Adding and Authenticating a Sending Domain

A dedicated and authenticated sending domain provides a layer of security and credibility to the emails that you send to your customers. Add a sending domain so you can increase your deliverability rates, add brand credibility, and remove via yotpoplatform.com from the From field in emails.

How it works

An authenticated sending domain shows email providers that Yotpo has permission to send emails on your behalf. This has a positive impact on your reputation as a sender and your email deliverability.

Email service providers distrust messages that don’t have domain authentication set up because they cannot be sure that the message comes from you. Explicitly stating that it comes from you increases your reputation, and makes it less likely that the provider will filter your email. This means that there's more chance your emails will get into your recipient’s inbox and less chance they'll be marked as spam. Learn more in The Complete Guide to Email Deliverability

What do my emails look like with and without a sending domain?

Adding a sending domain

To add a sending domain:

1. In your Yotpo SMS & Email main menu, go to Settings > General Settings.
2. Scroll down to Email Settings.
3. Under Dedicated sending domain, click Add domain.
4. Add your domain and subdomain.
   Please note:

   Adding a sending subdomain can help you isolate your marketing activity and prevent your sender reputation from being affected by other email activity from your domain. For example, if your root domain is mybrand.com, we recommend you use the subdomain hello. Your final sending domain will be hello.mybrand.com.
5. Select the checkbox that confirms you understand the infrastructure warming process, and click Add domain. Learn more about warming your infrastructure. 
6. Copy the CNAME records.
7. Add the records to your DNS server.
   
8. After adding the records to your DNS server, click Verify records. If verification is successful, a notification banner will appear and you can Close the modal.
   
9. When you have completed the domain authentication process, you’ll be prompted to warm up your domain. Learn more about domain warmup.

Adding records to your DNS server

To complete this stage of the process, you will need to go to your DNS provider's platform and apply the new DNS records, which were created in Yotpo Email. To make these changes, you may need to seek assistance from your IT team. 

Some domain registration services may not permit you to directly modify all DNS records. If this is the case, you should get in touch with your DNS provider for guidance on how to update them. Here are the guides for updating DNS records of the most popular providers:

• GoDaddy
• Shopify
• Google Domains
• Hostgator
• Hover
• Namecheap
• Squarespace
• AWS
• Cloudflare

Adding a DMARC record

Adding a DMARC record proactively safeguards your brand and audience against phishing and spoofing threats. To avoid your emails ending up in the spam folder, you must add a DMARC record before you start sending email campaigns.

Log into your DNS Hosting provider and add the values below.

If your “from domain” includes a subdomain, e.g. [email protected]:

• v=DMARC1; p=none; adkim=r; aspf=r; pct=100; or
• v=DMARC1; p=none; sp=none; adkim=r; aspf=r; pct=100

If your “from domain” does not include a subdomain, e.g. [email protected]: 

• v=DMARC1; p=none; sp=none; adkim=r; aspf=r; pct=100

Learn more about DMARC records in Google Help.

Next steps - Warming your new domain infrastructure

After you add a new sending domain, it's necessary to warm up the infrastructure. The warmup requires sending fewer emails right after creating the new domain, and gradually increasing the volume over a period of time. Learn more