A verified sending domain allows you to set up authentication records (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC) with your web host. This tells mailbox providers like Gmail and Microsoft that you are a real business and that you have given Kit permission to send emails on your behalf using your domain.

In Kit, you can set up top-level domains and subdomains as verified sending domains. Here's how.

You will see this screen:

The next steps differ depending on whether you want to set up your verified sending domain using an automatic or manual setup process.

We recommend trying the automatic setup process first. Then, if it doesn't work, use the manual setup process.

Click Set this up for me.

You will see a pop-up window that says "Kit uses Entri to easily configure your domain":

Click Continue.

On the next screen, choose whether to create a new Entri account, log in to an existing one, or continue as a guest.

Entri will then analyze your domain to detect your DNS provider. You may also be asked to indicate your DNS provider yourself.

You'll then be prompted to log in to your DNS provider (like GoDaddy, for example):

Once you've logged in, Entri will begin configuring your domain.
​

Finally, you may need to click Validate once the domain has been configured. Configuration may take a few minutes, so give the system enough time to reflect the changes.

The manual setup involves a basic understanding of CNAME records.

On the Verify your sending domain screen, copy the DNS records, and then add them to your DNS provider's record manager. (For more information on this, see the "Configuring your records" section below.)

Once you've added the records, click Validate.

If your records are set up correctly, you will see a message saying that your sending domain is verified.

Some DNS providers require truncated versions of the host values (for example, just ckespa instead of ckespa.yourdomain.com, and just cka._domainkey instead of cka._domainkey.yourdomain.com).

You can find instructions for the most-commonly-used DNS providers at the bottom of this article. If you're having trouble after trying both full and truncated versions of the host values, we recommend reaching out to your DNS provider's support team or an IT professional for assistance.

No, you don't need to set up a subdomain when adding a top-level domain as your verified sending domain. Your authentication records will not interfere with your top-level domain.

However, you can set up a subdomain as a verified sending domain if you want to.

If your DNS provider is suggesting that you set up a separate subdomain as your verified sending domain but you don't want to, please feel free to reach out to us so we can help walk you through how to communicate with them.

Your deliverability is based on a few factors. One of the most important is your sender reputation.

Your domain has its own reputation at each mailbox provider (Gmail, Microsoft, Yahoo, etc.). You can think of this as a credit score. Your sending reputation is the most important factor that determines whether your message is placed in the inbox or the spam folder.

There are two from-addresses in an email: one for machines (return-path) and one for humans (friendly-from). The return-path is hidden in the message headers, but the friendly-from address is visible to your subscribers.

By default, your friendly-from address will be your sending address that you send from, and the return-path will be a Kit address (kit.com).

If you need strict authentication on your domain or want to have more control over your message's reputation, a verified sending domain will:

You may see a temporary drop in open rates after setting up a verified sending domain.

This is because mailbox providers re-evaluate your sender reputation whenever there is a major change to the way you send email. These changes could be changes to e.g., your IP address, from-address, return-path address, DKIM-signing domain, and so on.

While your reputation is being recalculated, it is normal to see open rates temporarily drop or improve.

Your open rates should return to normal after sending through your verified sending domain consistently for two to three weeks. Suppressing cold subscribers for two weeks is a great way of speeding up the reputation calculation process.

What you should know before setting up a Verified Sending Domain