Why Are My Emails Going to Spam? (Plain-English Guide to Fixing Your SPF, DKIM & DMARC)

If you’re sending emails from your website and they’re ending up in people’s spam folders, you’re not alone. Emails going to spam is a common problem for small businesses, nonprofits, and anyone sending emails through custom domains like hello@yourdomain.com.

The reason? Your domain probably isn’t passing modern email authentication checks — the digital version of “proving your identity” online.

Here’s what you need to know, in plain English.

The Three Email Authentication Checks that Prevent Emails Going to Spam

Email providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo look for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to decide whether to trust your email. These records are attached to your domain, either with your domain registrar or on your website’s hosting server. If you’re missing any of these records, your outgoing emails might get flagged as spam — or blocked entirely.

Here’s what each one does:

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
  This is like a guest list. It tells the world which servers are allowed to send email for your domain. If your email doesn’t come from a listed server, it looks fishy. For example, if you send emails through Gmail, Mailchimp, and your website host, you need to list all those servers in your SPF record. If a spammer tries to fake your email address from some other server, it won’t be on the list — and the receiving mail server will know to be suspicious.
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
  DKIM works like a digital signature. When your email is sent, it’s signed using a private encryption key. When it’s received, the server can use a public key (published in your DNS settings) to verify that it hasn’t been altered in transit and really came from your domain. This is one of the strongest signals that your email is trustworthy. If SPF is the guest list, DKIM is the wax seal.
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance)
  DMARC is the boss. It looks at the results of SPF and DKIM and decides what to do with any emails that don’t pass the test. You can tell mail servers to reject them, quarantine them (send them to spam), or deliver them anyway. You can also receive reports that help you see what’s working and what’s not. DMARC gives you control and visibility. Without it, email providers are left guessing what to do with your messages.

Why Domain Authentication Matters for You

If you send newsletters, donation requests, contact form messages, or any other kind of email from your website — and you don’t have these records set up correctly — there’s a good chance of your emails going to spam.

Modern spam filters are ruthless. If your domain isn’t authenticated properly, even your legitimate messages can be flagged as junk. This is especially true if you’re:

• Sending email newsletters or announcements
• Using contact forms that email submissions to you
• Following up with clients or customers from your own domain
• Running donation campaigns via email
• Using tools like Mailchimp, SendGrid, or website contact forms

Without proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, these emails can easily land in the spam folder — or disappear entirely.

BTW, you can test and verify your SPF, DKIM and DMARC using this ActiveCampaign tool.

The Fix: Set Up Your DNS Records

The good news? These three email authentication records are free and easy to set up — once you know what you’re doing.

You or your IT dept, or a web developer like me, will need to:

• Add an SPF TXT record to your domain’s DNS
• Add a DKIM TXT record, typically provided by your email platform
• Create a DMARC TXT record with instructions for how to handle failures

It usually takes about 30 minutes to configure everything correctly.

Need to stop your emails going to spam?

I help nonprofits and mission-driven businesses get their websites — and their email systems — working properly. Get in touch and let’s stop your emails going to spam.