Will your email reach the inbox?

What we check

• Mail servers (MX): that your domain can receive replies, and which provider runs it.
• SPF: the one TXT record that lists who may send email for your domain. We check there's exactly one, that it includes your provider, that it ends in ~all or -all, and that it stays under the limit of 10 DNS lookups.
• DKIM: the key your provider signs each email with, so receivers can tell nobody changed it on the way. We look under the names Google, Microsoft, Zoho, Fastmail, iCloud and others use.
• DMARC: the record that tells Gmail and Outlook what to do when SPF and DKIM fail, and where to send reports.
• Domain blocklists: whether your domain is on Spamhaus DBL, SURBL or URIBL, the lists spam filters read.

Why Gmail and Yahoo care

Since 2024, Gmail and Yahoo ask everyone who sends them email to have SPF or DKIM set up, and anyone who sends a lot to have all three, DMARC included. Email that fails these checks goes to spam or doesn't arrive at all. Outlook asked the same of large senders in 2025. The records take ten minutes to add, and you do it once.

How to fix what's missing

Every record goes in your domain's DNS: wherever you bought the domain (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Google Domains) or wherever its DNS lives (often Cloudflare). Add a TXT record with the name and value we show, save, and run the check again. Most changes show up within an hour.

• No SPF: add the record we suggest. If you already have one, don't add a second: put the new include: into the one you have.
• No DKIM: DKIM is turned on in your email provider, not just in DNS. Google Workspace: Admin console, Apps, Gmail, Authenticate email. Microsoft 365: Defender portal, Email authentication, DKIM. Your provider then gives you the record to add.
• No DMARC: start with v=DMARC1; p=none;. It changes nothing for your email but tells receivers you're set up. After a few weeks of clean sending, move to p=quarantine.

All green and still in spam?

Then it's usually the mailbox, not the records. A brand-new mailbox that suddenly sends a hundred emails looks like spam to Gmail. Start with a few normal emails a day, grow slowly, and write to people who'd be glad to hear from you. Our guide to cold email that stays out of spam covers the rest, and which email provider to use compares the ones that work well.

Sending cold email?

ScoutKite finds people who would buy from you, each with an email they published on their own site, and writes a first email from one true fact about their business. You approve every one, and it goes out from your own inbox at a pace that keeps it out of spam.