DKIM & SPF Setup for HostGator

To set up or edit your SPF record, you will need to add: include:websitewelcome.com

Edit existing SPF record

1. Log in to your DNS hosting provider
2. Look for a TXT containing v=spf1
3. In your existing SPF record, you will append include:websitewelcome.com
4. For example, if your existing record looks like v=spf1; mx; ip4:1.2.3.4; you would add the above include as follows v=spf1; mx; ip4:1.2.3.4; include:websitewelcome.com

Create a new SPF record

1. Follow the instructions from our How to Create a New SPF Record Guide.
2. In the Value field, enter: v=spf1 include:websitewelcome.com ~all and Save the TXT record.

Records for Subdomains

If you are creating a record for a subdomain, you will want to make sure that you specify the sub part of the domain in the Host/Name/Alias field for most DNS providers.

1. Enter the sub part of the domain, for example if the subdomain is mail.mxtoolbox.com you would want to enter mail into that field.

SPF and DMARC Alignment

By default, HostGator will set you up for sending using one of their domains for the return-path address. This domain will NOT pass SPF Alignment. At this time, this provider does NOT provide any mechanism that will allow SPF Alignment to pass. You need to enable DKIM for this provider to ensure your email will pass DMARC Compliance.

How to Set Up/Modify DKIM for HostGator

Currently, HostGator fully supports the DKIM outgoing authentication specification. Users with dedicated servers may enable DKIM by following the below steps:

1. Log in to SmarterMail as Admin user (https://server_address:9998)

2. On Domains tab, navigate to specific domain and select Manage

3. Under Settings tab, expand Advanced Settings beneath Domain Settings and select Mail Signing

4. Check Enable DKIM Signing

5. Navigate to Certificate tab, enter default in Selector field, and choose 1024 as Key Size

6. Select Generate Key (auto-populates TXT Record Name and Value)

7. Click Save

8. Open Plesk control panel (https://primary_ip:8443)

9. Find Websites & Domain tab of domain name

10. Expand Advanced Operations menu and select DNS Settings

11. Choose Add Record and provide rules: TXT as Record Type; Domain name is TXT Record Name from SmarterMail; Enter record string is TXT Record Name from SmarterMail

12. Click OK

As a user of this outbound email provider, HostGator customers are afforded DKIM signing because it supports that mechanism. By utilizing HostGator’s self-service portal, you can manually set up DKIM at your convenience via TXT records mentioned above. Overall, this HostGator product provides beneficial components (e.g., DKIM signing, custom DKIM records, self-service set up with TXT records) that result in a streamlined process.