<aside> ⚠️ DNS Records Setting up email authentication requires you to work with DNS records, but don't worry if you've never done so. This article will cover in detail all of the steps you need to perform.

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What is email authentication?

Email authentication is a way to prove that your email isn't a forgery. More specifically, it involves granting permissions to Sendloop to send email on behalf of your domain (for example, if your site's URL were http://www.example.com, your domain is example.com). With authentication, email providers know that the incoming email is valid and isn't a disguise for spam (doing this is a process known as phishing).

Because spam is so prevalent, Internet service providers (ISPs) and other email servers are using authentication to control the inflow. As such, it's important that you take steps to authenticate your emails.

<aside> ⚠️ Heads Up! Without email authentication, you'll see a poor inbox delivery rate.

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Types of Email Authentication

Sendloop supports use of two types of email authentication:

• Sender Policy Framework (SPF): When you use SPF, you provide a list of IP addresses that you use to send emails. Email providers, upon receiving your emails, look at the IP address that sent the emails and compare it to your list. If there is a match, it delivers the email. If not, it flags it as spam.
• DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM): When you use DKIM, there are two "keys" that correspond to your site. One is public, and it can be seen by anyone. The other is private, and only your website's servers know what it is. When you send an email, your email server embeds your private key in your email so that receiving email providers can compare the two keys to make sure that the message is from who it claims to be and that it hasn't been tampered with during sending.

How do I set up email authentication?

To set up email authentication, you'll need to implement two changes to your DNS records. Sendloop's email authorization wizard can help you identify the changes you need to make.

Using the Email Authorization Wizard

After logging in to your Sendloop account, click Settings in the top navigation bar.

On the Settings page, click Sender Domain Authentication. If this is the first time you've done this, you'll see the Authenticated Sender Domains* page. Click on Authenticate Sender Domain to proceed.

When prompted, provide your domain. Click Add Domain to proceed.

Once you've provided Sendloop with your domain, you'll be redirected to the Domain Control Panel. This page shows you which records you need to update/add.