Domain verification is the process of verifying that an email message has been sent from a legitimate sender and has not been forged or spoofed. Sender domain verification is a method used to verify the authenticity of the sender's domain in an email message.

Sender domain verification involves checking the domain name listed in the email's 'From' field against the domain name associated with the email's IP address. This process helps to prevent email spoofing and phishing attempts, which are common tactics used by cybercriminals to deceive recipients into clicking on malicious links or divulging sensitive information.

To verify the sender's domain, email servers may use techniques such as DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), Sender Policy Framework (SPF), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC). These protocols provide a way for email servers to verify that the email message was sent from a legitimate sender and has not been tampered with in transit. Overall, sender domain verification is an important security measure that helps to protect individuals and organizations from email-based threats.

Furthermore, using a custom domain with a name same as that of your organization, not only enables customers to readily identify your brand but also helps in building trust with them since a campaign sent via a different domain name can be perceived as being spurious or spammy by the customers which in turn might deter them to respond to the dispatched campaigns.

NotifyVisitors allows you to set up and verify dedicated custom domains to dispatch your campaigns in order to enhance the probability of landing your messages in the customers’ inbox. Furthermore, NotifyVisitors offers a default domain viz. @notifyvisitors.com which you can use for your campaigns and automations in case you haven’t set up a dedicated custom domain. Although we provide this default domain to dispatch email campaigns, it is advised to use your organization’s custom domain since the default domain is a shared domain used by our clients and it thereby poses a chance of landing emails in spam.

Process to add and verify a custom domain

NotifyVisitors allows you to set up and verify dedicated custom domains from the dashboard itself. Follow the step by step process delineated below to include as well as verify a custom domain:

1. Navigate to the NotifyVisitors Dashboard > Settings > Email > Sender Domain.
2. In case you do not have any previously added custom domains or in case you wish to set up a new custom domain then click on the ‘Add Domain’ button.

3. Once you click on the ‘Add Domain’ button a new pop-up would appear on-screen wherein you will have to enter the details of your custom domain viz. the ‘Domain Name’ and the ‘Sub-domain Name’.

4. Click on the ‘Continue’ button within the same pop-up, once you have entered the details of your custom domain. 
5. Once you click on the ‘Continue’ button, a transient message will appear informing you regarding the successful creation of the domain and subsequently a new pop-up would appear on-screen, listing the generated as well as copyable SPF and DKIM records which you need to add to your DNS (Domain Name System) in order to successfully complete the domain verification process.

The verification process may take some time to complete i.e. it may take up to 24 hours for the new DNS settings to become active.

6. Once you have checked the records and successfully added them to your DNS, simply click on the ‘Verify’ button within the same pop-up. Subsequently, once the records get verified, then under the ‘Sender Domain’ tab, you will be able to see all of your newly added domains along with their verification status. You will also be able to delete any domain or subdomain as and when required.

To delete a domain or subdomain simply click on the ‘Delete’ icon present under the ‘Action’ column and then click on the ‘Confirm’ button in the confirmation pop-up that appears on-screen.

Add sender email

Once a domain has been successfully verified, it will get listed in the ‘Sender’s Email Address’ pop-up which appears while adding a new sender email via the ‘Add Sender Email’ button present under the ‘Sender Email’ tab.

In case you add a ‘Sender Email’ using a domain that has been successfully verified, then you will not be required to perform email verification for that particular email since it will get automatically verified.

Using added custom domains in email campaigns

As previously mentioned, NotifyVisitors offers a default domain viz. @notifyvisitors.com for your campaigns and automations. So in case you have not set up a custom domain, then while creating an email campaign as you reach the ‘Content’ section, you would notice a warning message right below the ‘Sender Email Address’ dropdown, cautioning you to add a dedicated custom domain in order to enhance the likelihood of landing your emails in the recipients’ inbox.

All the sender emails using the verified custom domains, added through the settings tab of the NotifyVisitors panel, will be available for use to dispatch email campaigns and they can be individually selected from the ‘Sender Email Address’ dropdown as shown in the screenshot provided below.

This is how NotifyVisitors enables you to set up and verify dedicated custom domains right from the dashboard and thereby enhance the probability of landing campaigns in the customers’ inbox.