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Thinking of setting up an SPF record in your GoDaddy account?
Good move! SPF helps keep your emails secure and out of the dreaded spam folder.
However, setting up SPF might look tricky at first.
The good news? It’s actually quite simple.
After reading this post, you’ll know exactly how to add an SPF record in GoDaddy.
We’ll now explain each of the four steps in more detail:
An SPF record holds the sending servers authorized to send through your domain.
If that sounds vague, consider the following scenario:
Let’s say you’ve connected your Google Workspace account to some cold emailing tool and you use this tandem to send sales emails.
Since Google's infrastructure sends the actual emails (from youremail@yourdomain.com), you need to authorize Google's servers to send emails on your domain's behalf.
Unless your domain already has an SPF record (step 2), you would add Google’s SPF record to your domain’s DNS records (step 3).
Google’s basic SPF record looks like this: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all
If you use a different email provider, check their documentation to find the correct record.
Alternatively, search for: youremailprovider + SPF record
Step 1: Log in to your GoDaddy account
Step 2: In the dropdown menu next to your username, click on My Products
Step 3: Find your domain, and click on Manage
Step 4: Scroll down and click on Manage DNS
Step 5: Look for an existing SPF record; they always start with v=spf1.
Important: You cannot have multiple SPF records, as this would complicate authentication. If you’ve found multiple SPF records, you need to combine them into a single record. We explain how in the next section.
Step 6: If there’s an existing SPF record, you must only add an additional include tag to your record. (The include tag holds the authorized email server.) Here’s an example of an SPF record with multiple include tags: v=spf1 include:somesendingserver.net include:spf.protection.outlook.com ~all Note: There’s an SPF lookup limit of 10, so avoid unnecessary includes.
Step 7: No existing SPF record? Click Add new record
Step 8: Make sure the record’s type is set to TXT
Step 9: Add @ to the name field to set up the record for your root domain
Step 10: Paste your email provider’s record into the TXT Value field. For example: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all
Step 11: Keep the TTL to the default - TTL stands for Time To Live (the time in seconds the server should cache your SPF record)
Step 12: Save the record
You can verify your SPF record with Mailivery’s DNS Status meter. The status indicator will turn green if your SPF is set up correctly.
But before you do so, here’s something you should know:
How long does it take for an SPF record to become active?
Typically, your record will become active in a few hours. But DNS changes, like the one you just implemented, can take up to three days to propagate fully.
So, before validating your SPF record with a tool like Mailivery’s DNS Status Meter, give it at least a couple of hours.
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SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework. It allows you to specify what email servers can send through your domain.
SPF authentication will fail if an email claims to come from your domain but is sent by a server that is not in your domain's SPF record.
SPF helps to combat email spoofing, a method used to fake an email’s sender address and launch phishing attacks.
Not setting up an SPF record doesn’t just mean that most of your emails will go straight to spam. It can also lead to criminals abusing your domain to commit cyber crimes.
An SPF record consists of:
The v (Version) tag: Currently always v=spf1
The include or IP4 and IP6 tag(s): These hold the sending server domains or IP numbers
The all tag: Determines the recommended policy for emails that fail authentication
The three most commonly used all tag policies are:
SPF isn’t the only email authentication protocol in town.
DKIM and DMARC are two other essential records you should implement for your domain.
Together, these three protocols make your emails more secure and much more likely to land in your audience’s inbox.
Another key factor impacting your email deliverability is email warm-up.
Email warm-up helps you build up a sender reputation so that email providers don’t see you as a spammer. It’s an essential tool for anybody doing cold email.
Mailivery offers advanced warm-up features like AI-generated human-like warm-up emails and blacklist monitoring. It also moves emails that land in spam to the inbox and only sends warm-up emails to real email accounts of other Mailivery users.
Try Mailivery for free with a 7-day trial.
The easiest way to get responses to your cold emails.
