Authenticating your domain is super easy—it takes a few minutes, and it will increase your deliverability and sender reputation.
Before getting started, 👉 You should have access to your DNS settings (domain management in your domain provider’s zone editor or cPanel).
We recommend that you have two windows or tabs open so you can quickly go back and forth between your domain provider DNS management page and your Flodesk domain authentication page.
Step 1. In the Flodesk tab, go to your Account > Domain setup.
Step 2. Click on the button to start verifying your domain. It will bring you to a summary screen of the next steps.
Step 3. Select your domain provider from the drop-down menu.
In this example, we chose SiteGround. Then click on Continue.
If you cannot find your domain provider, select the last option called 'Other Provider'.
If you don’t know who your domain provider is, a good tip is to search your inbox for your domain registration and see who the email is coming from.
Step 4. On the next screen, you will see the 3 sets of CNAME records that you need to add to the DNS Zone Editor (in this example, on SiteGround).
IMPORTANT: We're making some updates to our domain verification process. In some cases, you will be presented with 2 sets of CNAME records only that you need to add (instead of the above-mentioned 3 CNAME records).
NOTE: these CNAME values are unique to your Flodesk account and your custom domain.
Regardless of which domain provider you selected under the previous step, the CNAME records won't change. Only the provider-specific information on how to add these records change.
So if you may have selected SiteGround in error, but your domain registrar is GoDaddy, the CNAME values you will see are still valid.
You just need to login to GoDaddy and add those values there.
Step 5. In your domain registrar tab: login to your domain registrar account and navigate to your DNS records management page. You will be adding three CNAME records.
Here are some step by step articles on how to add DNS records in the most common domain registrars:
Step 6. Still in your domain registrar tab: create a new CNAME record in your domain provider DNS management zone. And copy the records as you see them from Flodesk. Use the 'Copy' buttons.
Step 7. Repeat to add all three (or two) records from your Flodesk account.
Step 8. The magic is happening! You’ve done the hard work, and your domain is now in the process of being authenticated!
You should now see the yellow Pending status label at the top of your domain setup card.
Wait 48-72 hours and come back to check if your domain has been successfully authenticated. The top of your domain setup card should now display the Verified green label.
Troubleshooting: if you instead see the Not Verified red label below, this means your records weren't entered correctly. Click on the button to verify your domain again.
Here's what to do if your authentication failed:
Make sure you added CNAME type records to your DNS management zone in your domain registrar site.
Make sure your CNAME DNS records are in the right order (as displayed in your Flodesk account).
Verify that the records exactly match those displayed in your Flodesk domain setup guide.
Verify that you added all two or three required CNAME records
If you have gone through all of these steps and are still having trouble, please contact your domain registrar provider. In rare cases, they might require special approval or add-ons to enable you to modify your DNS settings.
As always, you can also reach out to us if you need further support or have any questions.
Please note: DKIM verification is only available for custom domain email addresses, such as you@yourdomain.com.
You will not be able to verify an email address with a public provider like gmail.com, icloud.com, yahoo.com, me.com, hotmail.com, etc.
We highly recommend using a custom domain if you'd like to send out a lot of emails because a DKIM verified custom domain would give you much greater deliverability, open, and click rates, as well as keep you out of the spam box!
More to learn:
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If you couldn't find a solution for your issue in the Help center, please send us a note to support[at]flodesk.com mentioning your Flodesk account login email with a detailed description of your problem.
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