Uprankly

How to Set Up Your Sending Domain

Before you send any outreach emails, set up a dedicated sending domain. It tells email providers like Gmail and Outlook that your mail is legitimate — and keeps it out of spam.

Why use a separate domain

Don't use your main business domain for outreach. If your company is acme.com, set up something like getacme.com or mail-acme.com instead. That way, if deliverability takes a hit, your main domain's reputation stays clean.

Starting the setup

Go to Link Builder > Email Accounts and click Add Domain. A 3-step wizard opens.

Step 1: Enter your domain

Type the domain you'll send from — for example, getacmeseo.com. Just the domain name. No https:// or www.

Click Next.

Step 2: Pick your email provider

Choose where your mailboxes are hosted:

  • Google Workspace (recommended)
  • Zoho Mail
  • Hostinger
  • Fastmail
  • Other

If you pick "Other," you'll enter your provider's SPF include value (e.g., _spf.yourprovider.com) and DKIM selector. Both values come from your email provider's own documentation.

Click Next.

Step 3: Add DNS records

This is where the actual setup happens. You've got two options.

Option A: Automatic setup (recommended)

Uprankly can add the DNS records for you — if your domain is managed by one of these registrars:

Cloudflare — you'll need an API Token. To get one: Cloudflare Dashboard → My Profile → API Tokens → Create Token → select "Edit zone DNS."

GoDaddy — you'll need an API Key and API Secret. To get them: GoDaddy Developer Portal → API Keys → Create New API Key → set it to Production.

Porkbun — you'll need an API Key and Secret API Key. To get them: Porkbun Account → API Access → Enable API Access.

Pick your registrar, paste in your credentials, and click Set Up Domain. Uprankly writes four DNS records to your domain:

  1. SPF — a TXT record that tells receiving mail servers which servers are allowed to send email on your domain's behalf
  2. DKIM — a TXT record that adds a cryptographic signature to your emails so they can't be spoofed
  3. DMARC — a TXT record that tells receiving servers what to do if an email fails SPF or DKIM
  4. Tracking CNAME — enables open and click tracking on your outreach emails

When it's done, you'll see a "DNS Records Configured" confirmation screen. Your domain is ready to go.

If auto-setup fails, you'll get an error message and can switch to manual setup instead.

Option B: Manual setup

Select "Manual — I'll add the records myself." Uprankly shows you the four records you need to add — each with its type (TXT or CNAME), name, and value.

Hit Copy on each card, then paste the records into your DNS provider's dashboard. That could be Cloudflare, Namecheap, Route 53, or wherever you manage your domain.

Once they're in, come back and click Verify All Records. Uprankly checks each one and shows you the result.

Record statuses

Each record shows one of five statuses:

  • Verified (green) — correct and live
  • Mismatch (amber) — the record exists but the value doesn't match what's expected
  • Not Found (red) — the record hasn't been added yet
  • Error (red) — something went wrong during the check
  • Pending (gray) — not checked yet

All four showing Verified means your domain is fully set up.

If records aren't verifying

DNS changes usually propagate within 5–15 minutes, but can take up to 48 hours in rare cases. If a record still shows Not Found after 15 minutes:

  1. Double-check the values you pasted in your DNS provider — one wrong character breaks it
  2. Make sure you don't have conflicting SPF records. You can only have one SPF record per domain
  3. Click Re-verify All Records to check again

For Mismatch errors, compare the expected value in Uprankly to what's actually in your DNS dashboard. The most common culprits: an extra space, a missing period at the end of a hostname, or a leftover record from a previous setup.

Managing your domain later

From the Email Accounts page, click Manage on any domain to:

  • View all four DNS records and their current status
  • Re-verify records after making changes
  • Switch your email provider (this regenerates the DNS records, so you'll need to re-verify)
  • Remove the domain if you no longer need it
How to Set Up Your Sending Domain — Help | Uprankly