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Level 0 is live: plan your business in 5 free lessons. Start lesson 0.1 →
Day One StackBuild my stack
Level 1 · InfrastructureLesson 4 of 10Under an hour

Your own email, plus SPF, DKIM and DMARC

You'll finish witha branded email address that passes a free deliverability test.

Earn this block

Email that lands

Pass the check at the end to add it to your stack.

Some links in this lesson are affiliate links. If you buy, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tools we'd use.

Why this matters

If you skip this

Your emails land in spam or get turned away, and anyone can send mail that pretends to come from you. Since 2024, Gmail and Yahoo require every sender to have SPF or DKIM, and bigger senders to have all three.

How it works

Think of your domain as an office building with a mailroom. Before your email gets in anywhere, the receiving mailroom checks three things.

SPFThe approved couriers list

Lists which services are allowed to send email for your domain.

DKIMThe wax seal

A signature on every email, checked against a public key you publish.

DMARCThe note at the door

Tells receivers what to do when a check fails, and where to send reports.

Your emailSPF and DKIM checkedDMARC decides
InboxSpamRejected

All three are short text records in your domain's DNS, the settings you found at your registrar in Lesson 1.2. Your email host gives you the exact values to copy.

Watch it done

The three records, start to finish
AI-generated presenterReal screens of the real toolsCaptions on

Do this now

0 OF 5 DONE
  3. TXT record · name: _dmarcv=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:you@yourbusiness.com

Check it worked

You pass when the test report shows all three:

  • ✓ SPF pass
  • ✓ DKIM pass
  • ✓ DMARC pass

Not passing? Compare each record with your email host's value, character by character. Most failures are a missing letter or an extra space.

Common mistakes

The three that catch nearly everyone.
  1. Two SPF records. A domain can only have one. If your email host and your newsletter tool each gave you one, merge them into a single record.
  2. Forgetting the newsletter tool. Your inbox passes, but your newsletter lands in spam because that service was never verified.
  3. Jumping straight to p=reject. Strict DMARC on day one can block your own email. Start at p=none, read the reports, then tighten it.

Tools I used

Some links are affiliate links. If you buy, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tools we'd use.

Proton Mail

Suits: a private, branded inbox.

Watch out: your own domain needs a paid plan.

Free plan
Visit Proton Mail ↗
Hostinger Email

Suits: keeping hosting and email in one account.

Watch out: intro prices go up when you renew.

Visit Hostinger ↗
MailerLite

Suits: your newsletter, verified on the same domain.

Watch out: the free plan caps subscribers and some features.

Free plan
Visit MailerLite ↗

Download and next lesson

Email setup checklist

All five steps and the three records on one printable page.

Next lesson · 1.5

Security basics

Turn on two-step login everywhere and move every password into a password manager.

Start lesson 1.5 →