Learn About DKIM to Improve Email Delivery
DKIM, which stands for DomainKeys Identified Mail, is like a digital seal for your emails. It helps verify that the email is truly from the person or domain it says it's from and hasn’t been opened or altered along the way. In short, DKIM helps prevent email spoofing and keeps your email content safe during transit.
Why would I want to set up DKIM?
The main benefit of setting up DKIM is to improve email deliverability. If you have a high bounce rate, DKIM might reduce that by ensuring that these emails are authenticated and trusted by recipients. Implementing DKIM can help improve the chances that your emails will be successfully delivered and not end up in spam folders.
If your organization regularly sends large email campaigns, DKIM can also help to ensure these emails are trusted and not flagged as spam.
And if your emails contain sensitive information, such as financial data, personal information, or other confidential details, DKIM helps protect the integrity of the messages!
How does DKIM work?
Here's a quick overview of the what goes on behind the scenes:
- Creating a Digital Signature: When someone sends an email, DKIM uses a special encryption key (private key) to create a unique digital signature for the email.
- Adding the Signature to the Email: This digital signature is then added to the email's header.
- Verifying the Signature: When the email arrives at its destination, the recipient's email server uses a public key (which is published by the sender's domain in their DNS records) to verify the digital signature.
- Ensuring Integrity: If the digital signature matches and verifies correctly, it means the email has not been altered and is indeed from the stated sender's domain.
How do I setup DKIM in my MonkeyPod?
Before you proceed, make sure that you know how to update your organization's DNS records and that you have access to the tools you need to do so. If you need to get someone's help for that, make sure they're available while you work on this.
To get started, reach out to MonkeyPod support to request a link to start the process. You can use the support beacon at the bottom of a page in your MonkeyPod to send a request to the MonkeyPod team.
Next, decide on the domains that you want to send email from. Up to 2 domains are allowed.
Click the link provided to you by MonkeyPod support to access the DNS tools and enter the domain in the field provided. Enter only the domain itself (for example to send email from jane@example.org, enter 'example.org').
Click "Next" to continue.
MonkeyPod then displays details about the DNS entries you need. Copy and paste the values provided for each subdomain, and be sure to create these as CNAME records. The specific instructions here will vary widely, and depend on who your organization uses as your domain registrar.
After updating your DNS records, check the new configuration of each record by clicking the magnifying glass icon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can't MonkeyPod just do this for me?
The DNS Tools offered in MonkeyPod are there to help you on the path to setting up DKIM authentication. MonkeyPod gets you the information you need to make changes to your organizations DNS records, and points you in the right direction, but you'll need someone who knows how your domain is setup to finish the work. Those changes, and the step-by-step instructions to make them, are outside the reach of what MonkeyPod can control.