How to achieve Full Domain Alignment

To strengthen your Reputation as a sender, you might want to achieve Domain Alignment.
Domain Alignment happens when every domain in your email (in the headers and the body) shares the same “root domain”.

In fact, every time you send an email there are multiple domains involved. There is the visible sending domain (also called From:), the one being used for DKIM signing (d= domain), and the one used for handling errors/bounces and for SPF (also known as Mail-From:).

If two or more of these domains have the same root domain, we say there is “alignment” between them. When every domain matches, we say there is “full alignment”.

To accomplish Full Domain Alignment in ActiveCampaign, it's necessary to:

• Set up DKIM for your From Domain
• Set up a Mailserver Domain to match your From Domain

Both of these are accomplished when setting up a sending domain with ActiveCampaign, which is available on all Marketing plan levels.

Take note:

• It's easy to mistake one for the other (CNAME vs Mailserver Domain). Learn more about the difference between custom domain name versus Mailserver Domain

Is Domain Alignment always required?

Basic domain alignment with DKIM is required beginning in February 2024. Gmail and Yahoo require this as a bare minimum, so all ActiveCampaign users should set up DKIM to achieve domain alignment. In ActiveCampaign, you set up DKIM when you set up your sending domain. Learn how to set up your sending domain.

Full alignment, which involves aligning SPF using a Mailserver Domain, is not required so long as you are aligning the DKIM. However, our basic process of adding a sending domain sets up both DKIM and the Mailserver Domain, giving you extra protection.

For more information on these changes see our blog post A Guide to Google and Yahoo authentication Changes in 2024.

To learn more, read our article on domains and domain alignment.