What Is Email Deliverability?

Email deliverability is the ability of your emails to successfully reach the recipient’s inbox instead of landing in spam or being blocked. Even if your hosting and SMTP are correctly configured, big providers like Gmail and Outlook use extra checks to decide whether to trust messages from your domain.

Three important DNS records help with this: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

What Is SPF?

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a DNS record that lists which servers are allowed to send email on behalf of your domain. When you send an email, the receiving server checks your SPF record to see if the sending server is approved.

A simple SPF record might look like this:

v=spf1 a mx ip4:YOUR_SERVER_IP ~all
    

Meaning:

• a – allow the domain’s A record (web server) to send mail.
• mx – allow the domain’s MX servers to send mail.
• ip4:YOUR_SERVER_IP – allow this specific IP.
• ~all – treat everything else as “soft fail” (suspicious).

What Is DKIM?

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a digital signature to your emails. This signature is added by your mail server and can be checked with a public key stored in your DNS records. If the message has not been altered and came from the right server, DKIM will pass.

DKIM helps email providers confirm that the message was genuinely sent from your domain and not forged by spammers.

What Is DMARC?

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) builds on SPF and DKIM. It tells receiving servers what to do when an email fails SPF or DKIM checks.

A basic DMARC record might look like:

v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:postmaster@yourdomain.com;
    

Where:

• p=none – just monitor (do not reject yet).
• rua= – where to send reports about failed checks.

How to Set Up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC on Nairahost

1. Log in to your cPanel.
2. Look for Email Deliverability or similar (name may vary).
3. Select your domain from the list.
4. cPanel often suggests the correct SPF and DKIM records automatically.
5. Click “Repair” or “Generate” to create missing records.

For DMARC, you may need to add a TXT record manually in your DNS Zone Editor, with the name _dmarc.yourdomain.com and a value similar to the basic DMARC record shown above.

Checking Your Records

After adding SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, it can take some time to propagate. You can use various online tools to check if your records are set correctly (search “SPF checker”, “DKIM checker”, etc.).

• Send test emails to Gmail and check the “Show original” / headers for SPF/DKIM results.
• Monitor your spam rate — do more emails now arrive in the inbox?

Practical Tips to Improve Deliverability

• Do not send bulk spam or purchased mailing lists.
• Use clear subjects and avoid “spammy” words (e.g. “GET RICH FAST!!!”).
• Encourage recipients to add your email to their contacts.
• Keep your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records updated if you add new sending services (e.g. newsletter tools).