Verifying your sender in 5 minutes

Before sending your first campaign, arrobaMail needs to know who's sending. That's the sender: the name and email address people will see in their inbox. Verifying it — and certifying your domain — is the first, and most important, step to making sure your emails land well and you don't wreck your reputation right out of the gate. Don't worry: it takes just a few minutes, and you can hand off the technical part to your provider.

1. Understand what a sender is

The sender is, simply put, the name and mailbox the recipient sees on your email. It's the first thing your subscriber looks at when deciding whether to open — so it's worth being instantly recognizable.

It's made up of two pieces:

• Sender name: your brand or business name (for example, "Palermo Café"). Avoid generic names like "info" or "sales."
• Mailbox (email): the address you send from (for example, [email protected]). You can optionally set a different "reply-to" if you want responses to land in a different mailbox.

2. Use an email on your own domain

This is the golden rule, and the most important thing in this whole tutorial: send from your own domain, never from a free mailbox.

Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Outlook, and similar addresses can't be certified for bulk sending: if you send campaigns from one of them, they're very likely to land in spam and take your reputation down with them. An address on your domain ([email protected]) delivers better and looks far more professional too.

Don't have your own domain? Getting one is cheap and it's the best investment you can make in your email marketing. If you need a hand, reach out and we'll point you in the right direction.

3. Add your sender in arrobaMail

With your own-domain email ready, adding it takes a minute:

1. From the top menu, go to Tools → My Senders.
2. Tap the button to add a sender.
3. Fill in the name (your brand) and the mailbox (your own-domain email).
4. Save.

That creates the sender. Now you just need to confirm that mailbox is really yours — the next step.

4. Verify the mailbox with one click

When you add the sender, arrobaMail sends a verification email to that mailbox. Open it and click the verification link. That confirms the address is yours. That's it.

In the Tools → My Senders panel, you'll see your sender listed in a table, with two key columns: SPF and DKIM. That's where the step that most protects your reputation begins.

5. Certify your domain: SPF and DKIM (before your first campaign)

This is the step you can't skip. SPF and DKIM are two "seals" that tell Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo that emails going out under your domain are really yours. Send without them and receiving servers get suspicious — you start out damaging your reputation — your campaigns can end up in spam from day one.

In the table, each protocol shows its status: green check = verified; red X = still missing. Click the red X and arrobaMail shows you the exact record to add to your domain's DNS. Try it here:

As you'll see, SPF gets modified (there's only one per domain) and DKIM gets added (a new record). The important part? You don't need to be technical: copy those values and, if you don't manage your own DNS, hand them to your IT team or hosting provider. Once the records are published, come back to the panel, tap Verify, and the red X's turn into green checks. Only then is your domain truly ready to send for real.

If you want a deeper understanding of each record (and to add DMARC, the third seal), continue with configuring SPF, DKIM, and DMARC step by step.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Sending your first campaign without certifying SPF and DKIM. It's the costliest mistake there is: you start out damaging your reputation and it's hard to walk back. Get both columns to green before your first real send.
• Using a free mailbox (@gmail, @hotmail…). The other big mistake: use your own domain — free ones can't be certified.
• Not clicking the verification link. Without that click, the sender stays disabled and you won't be able to send.
• Using a generic name. "info" or "no-reply" inspire less trust than your actual brand name.
• Forgetting to check spam. If the verification email doesn't show up within a few minutes, check your junk folder.

Next steps

With your sender verified and your domain certified (SPF and DKIM green), you're ready to send on solid footing:

1. Put together your first send → Creating your first campaign.
2. Want to understand every record in depth and add DMARC (the third seal)? → Configuring SPF, DKIM, and DMARC step by step.

Don't have an account yet? Create one for free and get your sender ready in minutes.