Account & Setup
      Back to home
      1. Hyly AI Help Center
      2. Account & Setup

      How does DKIM prevent your messages from going to SPAM?

      Context

      You may find your emails are going to your recipients' spam folders. Prospects and residents could need eBlasts, lifecycle marketing materials, tour information, etc.
       
      There are two key ways to fix this:
      1. Include language in your emails that encourages recipients to add your email address to their contacts.
      2. Get your domain DKIM verified.
       

      Overview

      In this overview, you will learn what DKIM is, how to DKIM verify your domain, and why DKIM verification is essential.
       

      What's DKIM?

      Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM) verification is used by recipients to verify that the email you send is authentic, trustworthy, and originates from your domain. DKIM signatures are stored in your domain's DNS system as CNAME Records.
      ​
       
      Here are the basic steps to DKIM:
      1. An email message sent using DKIM includes a DKIM-Signature header field containing a cryptographically signed representation of the message. 
      2. A provider receiving the message can use a public key published in the sender's DNS record to decode the signature. 
      3. Email providers then use this information to determine whether messages are authentic.
      To learn more about DKIM, click here.
       

      Why Should I DKIM Verify My Domain?

      DKIM is a standard that allows senders to sign their email messages with a cryptographic key. Email providers then use these signatures to verify that a third party didn't modify the messages while in transit.
       
      DKIM verification is beneficial because it:
      1. Detects forgery
      2. Prevents the delivery of spam
      3. Improves reputability
      4. Increases deliverability 
       

      How Do I DKIM Verify My Domain?

      To complete DKIM verification, perform the following steps:
       
      1. Contact us at Hy.ly support explaining that you want DKIM to verify your domain.
      2. We will provide you with 3 CNAME records in a CSV file for your IT team to add to your DNS.
      *Note: 'CNAME Records' include:
        1. Record Name
        2. Record Type
        3. Record Value
       
      3. Add these to your DNS within 72 hours of receiving them.
       
       

      What is a CNAME?

      The ‘canonical name’ (CNAME) record is used in lieu of an A record when a domain or subdomain is an alias of another domain. All CNAME records must point to a domain, never an IP address. Imagine a scavenger hunt where each clue points to another clue and the final clue points to the treasure. A domain with a CNAME record is like a clue pointing you to another clue (another domain with a CNAME record) or the treasure (a domain with an A record).
       
      For example, suppose blog.example.com has a CNAME record with a value of ‘example.com’ (without the ‘blog’). This means that when a DNS server hits the DNS records for blog.example.com, it triggers another DNS lookup to example.com, returning example.com’s IP address via its A record. In this case, we would say that example.com is blog.example.com's canonical name (or proper name) of blog.example.com.
       
      Often, when sites have subdomains such as blog.example.com or shop.example.com, those subdomains will have CNAME records that point to a root domain (example.com). This way, if the IP address of the host changes, only the DNS A record for the root domain needs to be updated, and all the CNAME records will follow along with whatever changes are made to the root.