You might have heard these terms mentioned when setting up your email or troubleshooting deliverability - and while they sound technical, they each play a simple but vital role in helping your emails reach the inbox instead of the spam folder.
Here’s what each one means and why it matters for your AeroWave email.
1. SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
What it does:
SPF is like a list of approved senders for your domain. It tells other mail servers, “Only these specific servers are allowed to send email using this domain.”
Why it matters:
Without an SPF record, someone could try to send email pretending to be you — and spam filters may not trust your messages.
How it works:
When an email is sent from your domain, the recipient’s mail server checks the SPF record to confirm it came from an authorised source.
2. DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
What it does:
SPF is like a list of approved senders for your domain. It tells other mail servers, “Only these specific servers are allowed to send email using this domain.”
Why it matters:
Without an SPF record, someone could try to send email pretending to be you — and spam filters may not trust your messages.
How it works:
When an email is sent from your domain, the recipient’s mail server checks the SPF record to confirm it came from an authorised source.
2. DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
What it does:
DKIM adds a digital signature to every email you send, which proves the message hasn’t been tampered with in transit and confirms it genuinely came from your domain.
Why it matters:
This builds trust with receiving mail servers and makes it harder for scammers to forge your emails.
How it works:
The receiving server checks the digital signature in the email against a public key published in your domain’s DNS settings. If it matches, the email is considered safe.
3. DMARC (Domain-Based Message, Authentication, Reporting & Conformance)
What it does:
DMARC acts as a set of instructions for how receiving servers should handle emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks.
Why it matters:
It helps protect your domain from being used in phishing attacks and gives you visibility into who’s sending mail on your behalf.
How it works:
You publish a DMARC record in your DNS, and receiving mail servers use it to decide whether to accept, quarantine, or reject unauthorised messages.
Why All Three Work Best Together
Each one serves a slightly different purpose, but they’re strongest when combined.
Here’s a simple way of thinking about it:
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SPF: Says who’s allowed to send (like a guest list)
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DKIM: Signs the message to prove it’s genuine (like a signature)
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DMARC: Enforces the rules (like a bouncer checking both)
Need Help?
If you need help with any of these records, don’t hesitate to reach out to us, we’re here to help.
