How to Add a Verified Domain to Agillic

To send emails via Agillic you need a verified domain and correct DMARC and DKIM. When you create an unknown web page in Agillic, recipients can access these pages by using any of your verified domains. Note: After adding a new domain you need to follow a warm-up process before you are able to send to many recipients at once.

Setting Up a Verified Domain

How to Select your Domain(s)

The first step is to select the domains you wish to set up. We  recommend using a subdomain under any existing domain you may have e.g. news.yourmaindomain.com

We also recommend using a new subdomain which isn't currently in use for anything. Part of setting up a verified domain in Agillic requires all web and email traffic to point to Agillic. For this reason, you shouldn't use any active subdomains as this will shut down any current email or website system you may have enabled.

In special cases, it's possible to use a domain you also use for other purposes. For example, this could be the main domain or a domain used to send other communications not sent from Agillic. However, validating and using this type of domain isn't recommended as the reputation of the domain will be shared across multiple systems.

Agillic doesn't recommend selecting a campaign domain either, that is, using a standalone domain created with the sole purpose of being used for Agillic communications such as agillicnews.com.

From a reputation point of view, it detaches your general mail reputation from your campaign domain, meaning that all email service providers, such as Gmail, have to get to know your domain from scratch.
It also makes it easier for spammers and the like to abuse your customers as it will be easy for spammers to buy similar domains such as agilliccommunications.com to spoof your customers with.

Please contact Agillic Support before setting up a domain that isn't a subdomain of your main domain. This type of configuration will require a different setup than the steps described below.

How to Set up Your Domain(s)

1. Log into Staging or Production.

2. Open the Settings module.

3. Under System Settings, open the Domains subsection.

4. Fill your subdomain in both the From: domain name field and the Link domain name field.

5. Click the plus icon next to the entry.

6. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each subdomain you want to set up.

You've now added your domains and should see a red 'Failed' label next to the entry. This indicates that the domain name is not yet verified.

If you want to track several subdomains on the same webpage/portal page, we highly recommended to use the same 'Line Domain Name'. You can read more about tracking on more than one subdomain on the same webpage/portal page here.

How to Verify your Domain(s)

Once the domain is set up, you'll need to make some DNS changes for the domain to point correctly to Agillic.

1. Click the i icon for your domain entry and a pop-up will appear.

2. Note the DNS records, which have a red cross next to them. These are the DNS records you need to set up (CNAME, DKIM and TXT records).

If there are no DNS records shown, you may already have DNS records for the selected domain. In this case, you should check if the subdomain is being used. If there's an old DNS record for the subdomain, you'll need to remove the old DNS records before you can see the records to be set from Agillic.

Please note that existing DNS records will prevent the CNAME record validation in Agillic. If you have configured the CNAME record correctly, but still see it failing validation in the Agillic UI, the additional DNS records need to be removed for the CNAME record validation to succeed. 

Once you have set up these DNS records in your domain management system and are waiting for the caching period to pass, you should see a green checkmark next to these records. The verification label for the domain name will still show Failed since the SSL certificate still needs to be set up.

A domain name where the domain still needs to have the three listed DNS records set

How to Apply the SSL Certificate

Agillic requires an SSL Certificate for the selected subdomain before the verification label will show Verified. Contact Agillic Support and provide the certificate and private key for the subdomain. You must send both the certificate and private key in PEM format (X.509). Once delivered and the certificate is set up, Agillic Support will contact you and the domain will be verified.

Alternatively, it's also possible to use Agillic's Let's Encrypt feature, where we can generate an SSL Certificate for you. This is a free service. If this is something you're interested in, simply contact Agillic Support.

Verify Current Emails

It's important to note that if you enable the 'Enable domain name validation' checkbox when you don't have any verified domains, all emails will fail during send-out.

Before you enable the Enable domain name validation checkbox, make sure current emails use one of the valid domain names. For example, if Cafe Connect has set up marketing.cafeconnect.com as a verified subdomain, all emails must be sent from a @marketing.cafeconnect.com address. If you set up an email to send from a @cafeconnect.com address, sending the email will fail once you check the domain name validation checkbox.

Enable Domain Name Validation

Once you've corrected all current emails so they use one of your verified subdomains, you can enable the Enable domain name validation checkbox.

How to Use a Verified Domain in an Email 

1. Create an email.

2. Expand the Email settings accordions.

3. Select one of your verified domains from the Sender email drop-down.

4. Fill out the first part of the from email address in the Sender email field. For example marketing. The information from steps 3 and 4 will combine to make up the full from address.
   For example, service@cafeconnect.net.

Transactional email domains

Transactional emails are, in short, any emails that result from a transaction. They are emails sent when a user or customer takes some action and contain information that's relevant to that action. This could be an order receipt, shipping confirmation, or password reset.

Please note that to use a domain for sending Transactional Emails, it must not have previously been used to send emails.

You can learn how to set up a domain for Transactional Emails here.

SMS domain

If you send an SMS from Agillic that contains a link, you might have experienced that the link changes to your Agillic solution name. If you want your subdomain to be shown instead, you should create a subdomain specifically to send your SMSs, such as sms.cafeconnect.com. The subdomain should be verified and registered in Agillic. So, we recommend that you follow the guide above on how to add a verified domain to Agillic.

When the subdomain is added and verified in Agillic, you need to contact the Product Specialists in Agillic Support to get it registered on your Agillic Solution. Please note that the SMS subdomain will only be registered in the Production environment and you will need to restart your Production environment to get the SMS subdomain fully implemented.

Warming up new domains

While having "warm" IP addresses provided by Agillic is a great asset, it is only half the battle. Modern email service providers—especially Google and Microsoft Outlook—rely heavily on Domain Reputation alongside IP reputation.

A brand-new sender domain has zero historical reputation (often referred to as a "cold domain"). Attempting to drop a massive volume of emails from a fresh domain will almost certainly trigger aggressive anti-spam algorithms, resulting in severe throttling, temporary deferrals, or outright blocks, regardless of how warm our IPs are.

Why warm IPs will not save a cold domain

Email authentication and spam filtering have evolved significantly. Historically, reputation was primarily bound to the server's IP address. Today, providers use sophisticated machine-learning filters that score the sender's domain heavily to mitigate malicious activity.

• The spammer blueprint: Sending millions of emails suddenly from a newly registered domain is the exact behavioral fingerprint of a malicious phishing or spam campaign.
• Lack of historical data: Because Google and Outlook have no data on how users historically interact with your new domain, their systems default to treating sudden high-volume traffic with extreme suspicion to protect their users' inboxes.

Strict Technical Guidelines You Must Follow

Both Google and Outlook have explicit, strictly enforced guidelines for high-volume senders. Google formally defines a bulk sender as anyone sending more than 5,000 emails per day to personal Gmail accounts. To prevent your emails from vanishing into the spam folder, your setup must meet these critical criteria:

1. Flawless email authentication: You cannot just have DNS records; they must align perfectly. Major mail servers rely on these core protocols to verify the sending domain's legitimacy and block abusive or unauthorized traffic:
   1. SPF & DKIM: You must configure both Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM). This is handled with the standard domain setup in Agillic.
   2. DMARC: You must publish a Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) record for your sending domain.
   3. Alignment: The domain in your visible From: header must visually match (or be a subdomain of) the domain authenticated by SPF or DKIM.
2. Spam rate threshold: 
   1. The 0.1% to 0.3% rule: Google requires bulk senders to keep spam complaint rates (reported via Google Postmaster Tools) strictly below 0.1%, and they must never touch or exceed 0.3%. If your new domain hits 0.3% spam complaints early on, your domain reputation will drop instantly, and recovery is a long, painful road.
3. User experience requirements
   1. One-Click Unsubscribe: For marketing or subscription emails, you must include a standard List-Unsubscribe header that allows recipients to opt-out with a single click. You must also honor these requests within two days.

How to Warm Up Your Domain for 250,000+ Gmail Recipients

Because you are sending through the Agillic platform, you don’t need to worry about warming up your IP addresses. Our IP ranges are already highly reputable, fully optimised, and currently processing millions of emails a day.

However, Gmail tracks reputation by domain name just as much as by IP. If a brand-new domain suddenly blasts 250,000 emails, Gmail's spam filters will immediately wave a red flag.

To get you to that 250,000 Gmail mark as fast—and safely—as possible, follow this step-by-step domain warmup playbook.

Step 1: The Non-Negotiable Tech Checklist

Before sending a single email, you must prove to Gmail that you actually own your domain and take security seriously. Ensure these four items are configured in your DNS settings:

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework): Authorizes our platform to send on your behalf.
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): Cryptographically signs your emails to prove they weren't altered in transit.
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance): Gmail strictly requires a DMARC policy. Start with a basic p=none policy.
• Google Postmaster Tools (GPT): Crucial step. Register your domain at postmaster.google.com. This gives you a direct line of sight into your domain reputation and spam complaint rates according to Google.

Step 2: Cherry-Pick Your Absolute Best Audience

Domain warmup relies entirely on positive engagement. Gmail needs to see people opening, clicking, and replying to your emails.

The Golden Rule: For the first two weeks, only send to your most active, engaged subscribers. This means users who have opted in, opened, or clicked an email from you within the last 30–60 days, or recent buyers.

Do not send to old, cold, or scraped lists during this phase. A single spam complaint spike can reset your progress.

Step 3: The Accelerated Domain Warmup Schedule

Because our platform's IPs are already blazing hot, we can fast-track this process faster than a traditional warmup. Assuming your engagement rates remain high (open rates above 25%, spam complaints under 0.1%), use this daily scaling schedule for your Gmail recipients:

Step 4: Pro-Tips to Maintain Speed

• Make Unsubscribing Effortless: It is infinitely better for a user to click "Unsubscribe" than to click "Report Spam." Gmail requires a functioning 1-click unsubscribe link in the header (which our platform handles automatically), but make sure your in-body link is easy to find too.
   
• Keep Volume Consistent: Gmail hates volatility. Once you reach 250,000, try to maintain a steady sending cadence. Blasting 250k and then sending nothing for three weeks will cause your domain reputation to cool down.
   
• Watch the Magic Number: Google will start throttling or spam-filtering your emails if your user-reported spam complaint rate exceeds 0.1%, and they will aggressively block you if it hits 0.3%. Keep it clean.

Suggested Next Steps

• All You Need to Know about Emails and the Email Editor

• How to Track on More than one Domain on a Webpage/Portal page

• Understanding Domains, Brands and Domain Based Unsubscribe