Communication is the key to meaningful collaborations and the sustainable success of businesses. Whether you want to convert potential buyers into loyal customers or communicate with partners for strategic plans, email emerges as a vital communication asset. Despite its significance, most businesses overlook configurations and setups for email accounts. It can become a major technical blunder if DNS configurations are not done correctly. If you’re a subscriber to a business email solution, you must understand the role of the right configurations for seamless email communications.
While running behind the cheapest domain name, you must not compromise on the reliability and security of your email. Even a single mistake while configuring DNS records can cause interruptions in your regular communications. It may get even worse if your email account is hacked by cyber attackers and used for unauthorized activities. To secure your brand from such a mess, you must learn the role of email DNS records and how to rectify misconfigurations.
Why Do Email DNS Records Have Significance?
DNS records guide email servers with the necessary details to manage email for a specific domain. Even one mistake in configuring DNS records can result in numerous problems. Emails will be cast as spam, vital messages will be undelivered, or in some cases, all email functionalities may not work. If these issues happen frequently, it can hamper your brand’s image and may lead to distrust among your connections.
An email account needs to be configured with DNS records, such as MX (Mail Exchange), SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) records.
Hidden Costs of Misconfigured Email
DNS Black Listed as Spam or Junk
When your DNS configuration is inaccurate, your authentic email gets listed in the spam or junk section of your recipient's inbox. This scenario occurs when you enter the wrong values in one of the DNS records. Email sent from your account is verified by the email server for its genuineness, and it may categorize your email as suspicious. If your email is often listed as spam, it hampers your brand image, resulting in a loss of sales and revenues.
Poor Email Deliverability
Mistakes in DNS records can lead to problems in the seamless functioning of both email sending and receiving. Because of these issues, your email never reaches your intended recipient. In the event of wrong DNS entries, the email server fails to recognize the receiver's address, and you miss out on incoming emails. Poor email deliverability leads to communication breakdowns with your connections.
Email Spoofing and Phishing
Digital-driven businesses face email spoofing issues on a larger scale. Modern cyberattackers create a fake identity and impersonate your domain. By using your domain, they engage in unauthorized activities, such as sending fraudulent emails to demand money or subscribing to malicious services. When customers receive these emails, they appear as coming from your business.
Escalating Customer Support Challenges
Your business faces customer support issues when your email DNS records are misconfigured and fail to process emails. Such incidents result in customers complaining about missing emails or spam messages, creating an extra burden for your support team to address these issues. You need to do rework to correct the misconfiguration, and answering customer queries leads to unnecessary wastage of time and resources.
Quick Fix for Misconfigured Email DNS
Audit Your DNS Configurations
After troubleshooting DNS record problems, perform a careful assessment of DNS entries to find the incorrect inputs. For this task, you can use MXToolbox to verify all records and ensure the setup for valid configuration standards.
Ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC Compliance
Verify your SPF records, which include all servers that have the authority to process emails under your identity. Additionally, correct DKIM records that create a signature for your ongoing emails and create your authorized image for your email recipients. Integrated DMARC policy for your email system for email validation, so that your business remains protected against issues of email phishing.
Update Your MX Records
For your email system to function normally according to the communication standards, you need to review and update your email MX records. According to the standard email framework, ensure your DNS records point to the correct mail servers.
Conduct Email Deliverability Test
After your DNS record assessment, make necessary updates and conduct multiple email tests. Use popular email testing tools, such as SenderScore, GlockApps, and SpamAssassin, to perform comprehensive tests on your email system and verify the correct settings.
Conclusion
As we discussed, communication is the engine for today’s digital businesses, and the email system acts as the driver. Your business email setup needs expert support for correct configurations. For this, you can partner with renowned email hosting providers who not only help you secure the cheapest domain name but also ensure the reliable functioning and security of your email services.