Why it’s important to verify and authenticate
- Authenticating your domain and email proves to your subscribers that you are who you say you are.
- It also proves to MailChimp that they can trust you enough to show your email address without a bunch of “via mail13.wdc01.rsgsv.net” that typically shows up beside your name in Gmail, like the image below.
- Speaking of Gmail, if you authenticate your domain, then Gmail will trust your emails enough to automatically load images (instead of asking your subscribers if they want to every time). They even wrote about it here.
What do you need?
- Domain registrar access.
- Enough knowledge about DNS records to add a TXT and CNAME record to your domain.
- Patience, since even though you only have to do this once, it can take up to 24 hours for the changes to take effect.
- Note first that domain authentication is only available if you send emails from a custom domain (e.g. [email protected], not [email protected]).
Authenticating your email
Log into your MailChimp account and click on your name in the top right navigation. From this dropdown, click on the Account panel. Then click Settings and pick Verified Domains. Click the Verify an Email Domain button. Next, type in the email address you use to send emails to your list and then click Send Verification Email. You’ll get an email with a code in it, so go to your inbox. Copy and paste that code into the Enter Verification Code field back in MailChimp. Boom, you’re done. You’ll now see “Verified” under your domain on that screen.Authenticating your domain
Now that your domain is verified, you need to authenticate it. On that same Verified Domains screen, click Authenticate beside your domain. You’ll see a TXT record to add to your domain. It’ll be a code similar to (but not this exact code): “v=spf1 include:servers.mcsv.net ?all” Copy and paste that into a TXT record as a value in your domain’s DNS settings. Next, scroll down to #2 on that screen and copy the CNAME and value to your domain. It’ll be similar to “k1._domainkey” as the hostname and “dkim.mcsv.net” as the value. Click Authenticate Domain, and you’re done! (Note that it may not be instant since your domain registrar can take a few hours to update.) This is what it looks like when everything’s gone according to plan:Now your emails are much more deliverable.
Once you’re finished, images will load by default in Gmail, your email address won’t include a bunch of gibberish, and your emails will be much less likely to go to Spam or Promotions. Happy emailing!Paul Jarvis
Paul Jarvis is a certified MailChimp expert and teaches a popular online course that helps you understand and use the features you’re already paying for in MailChimp - called Chimp Essentials.
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