Summary: If your business emails land in spam, authentication is often the fix. Here's what SPF, DKIM and DMARC do.
Email providers use authentication to decide whether messages are trustworthy. Without it, your emails — including website form notifications — may go to spam.
SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
A DNS record listing the servers allowed to send email for your domain.
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
A digital signature added to emails, verified with a public key in DNS.
DMARC
A policy telling receiving servers what to do if SPF or DKIM checks fail, plus reporting so you can monitor.
Rollout tips
- Add SPF including all legitimate senders (email host, CRM, marketing tool).
- Enable DKIM in each sending service.
- Start DMARC with a monitoring policy (
p=none), review reports, then move to quarantine or reject.
Website form emails
Send form notifications through authenticated SMTP using a mailbox on your domain rather than an unauthenticated server function.
FAQs
Do I need all three?
Yes. Major mailbox providers expect authentication, especially for bulk senders.
Can a wrong SPF record break email?
Yes — only one SPF record should exist, and it must include all senders.
How do I check my setup?
Use DNS lookup tools and DMARC report analyzers.
