Adding DKIM & DMARC Records for SMTP Sending

Adding DKIM and DMARC records helps authenticate your sent emails and reduces the likelihood of them being marked as spam. These records are essential for good email deliverability when using ImprovMX SMTP.

Adding DKIM Records

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a digital signature to your outgoing emails, allowing recipients to verify that the email was actually sent from your domain.

Steps to Add DKIM

1. Navigate to your ImprovMX dashboard
2. Click the settings gear icon next to your domain
3. Go to the SMTP tab
4. Locate the DKIM records section — you will see CNAME records to add
5. In your DNS provider's control panel, add each CNAME record as shown in your dashboard

The CNAME records will typically look like:

• Type: CNAME
• Host: improvmx._domainkey
• Value: (provided in your ImprovMX dashboard)

Adding DMARC Record

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) tells receiving mail servers what to do with emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks.

Steps to Add DMARC

1. In your DNS provider's control panel, add a new TXT record
2. Set the Host to _dmarc
3. Set the Value to: v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com

Note: Replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain name. The rua parameter specifies where aggregate DMARC reports should be sent.

DMARC Policy Options

The p= parameter in your DMARC record controls what happens to emails that fail authentication:

• p=none — Monitor only; no action taken on failed emails (recommended to start)
• p=quarantine — Failed emails are sent to spam/junk folder
• p=reject — Failed emails are rejected entirely (strictest policy)

We recommend starting with p=none to monitor your email authentication. Once you have verified that legitimate emails are passing DKIM and SPF checks, you can gradually move to stricter policies.

Verification

After adding these records, return to your ImprovMX dashboard to verify they are detected correctly. DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to propagate, though they typically take effect within a few minutes.