A Sender Policy Framework also known as SPF Records is a form of email validation method for your domain that allows your recipients’ mail servers to verify that the emails from your domain from an ESP, mail exchange server or an IP are in fact sent by you, and are not being forged/spoofed by someone else.

To get into a little more detail, when you purchase a domain for hosting your website or sending emails from one of the leading domain service providers mentioned below, your domain is registered to you. Some email inboxes have difficulty reconciling your particular domain (located on one of the servers below) with an email sent from Benchmark Email’s servers. If this happens, an inbox, in trying to protect its recipient, can send an email campaign straight to a spam folder or in rare instances reject the emails

Adding Benchmark Email to your domain SPF ensures that email inboxes match you, the sender, with the Benchmark server. With an SPF record, your email campaign will be delivered without trouble. We highly encourage you to update the below given record as your domain SPF record:

If you already have an existing SPF record then you can simply add “include:bmsend.com” to your existing record. If you need further assistance in setting up the correct SPF for your domain then please contact support. The above suggested update will cover ALL the mail servers for Benchmark Email.

Here is a link from where you can learn more about setting up SPF records:* http://www.openspf.net http://www.openspf.net/SPF_Record_Syntax*

You can check the current SPF for your domain using the kitterman SPF Query Tool page: http://www.kitterman.com/spf/validate.html

Now, that you have learned about SPF Records, the next natural step is to learn about DKIM. Please Click Here to be directed to our DKIM FAQ.

Also, below is a list of commonly used domain host’s and the instructions for adding Benchmark to their records.

Click one of the services to jump to that section:

• iPage
• Network Solutions
• Host Gator
• Blue Host
• Just Host
• Host Monster
• Web Hosting Hub
• GoDaddy

http://www.ipage.com/

1. Log into the Control Panel with your account username and password
2. Click on Domain Central under the Domain section
3. Select the domain name for which you want to manage the TXT/SPF records
4. Click on DNS
5. Select TXT/SPF Record from the Modify dropdown menu
6. Type in “bmsend.com” and click Add

http://www.networksolutions.com/

1. Go to your Account Manager, select My Domain Names
2. Select the domain you want to edit and click Manage
3. In the green box, select Change Where Domain Points
4. Select Advanced DNS and click on continue.
5. In the Text (TXT Records) section, click on the Edit TXT Records button
6. Type in “bmsend.com” under the Host Field and insert this text record in the text box on the right hand side of the screen.
7. Click Continue
8. You will be prompted to a confirmation page. Review and click on the Save Changes button

http://www.hostgator.com/

1. Log into your Control Panel and click the Advanced DNS Zone Editor icon (if you do not have this icon, contact HostGator to request for it)
2. Select the desired domain name from the dropdown menu
3. Under Add a Record, enter the following information:
   • • Name: type your domain name (exclude the www)
     • TTL: 1400

   Type: TXT

   • Address: “bmsend.com”
4. Click the Add Record button

http://www.bluehost.com/ http://www.justhost.com http://www.hostmonster.com

These three sites follow the same process.

Before adding our SPF record, you must remove your current record:

1. Click on the DNS Zone Editor icon in the Domains section
2. Locate the current record and click Delete under the Action field

Now add the Benchmark Email SPF record:

1. Log into your site’s Control Panel (e.g. login.bluehost.com)
2. Select the DNS Zone Editor icon in the Domains section
3. Select the domain you want to modify from the drop-down menu
4. Scroll down to the heading named Add DNS Record
5. In the Host Record field, enter the ‘@’ sign
6. From the Type drop-down menu, select TXT
7. In the Points To field, type in “bmsend.com”
8. Select Add Record

http://www.webhostinghub.com/

1. Log into your Control Panel
2. Click on the Email Authentication icon under the Mail section of the Control Panel homepage
3. On the Email Authentication page under Advanced Settings, scroll down near the bottom of the page and select the box next to All Entry (ALL)
4. Scroll back up and click on the Enable button under SPF
5. On the next page, you will receive a confirmation message stating that your “SPF has been enabled”
6. Click on the Go Back link to return to the Email authentication page
7. Next to Additional Hosts that send mail for your domains (A), click Add
8. Type in bmsend.com
9. Click OK

http://www.godaddy.com/

1. Log in to your My Products page.
2. Select the My Products tab:
3. Click Manage All
4. From the top menu, click the DNS tab, and select Manage Zones:
5. Enter the domain name you want to use and click Search.
6. On the DNS Management page, in the Records section, click the Click pencil icon on existing MX records next to TXT.
7. Add the following values to update the TXT records a) Host: @ b) TXT Value: v=spf1 a mx include:bmsend.com ~all c) TTL: Leave it default
8. Click Save.