Email that lands in the inbox

Result

Your email goes out with your own domain's seal, or through HighLevel's sending until you get a domain, and a test email reached your inbox.

Estimated time

50 minutes

Cost

US$ 0 to set up. Every 1,000 emails cost US$ 0.675 from the wallet; a test email costs less than a cent.

Analogy

Step-by-step guide

Menu paths are shown as they appear in the English interface, with the Spanish name in parentheses for teams that work in Spanish. In the Spanish interface, Email Services stays in English in the Settings menu; inside, the tab reads «Servicios de correo electrónico» and the button «Dominio e IP dedicados».

1. 01

   Pick your path

   Path 1 · You have your own domain (for example, albastudio.com): you create a sending domain and verify its records.

   Path 2 · You don't have a domain yet: you use HighLevel's sending, which works from day one, and send a test email.

   Key points

   • Without your own domain, HighLevel sends from a shared domain. You'll see it as a card in Settings → Email Services (in the Spanish interface it reads «Dominio compartido»), with a domain such as mail.msgsndrsonline.com.
   • The sending address is rewritten to one on HighLevel's shared domain (its help gives …@mg.msgsndr.com as an example), and your clients see it next to your name.
   • For marketing email, HighLevel recommends a domain you own. Don't use a Gmail or Yahoo address as the sender for your campaigns.
   • Promotions go only to people who agreed to receive them and carry an unsubscribe link; you'll see it in full in I.6.
   • If you take path 2, buying the domain comes in module I.3. Today's lesson leaves you a written plan.

   Source: F4, F2, F6

2. 02

   Path 1 · Create your sending domain

   Settings → Email Services → Dedicated Domain And IP → + Add DomainCopy path

   In a Spanish-language account: Configuración → Email Services → Dominio e IP dedicados → + Add Domain

   Inside your sub-account, open Settings → Email Services and choose the Dedicated Domain And IP button.

   A view opens with ← Back to SMTP Service, the Dedicated Domain and Domain Configuration tabs and a + Add Domain button. Choose + Add Domain.

   Enter a new subdomain you don't use for anything else. For example, mg.albastudio.com.

   Choose Add & Verify. HighLevel shows you the records your domain needs.

   If your DNS is on Cloudflare, GoDaddy or Namecheap, HighLevel may offer to set them up automatically. If it does, use it, and on Cloudflare check afterwards that they're set to DNS only.

   Key points

   • The subdomain keeps it from clashing with the email you already use. Your Google Workspace or Outlook email keeps working the same.

   Source: F1, F2, F3

3. 03

   Path 1 · Copy the records into your domain

   Open your domain's DNS zone, wherever you bought or manage the domain.

   Copy each record exactly as it appears on your HighLevel screen: type, name and value. Don't type them from memory or from a tutorial.

   If your provider fills in the domain for you, copy the name HighLevel gives you and remove the ending .albastudio.com. So mg.albastudio.com becomes mg, and abc._domainkey.mg.albastudio.com becomes abc._domainkey.mg.

   If you use Cloudflare, set the records to DNS only, with the gray cloud.

   Your sending DMARC goes on _dmarc.mg, type TXT. If HighLevel shows it in its list, copy it there; if not, add it with the value v=DMARC1; p=none;. Never add a _dmarc on your main domain: if it already has one, leave it alone.

   Key points

   • Your DNS zone is your domain's phone book: each record is a line that tells Gmail where to look something up. Today you add the lines HighLevel gives you.
   • Each record does one part of the seal. SPF lists the servers allowed to send for you, and DKIM signs each email. DMARC says what to do when something doesn't match. MX records receive mail sent to your sending subdomain, and the CNAME makes tracking links show your domain.
   • A name can only have one SPF record and one DMARC record. Because you're using a subdomain, yours go on other names and don't clash with your email's.
   • p=none is monitoring mode: it blocks nothing. Reports only arrive if you add a rua, which you do in lesson I.3.4. Moving to reject too early can block your own email.

   Source: F1, F3, F5, F12

   The five pieces of the seal

   1SPFWho may send

   2DKIMSignature

   3DMARCPolicy

   4MXThe subdomain’s mailbox

   5CNAMELinks

   On a subdomain, such as mg.yourdomain

4. 04

   Path 1 · Verify

   Settings → Email Services → Dedicated Domain And IP → ⋯ → Verify domainCopy path

   In a Spanish-language account: Configuración → Email Services → Dominio e IP dedicados → ⋯ → Verificar dominio

   Back in HighLevel, open the three-dot menu ⋯ on your domain's card and choose Verify domain. The same menu has Delete domain, Assign IP, Set Headers, Domain Settings and SMTP Settings.

   Each correct record shows a green check.

   If one fails, wait a few minutes and verify again. Propagation usually takes minutes and sometimes up to 48 hours.

   If a record still isn't verified when you finish the mission, send the test email today and upload the domain screenshot once it verifies.

   Key points

   • Once verified, HighLevel warms up your domain automatically: it starts with a cap of 1,000 emails a day. It moves up a stage only on days you send the full cap. One HighLevel guide says around 4 weeks, but if you send less, you stay in the first stage, and that's fine. Until then, don't send big lists.
   • Your domain's card shows this under Domain Warmup, with its stage (Stage 1 at the start) and how many of the day's 1,000 emails you've sent.

   Source: F1, F2, F9, F11

5. 05

   Both paths · Send a test email

   Marketing → Emails → Templates → (open the template) → Preview → ⋮ → Test EmailCopy path

   In a Spanish-language account: Marketing → Correos → Plantillas → (abre la plantilla) → Vista previa → ⋮ → Correo de prueba

   Open Marketing → Emails and create a simple template: a greeting and one line.

   Make the subject "Test" plus your evidence code, as in Test AX-7K2Q.

   Inside the template, choose Preview and, from the three-dot menu next to it, Test Email.

   Pick the sender. Path 1: an address on your subdomain, like hello@mg.albastudio.com. Path 2: keep the one your account has; HighLevel rewrites it to an address on the shared domain, which is what your own domain fixes.

   Enter your personal email under Receiver Email and choose Send Test Email.

   Check your inbox. If it isn't there, look in spam or promotions, and write down where it landed.

   Key points

   • Landing in spam doesn't fail the mission: it's information. On path 2, it's exactly what your own domain fixes.

   Source: F10, F11, F2

   With the shared domain · path 2

   Alba Studio…@mg.msgsndr.com · address rewritten to HighLevel’s shared domain, next to your name

   With your own domain · path 1

   Alba Studiohello@mg.albastudio.com · exactly as you set it up

Interactive

The five parts of the seal

This interactive is used inside your AXIS account.

If it breaks

The mistakes that repeat most, and the way out.