A simple way to boost email deliverability is to check, define, and resolve any errors with your domain's Domain Name System (DNS) records. These records help email recipients identify the authenticity of an email and its origin, and when they’re set up correctly, you can decrease the likelihood of your email being marked as spam or rejected.

📚 Tip

To learn more about what DNS records, like DKIM and SPF, are—and why they’re important for email deliverability—check out this article.

For Gmail users with a custom domain, HoneyBook offers a deliverability test right from your Integrations tab. Running this test will send a test email that checks your domain’s DKIM and SPF records, and provides you with targeted suggestions for resolving any errors.

In this article, we'll cover:

How to test your custom domain's deliverability
How to resolve an error with DKIM or SPF

Testing your custom domain’s deliverability

📣 Note

We offer this test for Gmail users who have integrated their email with HoneyBook, and use a custom domain (e.g. @yourbusinessname.com, rather than @gmail.com).

If you use HoneyBook’s default email sending service ([email protected]), you automatically leverage our sending reputation and we handle Domain Name System (DNS) records for you.

To test your custom domain's deliverability:

1. Click your profile photo in the top right corner of your screen.

2. Select Company Settings.

3. Click the Integrations tab.

4. Under Email Integration, select Send Test Email.

We’ll send a quick test message, which automatically checks your domain’s DKIM and SPF records. You can run this test at any time to ensure all is running smoothly.

📣 Note

You won't see this email in your inbox; instead, refer back to your Integrations tab to see if there are any errors.

If you receive an error message, locate the message below for more information and steps to resolve the issue.

Resolving a deliverability issue

Receiving an error when running the deliverability test does not indicate that none of your messages are sending, or that all of your emails are going to spam. It does, however, indicate that there may be an issue with your integrated email's DKIM or SPF configuration and there's room to improve your email deliverability.

Refer to the error message below and click on the drop-down for steps and resources to resolve the issue.

📣 Note

While HoneyBook is able to check these records for you and notify you of any issues, defining these records is done entirely outside of HoneyBook. HoneyBook is not able to complete this process for you, and you will not need any information from, or enter any information into, your HoneyBook account.

Defining these records is done directly in your domain provider’s Domain Name System (DNS) settings, using information from your email provider.

Learn more about setting up DKIM and SPF.

SPF record not found

Your SPF record is not defined and you will need to work with your domain provider to configure it.

To define the SPF record:

1. Log in to the management console for your domain provider.

Not sure who your domain provider is?

1. Visit this resource.

2. Enter your domain name and click Lookup.

Tip: If your email address is [email protected], your domain name should be entered as: honeybook.com

3. Scroll down to the Registrar Information section. Your provider will be listed as the Name.

Note: If there is a Reseller Information section, your provider will be listed there, not under Registrar.

2. Locate the page where you update DNS TXT records for your domain.

3. Click to add a new record.

📚 Tip

While the exact process varies by provider, here are resources to define SPF for some of the most common providers:

4. Enter the relevant information for SPF: Type, Name/Host, Value/Data, and TTL.

Type: TXT

📣 Note

Make sure to select TXT as the type—not SPF.

Name or Host: the host or name information from your provider. For example: @

📚 Tip

Here are the name/host values for some of the most common providers:

Squarespace: @
Google Workspace: @
Wix: Blank
GoDaddy: @
Bluehost: @
SiteGround: Blank
NameCheap: @
Hover: @

Value or Data: the TXT value

📚 Tip

For Gmail, enter the value exactly as follows: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all

TTL (time to live): how long the server should cache this information. For example: 1 Hour

Example:

5. Once you've added the record, remember to save your changes.

📣 Note

While HoneyBook is able to check this record for you and notify you of the error, defining an SPF record is done outside of HoneyBook and directly in your domain provider's Domain Name System (DNS) settings. HoneyBook is not able to complete this process for you.

Invalid SPF record syntax

While your SPF record is defined, there is an error with the syntax which can cause SPF to be read incorrectly.

Some common causes of this error are:

Multiple SPF records added

Each domain can have only a single SPF entry. To resolve this error, log in to the management console for your domain provider and delete all but one SPF record under the relevant domain name.

SPF record is incorrectly constructed

The record must include:

At the start, 'v=spf1'
At the end, ‘?all’, ‘-all’, or ‘~all’

For Gmail users, the full SPF value should be entered exactly as follows: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all

To resolve an error with SPF record syntax:

1. Log in to the management console for your domain provider.

Not sure who your domain provider is?

1. Visit this resource.

2. Enter your domain name and click Lookup.

Tip: If your email address is [email protected], your domain name should be entered as: honeybook.com

3. Scroll down to the Registrar Information section. Your provider will be listed as the Name.

Note: If there is a Reseller Information section, your provider will be listed there, not under Registrar.

2. Locate the page where you update DNS TXT records for your domain.

3. Adjust the SPF record to resolve the error(s). While the exact process varies by provider, here are resources to update SPF for some of the most common providers:

4. Once you've updated the record, remember to save your changes.

📣 Note

While HoneyBook is able to check this record for you and notify you of the error, resolving it is done outside of HoneyBook and directly in your domain provider's Domain Name System (DNS) settings. HoneyBook is not able to complete this process for you.

Unknown SPF issue

SPF is defined and the syntax is correct, but an unknown error is occurring.

📣 Note

While the exact process to resolve an unknown SPF issue varies by provider, here are resources for some of the most common providers:

Not sure who your domain provider is?

1. Visit this resource.

2. Enter your domain name and click Lookup.

Tip: If your email address is [email protected], your domain name should be entered as: honeybook.com

3. Scroll down to the Registrar Information section. Your provider will be listed as the Name.

Note: If there is a Reseller Information section, your provider will be listed there, not under Registrar.

Invalid DKIM

There is a DKIM signature in your email headers, but the signature is invalid. Likely, the text found in DKIM is invalid due to a typo or omission.

A common causes of this error is:

DKIM is incorrectly constructed

The DKIM value must include:

At the start, v=DKIM1
A public-key, p=

To resolve this error, you may wish to reconfigure DKIM by following the steps below.

To reconfigure DKIM:

1. First, log in to the management console for your email service provider.

Not sure who your email provider is?

1. Visit this resource.

2. Click MX lookup.

3. Scroll down to locate where your email service provider is listed.

2. From your email provider’s settings, locate DKIM.

📚 Tip

Make sure the status for DKIM is turned ON.

Keep this tab open–you’ll need to copy a few things from your email provider and paste them into your domain provider!

3. Next, open a new tab and log in to the management console for your domain provider.

Not sure who your domain provider is?

1. Visit this resource.

2. Enter your domain name and click Lookup.

Tip: If your email address is [email protected], your domain name should be entered as: honeybook.com

3. Scroll down to the Registrar Information section. Your provider will be listed as the Name.

Note: If there is a Reseller Information section, your provider will be listed there, not under Registrar.

4. Locate the page where you update DNS TXT records for your domain.

5. Open the DKIM record.

📚 Tip

While the exact process varies by provider, here are resources to reconfigure a DKIM record for some of the most common domain providers:

6. Re-enter the relevant information for DKIM: Type, Name/Host, Value/Data, and TTL.

Type: TXT

Name/Host: copy the name from your email provider

Value/Data: copy the full value from your email provider

📚 Tip

The DKIM value must include:

At the start, v=DKIM1
A public-key, p=

TTL (time to live): how long the server should cache this information. For example: 300 seconds

7. Once you've adjusted the record, remember to save your changes.

📣 Note

While HoneyBook is able to check this record for you and notify you of the error, reconfiguring DKIM is done outside of HoneyBook and directly in your email provider and domain provider's Domain Name System (DNS) settings. HoneyBook is not able to complete this process for you.

DKIM not signed

There is no DKIM signature included in email headers, which means you likely need to update DKIM in your domain's DNS records.

📣 Note

While the exact process varies by provider, here are resources to resolve this issue for some of the most common providers:

Not sure who your provider is?

1. Visit this resource.

2. Enter your domain name and click Lookup.

Tip: If your email address is [email protected], your domain name should be entered as: honeybook.com

3. Scroll down to the Registrar Information section. Your provider will be listed as the Name.

Note: If there is a Reseller Information section, your provider will be listed there, not under Registrar.

Once you've made the appropriate changes in your domain provider's DNS settings, you're all set—nothing needs to be done in HoneyBook.

It can take up to 48 hours for DNS changes to take effect. Afterwards, you can always run the deliverability test again to make sure the error is fixed.

Want to learn more?

Still have questions? Feel free to send us a message by clicking the Question Mark icon on any HoneyBook page. Our team is always happy to help!