Google and Yahoo 2024 email changes: 5 tips to safeguard your email marketing
Effective February 2024, Google and Yahoo are implementing some changes to make Gmail and Yahoo inboxes safer from those pesky spammers. Gmail alone has a market share of almost 30%, so this matters for those of us who have newsletters as many of our subscribers are likely using Gmail or Yahoo Email.
Anything to do with emails can feel quite intimidating for us solopreneurs who don’t have the resources of an IT department to deal with this. I am not an email expert, but as a bit of a tech geek, I enjoy digging in, learning about these subjects, and sharing my findings with you. Let’s start by explaining some of the technical terms you will hear about.
Important Note
This article assumes that you have a custom domain and custom email, e.g. mydomain.com and hello@mydomain.com. If you don’t then this should be your first step! If you use Squarespace you can get a domain through them, or go with one of the 3rd party registrars, like Dreamhost, GoDaddy, or domain.com.
Common email tech terms:
DNS - Domain Name System
This is basically a giant internet phonebook that translates domain names into IP addresses and vice versa. A DNS entry contains so-called records like TXT, A, MX, or CNAME. These records are used to store information about DKIM, SPF, DMARC, etc. They are kind of like your house number, city postal code, and so on. These records provide receiving mail servers (your subscriber) with important information about the sending domain (you).
DKIM - Domain Keys Identified Mail
This is your email’s digital signature and is used to prevent spoofing or phishing. A missing DKIM record may signal to the receiving server that an email is not coming from a legitimate source and may get rejected.
SPF - Sender Policy Framework
This record contains a list of all servers that are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain. For instance, my domain is hosted with Dreamhost and I use Dreamhost email for all of my business email addresses. Therefore Dreamhost is listed in my domain’s SPF record. I also use Squarespace Campaigns for my email marketing, and I used to have Squarespace in my SPF record as well. However, this is no longer needed and I explain why further down.
DMARC - Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance
What is it with these long acronyms?! DMARC is basically the final checkpoint and the deciding authority on whether an email passes or fails, based on whether DKIM and/or SPF were authenticated.
PTR - Pointer Record
A PTR record is used for a so-called reverse DNS look-up. Imagine it like this: when you enter a domain name into a browser, the browser uses the DNS information to send you to the correct IP address where the website is hosted. This is called a DNS lookup. With emails, the opposite happens: the recipient’s server gets your IP address and then matches it to your domain name, using the PTR. This is called a reverse lookup. Kind of like the mailman holding a letter with your address and delivering it to the correct house in your street. PTR is basically an added level of security to make sure that everything matches up correctly before your email is delivered to your subscriber.
TLS - Transport Layer Security
This is an internet protocol that uses encryption to prevent unauthorized access to emails as they transit across the internet. TLS evolved from SSL (Secure Socket Layer) which you may be more familiar with.
What happens when you send an email?
As you can see from all these tech terms, there are many layers of protocols and security measures an email goes through before it is delivered to your subscriber. The following is a very high-level overview of the sequence:
Ideally, an email contains these records: DKIM, SPF, and DMARC
When a server receives an email, it performs three checks:
Does the incoming email have a valid DKIM record?
Does the email come from a mail server that is included in the SPF record?
Does the domain name in the header message match up with the domain info in the SPF or DKIM records?
Based on these checks, the receiving server will use the sender’s DMARC policy to determine whether the email is passed through, quarantined (i.e. added to a spam folder), or rejected.
Many people who use 3rd party email services for their email marketing feel intimidated when they are asked to update their DNS information with things like DMARC, DKIM, or SPF. They often ignore this step, leading to failed deliveries and bad domain authority.
What are the new requirements?
Effective February 2024, Google and Yahoo are enforcing certain requirements that until now were recommended but not mandatory. This matters because many newsletter subscribers use Gmail or Yahoo, and failure to adhere to the new rules will result in email rejections, which can damage your domain authority. In fact, let’s have a look at Google’s requirements.
For all email senders:
Authenticate email with DKIM or SPF
Use a secure TLS connection for transmitting emails
Have a valid PTR record.
Keep your spam rate below 0.10% and not higher than 0.30%
If you send more than 5,000 emails per day:
Set up DMARC for your sending domain
Ensure easy one-click unsubscribe
The ‘From’ domain name must be aligned with either the DKIM or SPF record
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5 Tips to safeguard your email marketing
As you can see, the DMARC authentication, for instance, only applies to email volumes above 5,000. However, it is generally believed that these will eventually be requirements for everyone. And given what we have learned, I think it’s a good idea to ensure all our email ducks are in a row, regardless of how many emails we send!
Here is what I recommend:
1. Make sure your emails contain DKIM, SPF and DMARC records
You don’t have to do anything if you use Squarespace Campaigns (the email marketing service I use) and host your domain with Squarespace. Furthermore, Squarespace uses a secure TLS connection and includes a PTR record, so you are all set there. If your domain is hosted with a 3rd party registrar, make sure that you have verified your domain by adding the Domain Key and DMARC records to your DNS, as per Squarespace’s instructions.
Here is a quick backstory about the SPF record: Squarespace used to require us to add SPF to our DNS as well, but this is no longer the case. I asked them about this, and here is what I learned: There are two domains associated with an email - the sender domain (this is your domain in the From field and what subscribers use to reply to emails) and the ‘envelope’ domain (this is a Squarespace domain in the hidden Reply-To field that is used by the recipient’s server to send back messages). The sender domain must pass the DKIM, and the envelope domain must pass the SPF. So Squarespace has added the SPF record to their domain and we no longer need to add it to our DNS. Mystery solved!For ConvertKit, click here.
For MailerLite, click here.
For AWeber, click here.
For Constant Contact, click here.
For Active Campaign, click here.
For Kajabi, click here.
For anyone else, please google it.
2. Add your domain to Postmaster Tools
This is where you can check your spam rate for emails sent to Gmail accounts. Ideally, your spam rate should be below 0.10% and no higher than 0.30%. The spam rate is the number of people who reported your email as spam out of the total number of messages sent. In addition to information about your spam rate, Postmaster Tools also provides useful info about these parameters:
IP reputation
Domain reputation
Feedback Loop
Authentication
Encryption
Delivery errors
3. Avoid being marked as spam
People report spam in two ways: by clicking a ‘this is spam’ link or button in their email or by selecting ‘spam’ as the reason when they unsubscribe. Here are some best practices for avoiding a high spam rate:
Use a double opt-in or confirmation email that asks people to confirm their subscription. This is, by far, the best way to avoid spam bots and invalid email addresses. And to make sure that you only have subscribers on your list who want to be there, think quality over quantity!
Have a clear unsubscribe link. This is to encourage people to use that rather than the spam link. See also tip #4.
Set up a welcome and nurture automation that helps subscribers get to know and trust you. This way, they will not wonder who you are when you later send your newsletters. Want help with this? → Check out my Calm Email Marketing course, where you’ll learn this and much more!
Don’t bombard your audience with hustly 12-email sequences and relentless high-pressure sales messages. Focus on high-quality, personal, and relevant content that is helpful, engaging, and builds trust.
Clean your list and remove anyone who has not opened your email in more than 12 months. This is a bit tricky in Squarespace Campaigns; there is no way to filter unopened emails. What I do is make everyone resubscribe to a new list every year or two. Which is not ideal but definitely cleans my list! I believe other email providers, like ConvertKit, have better features for this, so definitely check this out.
4. Make unsubscribing easy
In Squarespace Campaigns the unsubscribe link is in the footer and cannot be removed. This is good! I am unsure about other email services, but I assume they have similar safeguards in place. The most common placement for the unsubscribe link is in the footer; some experts also recommend to place a second one at the top of the email to encourage those who no longer want to get your emails to unsubscribe rather than mark it as spam. Either way, make sure your unsubscribe link is easy to find.
5. Ask for help if needed
Dealing with DNS and email settings can be confusing, so definitely reach out to your email marketing provider and/or domain registrar and ask them to help you. That’s exactly what I did today. I had questions about the SPF and PTR and contacted Squarespace and Dreamhost. With Squarespace, I had to push back a bit because the first person didn’t seem to be that familiar with DNS settings. My case was escalated to a specialist who did an awesome job explaining everything to me. Dreamhost support is always excellent out of the gate, and today was no exception - this is why I’ve been a happy customer of theirs for more than 20 years. Never be afraid to say that you don’t understand something!
