger, so the server sends mail for your domain to the right place (e.g. website contact forms).

Other tips

• Send website form emails from an address on your own domain, not a Gmail or Hotmail address.
• Avoid forwarding spam to external providers (see How to create an email forwarder).
• Mailing lists and newsletters are best sent through a dedicated service such as Mailchimp or Brevo.

Still stuck? Contact Raleway support and our team will be happy to help.