Email Authentication: What Is It and How Does It Impact Deliverability?

A large part of email deliverability comes down to taking every available precaution to prevent spam filters and recipients from perceiving you as a spammer. 

Start by authenticating your emails. Authentication allows ISPs to acknowledge the legitimacy of your email sends.

So what is email authentication?

Authentication helps prove an email is not forged.

Authentication technology gives the recipient mail servers a record of identification to check to verify the sender is legitimate. Emails that fail to pass authentication checks may be blocked or put through additional filters, potentially preventing them from reaching the inbox.

Email services like AOL, Gmail, or Yahoo (as well as corporate email servers) use one or more of these authentication methods to verify sender identity:

DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail)

SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

Why is Authentication Important?

Many email providers use authentication, among other things, to track sender reputation. Authentication lowers the chances of mail servers filtering your emails.

Email authentication allows ISPs to properly identify the sender of the email so they can make smarter decisions about the delivery of your emails. Authentication has become a best practice for email senders since spammers have become really smart about disguising malicious email under the veil of trusted brands.

In today’s world, legitimate organizations need email authentication in order to secure their online reputation and maintain customer trust in their brand. And anything that can impact email deliverability in a positive or negative way certainly demands your attention.

Authentication can be tricky, but it’s worth the time it takes to check with your ISP and make sure the emails you send are authenticated. 

For more information on our Deliverability services, send us a message.