Major email providers like Gmail and Yahoo are implementing stricter email verification steps in the fight against spam and fraudulent emails. It is expected that other providers will follow.
You can click here for a detailed explanation of the recent changes from Sendgrid, the mail platform that GoSweetSpot uses.
In very simple terms, the email sender needs to be verified digitally.
To ensure your intended recipient receives the emails, you have two options for sending emails.
- Send using a dedicated email address from GoSweetSpot, which is no-reply@e.gosweetspot.com
- Send using your own Sendgrid account.
To achieve this, we are now enforcing two levels of checks.
- Senders domain authentication. On set up, we will validate if your domain, eg. somecompany.co.nz, is already set up as a known domain on GoSweetSpot or your own Sendgrid Account.
- The Reply-To email address is a valid and a real, accessible mailbox.
You will need to have at least 'Standard' user permissions to change these settings (otherwise you will receive a '401 Unauthorised' error message). If you receive a 401 error, please notify an administrator on the account to make the changes.
Option 1A: Sending using GoSweetSpot (no-reply@e.gosweetspot.com) *Recommended
This is the simplest and out-of-the-box option. All your emails will be sent from no-reply@e.gosweetspot.com. However, on the emails, the Reply To Email Address will be your email address. This will ensure that when your recipient replies to the emails, these come directly to you. Otherwise, leaving the Reply To field empty will use no-reply@e.gosweetspot.com
If you are using an email address from an email platform like Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Hotmail, QQ, 126, 163, iCloud, MSN, Xtra, etc, you must use this option.
or
Option 1B: Send using GoSweetSpot
(using your email address like orders@somecompany.co.nz)
You are able to use this option, if you have previously set up Sender Authentication with us. Sender Authentication setup involved you adding CNAME records to your domain, to allow GoSweetSpot to send emails on your behalf. We continue to support domains that have this authentication already in place. We are no longer able to add new domains to our approved sender domains portfolio.
Option 2: Send using your own Sendgrid Account
You can use your own existing Sendgrid account, or register for one here. Using your own account allows you full visibility of all emails that are send using our platform.
To set up your Sendgrid account on GoSweetSpot,
- Visit Site Settings and enter your SendGrid API Key.
Instructions on how to get an API Key - Creating Your Own Sendgrid Account - Ensure your domain is correctly set up on Sendgrid
Sendrid Tutorial - Track and Trace Settings - enter your email address.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Domain Verification Failure indicates that the domain name on the email provided needs to be correctly set up on Sendgrid, either with GoSweetSpot or your own account.
If you are using your own Sendgrid account, you need to set up the domain - Sendrid Tutorial
If you are using GoSweetSpot as the sender, your domain has not been previously set up with GoSweetSpot. You are not allowed to use this option. You will need to select the option to send the emails from no-reply@e.gosweetspot.com - Which Sendgrid Account is being used? If you have provided a valid API key, all emails relating to your Site will be sent from your SendGrid account. Otherwise, the system will default to our own SendDrid account.
- What happens if I do not verify? Emails are still being sent using the existing configuration, even if you have not completed the verification steps. This will remain until 15th March 2024, when all unverified emails will be sent to send emails from no-reply@e.gosweetspot.com
- Can I use my Gmail, Yahoo or Outlook email address? Emails from these platforms are not classed as domains that you own. You must use the GSS Internal System (no-reply@.gosweetspot.com) as the sender for these emails.
To read more about tracking, check out this article.