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Domain names and registrars

As of February 2024, domain authentication is more strictly enforced by Google and Yahoo. To avoid potential deliverability issues, DKIM and DMARC authentication must be set up for your sender email address domain.

What is a domain?

With so much of our world happening online, your domain name is a key part of your brand’s identity. It helps create a good first impression for visitors, connects you with your audience, and essentially acts as an internet home for your organization. Essentially, a domain name is the name of a website, such as www.google.com. When it comes to email, the domain is the section of the email address that’s after the @ symbol.

When using an email service provider (ESP), to send marketing emails, you cannot use a free email domain, such as @gmail.com, as your sender email address. You must use a domain that you own, as using a free email domain can lead to high bounce rates and other serious deliverability trouble.

If you don’t currently own a domain, no need to panic! We’ve created a guide to help you get started with purchasing and authenticating your domain. By following these best practices, you’ll be protecting your sending reputation and setting yourself up for strong deliverability. For more information about deliverability best practices, check out this article!

Purchasing a domain

In order to get a domain, you will need to purchase one from a domain registrar. Domain registrars are companies that handle the process of registering a domain and assigning it an IP address. They also keep track of domain names that are already owned by other organizations, so that you know that you’re not trying to buy someone else’s domain!

There are many different domain registrars, so it’s important to research your options before choosing one that’s right for you. Here are some factors that you may want to take into consideration when making your decision:

  1. Pricing: The cost of your domain for the first year may differ from the renewal price, so it’s important to know a domain registrars’ whole pricing structure.
  2. Registration period: You can choose to register your domain for different lengths of time, usually between one and ten years. Different domain registrars may offer different lengths and at different costs.
  3. Extensions: Determine whether the domain registrar that you’re considering offers the extension you need, as some may only offer .com or .org addresses.
  4. Domain transfers: If you decide to switch to a different registrar, can you take your domain with you? Are there any rules and restrictions around that?
  5. Support: Some domain registrars offer different levels of assistance, so it’s best to make sure that you’ll have access to help, just in case you need it.
  6. Expiration policies: If you forget to renew your domain before your registration expires, you may face late fees or even lose your domain. However, some registrars offer a grace period, so make sure you know a registrar’s expiration policies before you commit.
  7. Additional services: Some registrars may offer extra services that you might find useful.

Popular domain registrars

We’ve created a list of popular domain registrars to help you get started with your research. These registrars are listed in alphabetical order and are provided as a jumping off point for users who want one. This list is not an endorsement of any particular domain registrar over another.

Choosing a domain name and extension

Not all domains are created equal; bad actors use domains for malicious purposes, which affects the reputation of those domains and any domains related to them. As a result, it’s important to choose your domain name and extension with care. A good rule of thumb is to look for names ending in .com, .net, or .org, as well as a domain name that will be recognized by your recipients.

The Messaging, Malware, and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG) has some helpful guidance for choosing a domain name on page 3 of this article. Additionally, here are some other things to keep in mind while considering your options:

Extension / Top-Level Domain

The top-level domain (TLD), sometimes called the extension, is the part of the domain that comes after the “dot”. For example, .com, .org, and .edu are all TLDs. It’s best to choose an official TLD that’s acknowledged by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). IANA has a handy list that you can look through, but when in doubt, we recommend choosing a .com, .net, or .org TLD.

Check the reputation

Spamhaus offers a tool that will measure the reputation of a TLD. The worse a TLD’s reputation, the higher the score, so in this case you want to look for a domain with a low score. For example, at the time of writing this article, the .com TLD’s score is 0.13, or 1.2% bad; so you’ll want to make sure that your TLD is in that range.

Pricing

Many bad actors will buy a large number of cheap domains all at once, so be wary of domains that are extremely inexpensive or have special introductory pricing. Protecting your domain’s reputation and your email deliverability is worth spending a little extra money.

Mailbox providers

In order to comply with federal law, the email address that you send from in your email marketing account must always be connected to a real inbox where you can receive emails. Because of this, you will also need a mailbox provider to host your domain so that you can receive any emails sent to it. Your domain registrar may offer this as a service, so be sure to check with them. If they do not, you can work with a third party such as Google Workspace, Office 365, etc.

Authenticating your domain

Once you’ve purchased your domain and gotten everything set up with your domain registrar, you’re ready to set up email authentication in your email marketing account account! When it comes to email authentication, DKIM and DMARC are the most important factors. To prevent any deliverability trouble, it’s best to set up DKIM first and DMARC second.

DKIM

For an explanation of how DKIM works and why it is vital to your email deliverability, check out our DKIM and deliverability article. Once you’re ready to set up DKIM, you can find step-by-step instructions here. If you have a tiered account, you may also find our DKIM for tiered accounts article useful.

DMARC

Once DKIM is fully set up in your account, you’re ready to create a DMARC policy for your domain. Your DMARC policy is created outside of your email marketing account, usually in your domain provider. For more information about how DMARC works, how to determine if you already have a DMARC policy, and how to create a DMARC policy please check out our DMARC and SPF setup article.

Some other online tools that you may find helpful include:

Not sure where to go from here? Our email authentication resource hub offers a helpful overview of the different types of email authentication and which ones are most important.

Additional resources