Add and verify a sending domain

Before you can send campaigns, you need to prove you own the domain in your From address and authorize InboxRoads to send for it. You do this by adding a few DNS records. Only verified domains can be used for senders.

Add the domain

1. Click Sending domains in the sidebar.
2. Under Add a domain, enter the domain from your From address, such as yourcompany.com. A subdomain such as mail.yourcompany.com also works.
3. Click Add domain.

You're taken to the domain's page, which lists the DNS records to publish.

The DNS records

The table shows each record's Purpose, Type, Host / Name and Value. Click a host or value to copy it. The exact records depend on the sending service used for your account, but usually include:

New to these? Read SPF, DKIM and DMARC explained.

Publish the records

1. Sign in to the company that manages DNS for your domain. That might be your registrar, Cloudflare or your hosting control panel.
2. Add each record exactly as shown. Some DNS providers add your domain to the host automatically. If yours does, enter only the part before .yourcompany.com as the host.
3. If you already have an SPF record (a TXT record starting with v=spf1), don't add a second one. Add the new include or IP parts to your existing record. Two SPF records make both invalid.
4. If you already have a DMARC record, keep it. You don't need to add ours.

Verify DNS

Wait a few minutes, then click Verify DNS on the domain's page.

• Each record's Status changes to Found, Missing (a required record) or Not set (a recommended record).
• If a record exists but doesn't match, you'll see Found: followed by the value we detected, so you can compare.
• When all required records are found, the domain becomes Verified, and you get a notification.

DNS changes can take anywhere from a few minutes up to 48 hours to spread across the internet. If verification fails at first, wait and click Verify DNS again. InboxRoads also rechecks domains automatically once a day and lets you know if a verified domain stops passing.

Tip: Check your records any time with our free SPF checker and DMARC checker.

Next step

Once the domain is verified, add a sender. Learn more about custom sending domains.

Key takeaways

• Add your domain under Sending domains, then publish the records shown.
• Keep a single SPF record. Merge ours into yours if you already have one.
• Click Verify DNS. Propagation can take from a few minutes up to 48 hours.