How to Set Up a Custom Email Domain

Setting up a custom email domain allows you to send emails from your own domain, enhancing your brand presence and professionalism. This guide will walk you through the process of configuring a custom email domain for your account.

Steps to Set Up a Custom Email Domain

1. Contact the Orb team with the email addresses you want to use:

   • The full email address and domain you'd like to send emails from

   • The reply-to email address

2. Our team will send you the necessary DNS records that need to be added to your domain.

3. Add the provided DNS records to your domain. This step typically involves accessing your domain registrar's DNS management interface and adding the records as specified in our instructions. For help adding the CNAME/MX/TXT records see the section titled DNS/Hosting Provider.

   1. Three CNAME records which correspond to the public keys that will be used to verify and sign that any emails can be sent from your emails

   2. An MX record and an SPF (TXT record) will need to be added to change the Mail From setting. Without adding these records, the emails will appear to be sent from amazonses.com and not your custom domain

   3. A DMARC record is required to be in place. See below for information on DMARC settings.

4. Once you've added all the records to your DNS/Hosting Provider the domain will eventually become verified and emails will automatically begin sending from the custom domain.

DMARC Setting

DMARC is a standard that tells email recipients what to do with an unverified email. An email can be unverified if:

1. DKIM – a standard for signing email to verify it came from the correct domain – is not set up correctly or

2. the email is not from the correct domain, e.g. in the case of spam or fraud.

If a DMARC policy is already set up for your domain, then nothing needs to be added. If no DMARC policy is provided, follow the guidance below to select one.

1. Setup a general DMARC policy (p=none)

   This is the most relaxed policy and is recommended for initial setup.  This setting treats unverified emails the same as verified emails. The rua setting specifies an email that reports on any unverified emails to monitor any mail that fails validation.

   Name	Type	Value
   _dmarc.example.com (where example.com is your domain)	TXT	"v=DMARC1;p=none rua=mailto:complaints@example.com"

2. After validating that no unexpected emails are unverified, change the setting to either Quarantine (p=quarantine), which will mark any email that fails validation as spam, or Reject (p=reject), which will reject any unverified email.

DNS/Hosting Provider

Refer to the documentation and link below on how to add DNS records from some of the most common DNS/Hosting Providers.

Important Notes

• DNS propagation can take up to 72 hours, although it is often much quicker. Your custom email domain may not work immediately after adding the DNS records.

• Ensure you have access to manage DNS records for your domain or can coordinate with someone who does.

• If you encounter any issues during the setup process, don't hesitate to contact our support team for assistance.

By following these steps, you'll be able to send emails from your own custom domain, providing a more professional and branded experience for your customers.