Skip to main content

Improving Email Deliverability

info

Starting the end of February 2024, email service providers like Gmail and Yahoo are going to be rolling out mandatory email standards that will impact the deliverability of your emails. We strongly encourage anyone who does not have DKIM set up with ChargeOver to follow the instructions below to get ahead of the curve before email providers implement these new measures!

Domain Authentication (DKIM)

Enhance the security and reliability of your emails by setting up DKIM and SPF. This ensures that important messages, like invoices, reliably reach your customers, increasing the likelihood of prompt payments. Taking this proactive step also safeguards your emails from being marked as spam or falling victim to phishing attempts.

Configuring DKIM and SPF in ChargeOver

  1. In your settings, select Email Personalization

  1. Click the Deliverability tab

  1. Click on New Email Domain

  1. Enter the email domain you wish to verify
  2. Click Save and Continue

  1. Add the following records to your DNS and then click Continue to start the validation process

  1. Wait for ChargeOver to validate your domain
    • ChargeOver will try to validate the domain every hour, for 3 days
    • You will receive an email when validation succeeds
    • If validation does not succeed in 3 days, you'll receive an email with next steps
note

If you use ChargeOver's SendGrid, Mailgun, Mandrill, or Custom SMTP, then you'll manage DKIM in those platforms instead of within ChargeOver.

tip

Contact whoever manages your domain name if you are unsure how to add these records to your DNS.

Domain Re-Validation

ChargeOver will re-validate domains every month. You'll receive an email if anything needs to be updated in the future.

Set up SPF with your DNS provider

You can improve your email deliverability by adding an SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record for ChargeOver's mail servers. An SPF record identifies which mail servers are trusted to send emails on behalf of your domain.

Thus, if you add or update an SPF record for your domain name and include ChargeOver's mail servers, email clients are more likely to trust that the emails you send are not spam.

If you already have an SPF record

If you already have an SPF record, update your existing SPF record, adding this text to the existing record:

include:chargeovermail.com

If you do not have an SPF record

If you do not have an SPF record, create one that contains this text:

include:chargeovermail.com

A typical SPF record is a TXT type DNS record with a value like this:

v=spf1 a mx include:chargeovermail.com -all
tip

Contact whoever manages your domain name if you are unsure how to configure an SPF DNS record.

A Google search also yields some great tools for creating an SPF record, like this one: https://mxtoolbox.com/SPFRecordGenerator.aspx

DMARC

ChargeOver supports DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) for additional email authentication. DMARC builds on top of SPF and DKIM to provide an additional layer of protection from fraudulent email.

ChargeOver is compatible with DMARC policies and reporting. You must have SPF and DKIM configured with ChargeOver before emails will align with any DKIM policies.

note

DMARC alignment can only be achieved for paid ChargeOver accounts.