Business Email: MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC
The fact that your website works does not mean that your email is configured correctly. Inbound mail forwarding and sender verification rely on different DNS records.
MX: where does incoming mail go?
MX records specify the servers that accept email from the domain. More than one record can have priorities. Target names must be resolved correctly and match the values provided by the email service you are using.
If your mail service will remain in the same location while you move your website to new hosting, keep the MX records. If you are changing the nameserver, it is necessary to transfer these records to the new DNS service.
SPF and DKIM: verifying the sender
SPF tells you which systems can send email on behalf of your domain. DKIM, on the other hand, ensures that messages are verified with a cryptographic signature. Get the values for these records from the mail service you use; Do not copy a sample record without checking it.
If you use a form service or newsletter system alongside company email, take all legitimate senders into account. Creating conflicting SPF records for the same domain can cause a validation issue.
Apply DMARC policy gradually
DMARC defines the SPF/DKIM authentication relationship with the sending domain and the policy to apply to failed messages. Before strict policy, check that legitimate shipping sources are configured correctly.
Going straight to a reject policy without evaluating reports could also impact your own form or invoice emails. Even if the verification records are correct, there is no guarantee that every message will be delivered to the inbox; There are other factors such as post reputation and content.
Testing after hosting migration
- Send a test message to the company box from an external address.
- Reply to a different service from the company box.
- Try the website contact form and password reset.
- Check the verification results in the message headers.
- Compare the new zone with the corresponding records in the old DNS zone.
Do not share real customer data in tests. When reporting an error, the message header, error code and time information with stripped personal information facilitate support review.
Resources and further reading
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