Verify your domain to send email from GorgiasUpdated 4 days ago

To send email from Gorgias using an external email address, first connect an external email address, then follow the steps in this article to verify your email domain. Verifying your domain proves that emails from that domain are safe, reliable, and meet standard authentication requirements set by email delivery systems. Proper domain verification also helps to ensure that emails sent from Gorgias can be reliably delivered to your customers. 

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Requirements

• Only Admins can access the domain verification values in Gorgias
• You’ll need to be an Administrator in your Domain Registrar to update your DNS records

Verify your domain

Before delivering your email, Email Service Providers (like Google or Microsoft) verify that emails sent to their customers meet minimum email authentication requirements to minimize phishing and ransomware attacks. When an email doesn’t meet these requirements, it can take longer to reach the recipient, be sent to the recipient's Spam/Junk folder, or can be rejected entirely — also known as a bounce. In order to meet these requirements, email addresses with custom domains that are connected to Gorgias need to be verified by adding the following records to your Domain Registrar’s DNS settings:

• DKIM Records
  These records specify how recipients' mail servers can check that emails sent from the domain are safe.
  Gorgias provides two CNAME* values for DKIM so that the security keys can be rotated without downtime. You’ll want to create separate records for each value in your DNS settings.
• Custom Return Path
  This is where Email Service Providers send delivery failure notifications if your email bounces.
  Gorgias provides a CNAME for Custom Return Path so that, when added to your DNS settings, Gorgias is authorized to manage email bounces on behalf of your domain.
• DMARC Records 
  If your DKIM checks fail, the DMARC record specifies what to do.
  Gorgias provides a TXT record (below) for you to add to your DNS settings.

_{*Some customers might have TXT values in Gorgias instead of CNAME. If you see TXT values in Gorgias that start with k=rsa and v=spf , skip ahead to Create SPF and DKIM records in Gorgias. If you’d like more information, you can contact our support team.}

You’ll be prompted to verify your domain when you connect an email to Gorgias. Each email address you connect will be listed with its verification status on the Emails page.

If you connected your email address to Gorgias with automatic email forwarding, verifying your domain is required before you’ll be able to send email from Gorgias.  

If you connected your email address with a direct email integration and you use a custom domain, verifying your domain is strongly recommended, as unverified domains are more susceptible to delivery failures.

Create records in your Domain Registrar

Gorgias provides CNAME values for you to create DKIM records in your DNS settings. When you have a DKIM record in your DNS settings, your email recipient's mail server is able to check the DKIM signature in the email header against the key from your DNS to make sure the email is really from you and hasn’t been changed.

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Email.
3. Select an email address from the list, then click Verify Domain.
4. In a separate browser tab, sign into your Domain Registrar dashboard and navigate to the DNS settings for the domain that matches the one you selected in Gorgias.
5. Create a CNAME record in your DNS settings, then add gor._domainkey as the Host/Name/Record Name, and paste the Value string from Gorgias into the Value field in the record.
6. Create a second CNAME record in your DNS settings, then add gor2._domainkey as the Host/Name/Record Name, and paste the Value string from Gorgias into the Value field in the record.
7. Create a third CNAME record in your DNS settings, then add em8299 as the Host/Name/Record Name, and paste the Value string from Gorgias into the Value field in the record.
8. Once you’ve saved the values from Gorgias as DNS records in your Domain Registrar, return to Gorgias and click Check Status.

Create SPF and DKIM records in your Domain Registrar

If you have only CNAME values in Gorgias, you can ignore the steps below. If you have TXT values that start with k=rsa; and v=spf, you'll need to add them to records in your DNS settings.

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Email.
3. Select an email address from the list, then click Verify Domain.
4. In a separate browser tab, sign into your Domain Registrar dashboard and navigate to the DNS settings for the domain that matches the one you selected in Gorgias.
5. Create a TXT record in your DNS settings, then add @ as the Host/Name/Record Name, and paste the entire Value string that starts with v=spf... from Gorgias into the Value field in the record. This is your SPF record.
6. Create a second TXT record in your DNS settings, then paste the Host value from Gorgias that starts with pic_domain... as the Host/Name/Record Name in the record, and paste the Value string that starts with k=rsa; from Gorgias into the Value field in the record. This is your DKIM record.
7. Once you’ve saved the values from Gorgias as DNS records in your Domain Registrar, return to Gorgias and click Check Status.
   
   

Create a DMARC record in your Domain Registrar

DMARC records tell a recipient's mail server how to handle emails that fail authentication checks, and can send you reports about who is sending mail from your domain. If you send a high volume of email, adding a DMARC record to your DNS settings in addition to DKIM records increases your compliance with email authentication requirements, and helps to improve your email deliverability.

Before you add a DMARC record, ensure that the records you added from the previous section are live. This can take up to 72 hours, and you can use a tool like MXToolbox DKIM Lookup to validate DKIM records. Use MXToolBox SPF Lookup if you need to validate an SPF record.

DMARC values

When adding a DMARC record to your DNS records, use the following values, replacing example.com with your domain name, and the rua=mailto: address with the email address that should receive the aggregated report of quarantined or rejected emails.

If you have an existing DMARC record for your domain, ensure that the policy (the p value) is set to either p=quarantine or p=reject:

• Treat as suspicious - p=quarantine
  When authentication fails, the recipient's server will mark the email as suspicious, and will take an action like sending it to their spam/junk folder or flagging it in their inbox. The email may still end up in the recipient's inbox if their own filtering logic overrides DMARC. 
  This policy can protect recipients from spoofed emails from your domain, while minimizing the loss of legitimate mail.
• Full enforcement - p=reject
  When authentication fails, the recipient's server will reject the email and it will not be delivered.
  This policy prevents spoofing of your domain entirely.

Add values to common Domain Registrars

If you’re having trouble adding values to or creating DNS records, it’s best to reach out to your Domain Registrar for support. Below, you’ll find documentation about managing DNS settings from a few common Domain Registrars:

• Bluehost
• DreamHost
• GoDaddy
• Hostinger
• 1&1 IONOS
• Name.com
• Namecheap
• Shopify
• Squarespace

Single Sender Verification 

If you used the the direct email integration to connect a generic email domain (ex: @gmail.com, @outlook.com) to Gorgias, you can use single sender verification to test your email connection with Gorgias. Verifying your email address using single sender verification will not allow Gorgias to use our Email Service Provider as a backup method, and does not meet authentication requirements for email delivery, which could result in your emails failing to reach your customers.

1. From your helpdesk, click the Settings icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the menu, locate Channels, then select Email. 
3. Select an email address from the list, then go to the Outbound Verification tab.
4. Click Verify Single Sender.
5. Enter your company details - this will trigger a verification email to your address.

Once completed, the integration will display a green Verified status. Records need to be verified, before you can use your email integration for replies from your helpdesk.