There’s nothing quite like free email providers such as AOL, Yahoo, and Gmail is there? Well, while getting a free email address is easy, there is a downside.
Domain spoofing involves malicious emails attempting to get your personal information by mimicking professional domains. To combat this, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have implemented DMARC.
“Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance”, DMARC. Basically, DMARC is used to determine the authenticity of incoming emails and then reject and quarantine ones that are deemed false and/or malicious.
How does this Affect You?
To reduce the flow of spam and email abuse, ISPs will often not deliver emails from @yahoo.com, @aol.com, @gmail.com, and any other free domain email addresses unless they are sent directly from a Yahoo, AOL, or Gmail account. This means if you are using one of these domains through an email marketing service (like BenchmarkONE), it will be immediately discarded or blocked.
This issue is detrimental to email efficiency, causing low open rates and high bounce rates. This is not BenchmarkONE-specific; it’s a global email policy that affects email senders worldwide.
There is a Solution!
Because the problem occurs for free domains which you most likely don’t 100% own, the #1 solution to this issue is to make sure that every email you send through BenchmarkONE comes from a domain that you own.
If you don't already have your own domain:
Google allows you to create a company email for $5.00/month: Google Pricing
GoDaddy.com and Bluehost.com are also great for registering dependable domains.
Why is this important?
Even if you change your web host, you keep your domain name. This means that your customers who knew your domain before you changed hosts would be redirected automatically to your new web address!
A credible domain name goes a long way. Would you rather do business with someone who has their own unique domain or someone sending from Gmail or Yahoo?
Choosing a domain name to reflect your company or product is likely to be remembered by your clients.
A good domain commands respect and authority and is more likely to be noticed over a third-party domain.
How do I set it up?
Think of a few possible domain names. There’s chance that the domain you came up with is taken, so it’s always good to have backups.
You need either a credit card or Paypal to pay for the domain, a requirement for pretty much all registrars.
If you already have a web host, make sure you obtain (from them) the names for their primary and secondary servers. You’ll need this info to point your domain to your website.
If you don’t already have a web host, you can reserve your domain temporarily while you go obtain one.
How do I adjust my settings in BenchmarkONE now that I have this set up?
Go to Account Settings > Profile Information.
Update your email address to reflect the new email with your unique domain and save changes.
An email will be sent to that address for authentication, so make sure you receive and click through that email.