How To Configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC For Cold Email Domains & Subdomains
Setting up DNS records for cold email can be confusing at first, in large because there aren't great resources showing you how to work with subdomains. We'll try to remedy that here.
DNS Record Setup for Cold Outreach
This will be a short post.
Below are the basic patterns for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC DNS records for Google Workspace accounts. Note that you'll need to verify all of your domains and subdomain with Google beforehand. All changes will be made in your hosting provider (e.g. Namecheap, GoDaddy, etc), or whichever provider manages your DNS records (e.g. if you use Cloudflare).
For the examples, [subdomain] represents "hey" in hey.pacaya.io, for instance.
SPF
Record type: TXT
Host: [subdomain]
Value:
Note: You can read more about setting up SPF in Google Workspaces here.
DKIM
Record type: TXT
Host: google._domainkey.[subdomain]
Value:
Note: You will need to generate your own DKIM record and authenticate it.
DMARC
Record type: TXT
Host: _dmarc.[subdomain]
Value:
Note: You will want to gradually increase your values for p and sp until they are both set to "reject".
URL Redirect
Record type: URL Redirect Record
Host: [subdomain]
Value: [root domain] Unmasked
That's it! Be sure to check that your records are set up correctly for each domain and subdomain using tools like those from dmarcly.
Hopefully this post saved you time sifting through more complex use-case articles on Google.
Be sure to reach out if you have any questions!
