A TXT Record (Text Record) is a DNS record, used for email verification and authentication, such as protecting emails from spam and verifying domain ownership when you send email from your domain name.
It was originally used for human-readable text. This domain verification TXT record is used for several purposes, such as email verification, to prevent your email from being marked or considered spam.
- Why Do You Need TXT Records for Your Domain Email Address?
- Example of a TXT Record
- DNS Glossary
- Summary
Why Do You Need TXT Records for Your Domain Email Address?
TXT records are important for your domain and email for several reasons, primarily security, verification, internet reputation and email management. Make sure your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are set correctly for your domain’s email addresses.
Here’s a detailed look into why DNS records, specifically TXT records, hold significant value for your domain’s email addresses:
- Domain Ownership VerificationTXT records confirm you’re the rightful owner, allowing access to tools and services like Google Workspace or webmaster platforms.
- Email Security and DeliverabilityCustom domain email addresses you create have important DNS Record settings called TXT records. The three TXT records are SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records.
- SPF — Sender Policy Framework SPF records defend your email’s reputation, prevent email spoofing, and help fight the reduction of spam. Making it more difficult for someone to impersonate or mimic your domain’s email address.How to add SPF Record Follow this guide to set up and add an SPF record for your domain’s email.Want to learn more about what is email spoofing & how to prevent email spoofing? View this BRAND guide: What is Email Spoofing?
- DKIM — DomainKeys Identified Mail Adding a digital cryptographic signature (a key) to your emails, called DKIM, within TX records verifies authenticity and verifies that the email has not been altered or spoofed while in transit.How to add DKIM Record Follow this guide to enhance sender authenticity for your domain’s email address: How to set up and add a DKIM record
- DMARC — Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance DMARC records, a DNS TXT record, standardizes email servers how to handle emails failing SPF or DKIM checks, protecting the domain’s reputation, providing insight into email misuse, rejection email information or bouncebacks, and prevent potential email abuse. This is important because senders will experience authentication results of email messages on other email servers such as AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, and any other email receivers implementing DMARC.How to add DMARC Record Follow this guide to add a DMARC record to the domain’s email.
- Site VerificationA unique code to a TXT record proves you control a website, granting access to SEO tools, analytics, and other services. This is also a prerequisite and requirement for using and accessing certain services and tools related to SEO, site analytics, and more.
- Flexible Use for Miscellaneous VerificationsBeyond these core uses, TXT records can store additional information for various security measures, API access, or any scenario requiring domain ownership verification or public information sharing.
Example of a TXT Record
The TXT Value is what the record ‘points to,’ but these records aren’t used to direct any traffic. Instead, they’re used to provide needed information to outside sources for email verification.
The first record is used for SPF (Sender Policy Framework) records. Many email systems use those records to help identify if the email is coming from a trusted source, helping filter out spam or messages pretending to be from your domain (called spoofing).
For more information, you can visit this article on How To Set Up a DNS SPF (Sender Policy Framework) Record.
The second record is used for DomainKeys, which can verify that the email came from a trusted source.
More information on DomainKeys, please check this article: What is a DKIM record?
DNS Glossary
| DNS | Functions |
| Zone File | This is where all the DNS records are stored for a domain. |
| Host Record | This is the domain or subdomain you wish to use. The @ symbol is used to indicate the root domain itself. In our example, the Host Record ‘FTP’ would be for the subdomain ftp.google.com and ‘@’ would be google.com itself. |
| Points to | This is the destination server to which the domain or subdomain is sending the traffic. |
| TTL | The ‘time to live’ value indicates the amount of time the record is cached by a DNS Server, such as your Internet service provider. The default (and lowest accepted) value is 14400 seconds (4 hours). You do not normally need to modify this value. |
| Action | This allows you to modify or remove existing records. |
| Weight | This is similar to priority, as it controls the order in which multiple records are used. Records are grouped with other records that have the same Priority value. As with MX Entries, lower numbers are used before higher numbers. |
| Port | The server or computer uses this to process traffic to specific services, ensuring that all traffic comes through the door that it’s expected. |
| Target | This is the destination that the record is sending the traffic to. This record would send traffic from service.example.com to listerning.otherexample.com over port 5060. SRV records generally require advanced knowledge of server administration to use. |
Summary
To ensure your email related to your domain name is not considered spam, or for email Google verification, it is recommended to ensure your TXT record or TXT value is set correctly. Also, make sure your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are set correctly for your domain’s email addresses.
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