Setting up a sender domain in MAILINGWORK is an important step to ensure the deliverability and authenticity of your emails. By configuring your own sender domain, you can ensure that your newsletters are successfully delivered to your recipients' inboxes. In this article, I'll explain step by step how to set up a sender domain in MAILINGWORK and which DNS entries are required.

How do I create a sender domain in MAILINGWORK?

In your MAILINGWORK account, you'll find the menu item "DKIM and Sender Domains" under the "Administration" tab. You can create a new sender domain for your email campaigns using the "Create Sender Domain" button.

In the window that opens, enter your desired future sender domain in the "Sender Domain" field. Once created, the URL of the sender domain cannot be changed.

We recommend using a subdomain for sending your newsletters. Why? Read more in this article.

With the "Standard domain" checkbox, you define the domain that will be used by default for sending your newsletters. If you use multiple sender domains, you can change the sender domain in the basic settings of your mailing.

The "Selector" field in the "DKIM Settings" tab is a freely selectable identifier that almost all web hosts require. It must be unique within the domain and must not contain special characters or umlauts. Different DKIM selectors allow you to use different DKIM signatures within a domain for different purposes. After creation, the selector cannot be changed. It is also a mandatory field.

The key length can be either 1024 bits or 2048 bits. We recommend 2048 bits as this value provides more security. For domain providers that only allow shorter DKIM keys, 1024 bits are suitable. After creating the sender domain, the key length cannot be changed.

For email forwarding from the subdomain to the main domain, you can choose from the following three options:

1. No forwarding: Replies are not forwarded, i.e., they are lost. Not recommended!
   
2. Forwarding to parent domain: If, for example, the sender address in the mailing is set to info@subdomain.example.com, replies will be forwarded to info@example.com. Please ensure that this mailbox exists on the main domain.
   
3. Forwarding to individual address: Replies are forwarded to the entered address. Please ensure that this mailbox exists.

The forwarding settings can be changed at any time.

After saving, you will find the new sender domain together with the automatically generated DNS entry in the overview.

For more information about the generated DNS entries, click here.

Verification of DNS entries by MAILINGWORK

Note: It can take several minutes for changes in the DNS settings to be transmitted to MAILINGWORK and displayed due to server constraints.

Why proper sender domain setup improves deliverability

The careful setup of your sender domain is crucial for successful email delivery and directly affects the following aspects:

Authentication and trustworthiness

With correctly configured DNS entries (DKIM, SPF, DMARC, and MX), you signal to email providers that your messages are authentic. These authentication mechanisms confirm that the emails actually come from you and not from someone pretending to be you. Email providers increasingly prefer authenticated messages and are more likely to classify non-authenticated emails as spam.

Protection against phishing and spoofing

By implementing DKIM, SPF, and especially DMARC, you protect your domain from misuse by third parties. These measures prevent fraudsters from using your domain for phishing attacks or sending spam. Strong protection of your domain improves your reputation as a sender in the long term.

Better reputation with email providers

Email providers such as Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo evaluate the technical configuration of your sending domain. A fully and correctly configured sender domain improves your sender reputation and increases the likelihood that your emails will land in the inbox rather than the spam folder.

Higher delivery rates

The combination of authentication, protection against misuse, and improved sender reputation leads directly to higher delivery rates. The more email providers classify your messages as trustworthy, the more of your recipients will actually see your newsletters in their inbox.

Tracking and analysis

A correctly configured sender domain enables more precise tracking of your email campaigns. As fewer emails are filtered, you receive more accurate data on open and click rates, which helps you optimize your email marketing strategy.

The few minutes you invest in correctly setting up your sender domain will pay off through significantly improved deliverability, higher open rates, and ultimately a better ROI for your email marketing activities.