What is SPF and what is it used for? #
Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is an email validation standard that’s designed to prevent email spoofing. Domain owners use SPF to tell email providers which servers are allowed to send email from their domains.
In terms of the DataTalks CDP, this will allow us to send emails to your customers on your behalf without these messages being marked as spam or phishing attempts when being received by your customers.
Adding an SPF record #
To publish an SPF record, you have to add a new TXT record to the DNS configuration for your domain. The procedures for updating DNS records vary depending on which DNS or web hosting provider you use.
The following table includes links to the documentation for several common providers. This list isn’t exhaustive, and inclusion in this list isn’t an endorsement or recommendation of any company’s products or services. If your provider isn’t listed in the table, you can probably still publish an SPF record.
| DNS/Hosting provider | Documentation |
| GoDaddy | Add an SPF record |
| DreamHost | Add an SPF record |
| Cloudflare | Managing DNS records in Cloudflare |
| HostGator | SPF Records |
| Names.co.uk | Changing your domains DNS settings |
| Namecheap | How do I add TXT/SPF/DKIM/DMARC records for my domain? |
| Loopia | SPF |
| Wix | Adding or Updating SPF Records in Your Wix Account |
| WordPress.com | Manage Your DNS Records – WordPress.com |
| SquareSpace | Adding custom DNS records to your Squarespace domain |
| Joomla | DNS Management – Joomla! Domains by BRANDIT |
| Shopify | Editing the DNS settings for your Shopify-managed domain |
If your domain doesn’t have an existing SPF record, publish a TXT record with the following value. The name of the record can be blank or @, depending on your DNS service.
“v=spf1 include:amazonses.com ~all”
SPF records can contain multiple include statements. If your domain already has an SPF record, you can add an include statement for Amazon SES by using the following format:
“v=spf1 include:example.com include:amazonses.com ~all”