How to authenticate your domain name on IONOS

In this article, you will learn how to set up authentication for your domain name on IONOS.

What you will need:

• A systeme.io account

• A domain name on IONOS

Case 1: You use systeme.io to send your emails

Step 1: Log in to your systeme.io account

Hover over your profile picture and click on Settings (1). In the settings menu, click Emails (2).

Go to the Domains section, then click the link labeled Click here to authenticate your domain and display its information in your email header, which will help improve your email delivery rates (3).

In the popup that appears, enter your domain name (without the "www") (4).

Once the domain name is entered, click on Save (5) to generate three CNAME records + one TXT record. 

Example: sio-demo.com

Then, to display the list of DNS records, simply refresh the page you are on, then click on the eye-shaped icon.

You will see 3 CNAMEs and one TXT record that must be entered in order for your domain to be authenticated. To learn more about how to add the DMARC record, click here.

IMPORTANT:

1. Authentication of a domain name is mandatory to send emails from systeme.io.

2. The domain you want to authenticate must have an active website linked to it. If the domain leads to a 404 error page, email providers may block your emails.

Example: The site sio-demo.com must be functional; otherwise, when you send emails with the email address of this domain name (example: info@sio-demo.com), your contacts may not receive your emails due to server blocking.

3. You cannot authenticate domains from personal email providers (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, ProtonMail). Only custom domains can be authenticated.

Step 2: In your domain host

First, start by accessing your domain host account.

Next, add the provided CNAME records to your domain's DNS zone.

Note: If you encounter any difficulties, please contact your host's support team for guidance.

Log in to your IONOS account by clicking here.

1. Once logged in, select the domain you want to authenticate, then click on DNS and click Add a record.

2. Select the CNAME option for adding the first 3 records.

You will have form fields to fill out:

3. Return to the CNAME records generated in your systeme.io account to copy what is shown in the screenshot below.

4. In your Hostname field, paste the value from systeme.io.

Important: Enter only the part before your domain name (e.g., if the value is si942517.sio-demo.com, enter only si942517).

5. In the Target field, paste the value provided by systeme.io and append a period (.) to the end of the value.

In our example, we need to enter "inbound.systeme.io."

Here is how the records should look in your provider's DNS zone (these values are examples):

Name (hostname): si942517   Value (point to): inbound.systeme.io.

Name (hostname): systemeio1._domainkey              Value (point to): key1.systeme.io. 

Name (hostname): systemeio2._domainkey              Value (point to): key2.systeme.io. 

6. Click on Save to validate.

Note: You must repeat this process for all three CNAME records.

7. Select the TXT option for adding the DMARC.

8. Return to the list of records to add the generated TXT to your systeme.io account to copy what is indicated in the screenshot below.

Here is how each line to be added to your host's DNS zone will look (these values are always examples):

Hostname: _dmarc

Value (point to): v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:example@example.com

9. Click Save to validate.

10. Check that your CNAME records are correctly configured using this site: DNS checker

Note: To check your records, you must enter the full CNAME name (including your domain name) into the search bar.

If you see a green check next to the exact value for your three CNAME records, it means that your domain name has been successfully authenticated. If you want, you can also contact the support team here for a verification on their end.

CNAME verification 1:

CNAME verification 2:

CNAME verification 3:

However, if any CNAME records appear in red, check your DNS settings for errors. If you cannot resolve the issue, please contact support and include a screenshot of your DNS records.

Note: In any case, you must contact support here after performing the action.

11. Check that your DMARC record has been added by searching with your domain name using this site: DMARC checker

IMPORTANT: To send emails using your authenticated domain, you must confirm the sender email address associated with that domain following the steps outlined in the article "How to confirm your email sender address".

Case number 2: You are using your own SendGrid account

If you are using your own SendGrid account to send emails and are not using the autoresponder from systeme.io, we recommend contacting SendGrid support for instructions on how to authenticate your IONOS domain to improve email deliverability.