How to Easily Set Up a DKIM Record - Step-by-Step Guide

DKIM can help you get more ROI for your email outreach.

It makes your emails more secure and increases the chances of landing in the inbox.

And while setting up DKIM may seem complicated, it’s actually a very doable process.

We’ll show you to easily set up a DKIM record to help you avoid the spam folder.

Steps to Setting up a DKIM Record 📝

Setting up a DKIM record is a four-step process.

1. First, you need to generate a DKIM record. This is typically done in your email service provider’s account.
2. Then, you must add the DKIM record to your domain provider’s DNS records
3. Next, enable the DKIM record in your email service provider’s account
4. Finally, validate your DKIM record through a DNS checker

Setting up a DKIM Record for Specific Providers

We have detailed tutorials on:

• How to set up a DKIM record for Office 365
• How to set up a DKIM record for Google Workspace
• How to set up a DKIM record for Zoho Mail
• How to add a DKIM record to GoDaddy
• How to add a DKIM record to Namecheap
• How to set up a DKIM record on Cloudflare
• How to set up a DKIM record in OVH

Setting up a DKIM Record for Any Provider

If your provider isn’t listed above, here’s how to set up a DKIM record for any provider.

Step 1: Generate a DKIM record

Typically, you generate a DKIM record in your email service provider's account.

1. Log in to your ESP account
2. Go to domain or email authentication settings
3. Next, look for “DKIM settings,” “DKIM,” “DomainKeys,” or similar
4. Look for a button that says “generate DKIM keys.” If you can customize your DKIM here, please follow your ESP’s guidelines. Click on the button.
5. Copy and paste the DKIM record into a text file on your computer. Then, do the same for the DKIM selector, which should be on your screen somewhere.
6. Open a new browser tab, and leave this one open

Step 2: Add the DKIM record to your domain’s DNS records

1. Log in to your domain provider’s account. If your name servers are pointing somewhere else, for example to your hosting providers, then change your DNS records there.
2. Go to your DNS settings
3. Once inside, you should see a list of DNS records. Add a new DNS record.
4. For the type of record, select CNAME if you have a short DKIM record that looks like this: "s145.domainkey.u3793320.wl559.lemlist.com". If it’s much longer, it’s probably a TXT record.
5. In the “Host” or “Name” field, enter your DKIM selector, for example: s135._domainkey.yourdomain.com - Note: many domain providers automatically append your domain here. If that’s the case, the selector should be just: s135._domainkey
6. In the “Value” field, paste the DKIM record you generated earlier
7. Click save

Step 3: Enable DKIM for your ESP

Go back to your email service provider’s account (the open tab, remember?) and look for a button called: “Enable” or “Enable DKIM.”

Click on the button to enable DKIM for your email service provider.

Step 4: Validate your DKIM

New DNS records need to propagate. This can take up to 48 hours.

Usually, though, it’s done in a few hours.

To check if your DKIM record is valid, use a DNS checker after a couple of hours.

You can use our free deliverability tester. It’ll tell you everything you need to know about your technical setup.

Done! ✅

If everything went well, you should now have a DKIM record set up.

Don’t forget to set up other components of your technical setup. These include:

• Your MX Records
• Your SPF Records
• Your DMARC Records
• Your Custom Tracking Domain

Also, for optimal deliverability and open rates, make sure you warm up your email.

Without gradually increasing your sending volume and frequency, your emails could land in spam.

Use an email warm-up service like lemwarm to do this for you.