What steps should I take when changing my domain name for email marketing?
Matthew Whittaker
Co-founder & CTO, Suped
Published 8 Jul 2025
Updated 17 Aug 2025
8 min read
Changing your domain name for email marketing is a significant undertaking that requires careful planning to avoid disruptions to your email deliverability and sender reputation. It is more than just updating your website address, it impacts how mailbox providers perceive your emails and can affect your ability to reach the inbox. Many factors come into play, from technical configurations to audience communication, all of which are crucial for a smooth transition and maintaining engagement.
The primary goal is to minimize any negative impact on your email program, ensuring your messages continue to land in subscriber inboxes rather than spam folders. This involves a strategic approach to warming up your new domain, updating authentication records, and proactively informing your audience. If not handled correctly, a domain change can lead to significant drops in engagement, increased spam complaints, and even temporary blocklists (or blacklists).
I'll outline the essential steps to navigate this process effectively.
Planning your domain migration
Before making any changes, a thorough planning phase is critical. This includes selecting your new domain name, checking its availability, and ensuring it aligns with your brand's updated identity. While a shorter, easier-to-remember domain can be beneficial, it's vital to research its history. A domain with a poor past reputation could inherit deliverability issues, so opt for a clean slate if possible. Once purchased, consider allowing some time for it to rest before active use, typically 30 days or more.
One of the most crucial steps is to prepare your audience for the domain change. Surprises can lead to increased spam complaints, which negatively impact your sender reputation. Send out multiple pre-announcement emails from your old domain, clearly communicating the upcoming change and instructing recipients to add your new sending domain to their safe sender list or contacts. This proactive communication helps maintain a positive relationship with your subscribers and can mitigate potential deliverability hurdles. Consider also informing them how the domain change affects their interaction with your emails.
It is advisable to run both the old and new domains simultaneously for a period. This parallel operation allows for a gradual transition of email volume from the old domain to the new one. This strategy helps preserve your existing reach and avoids drastic impacts on your daily email operations or fundraising efforts for nonprofits. Over time, you can slowly taper off sends from the old domain as the new one builds its reputation.
Audience communication
Inform subscribers about the upcoming domain change well in advance. Provide clear instructions on adding the new domain to their contact list.
DNS configuration
Set up all necessary DNS records for the new domain, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, before you start sending. Misconfigurations here are a primary cause of deliverability issues.
Engagement seeding
Begin sending to your most engaged subscribers on the new domain in small, controlled batches to build a positive sending reputation from the outset.
Technical setup and authentication
The technical setup of your new domain is paramount to ensuring your emails are authenticated and trusted by mailbox providers. This involves configuring your Domain Name System (DNS) records correctly. You will need to set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your new domain. SPF (Sender Policy Framework) specifies which mail servers are authorized to send email on behalf of your domain. DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) provides a way to verify the authenticity of email messages using cryptographic signatures. DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) builds on SPF and DKIM, telling receiving servers what to do with emails that fail authentication checks and provides valuable feedback reports.
Proper configuration of these records is critical. For instance, an incorrect SPF record could lead to legitimate emails being marked as spam or rejected. Similarly, a misconfigured DKIM record can cause authentication failures. DMARC, in particular, offers a powerful mechanism to monitor and enforce your email authentication policies, giving you visibility into how your emails are being treated by recipients' mail servers. You can use a DMARC record generator to set up a basic record.
Example SPF recordDNS
v=spf1 include:_spf.example.com ~all
If you are also moving to a new IP address as part of your domain change, you will need to perform IP warming in addition to domain warming. However, if you can maintain your existing dedicated IP address, the transition is significantly smoother because your IP reputation remains intact. The IP address carries substantial weight in sender reputation, so keeping it consistent can help mitigate potential deliverability issues.
Gradual transition and warming up
Even with proper DNS setup, a new domain will lack a sending history and reputation with mailbox providers. This is why domain warming is essential. Similar to IP warming, domain warming involves gradually increasing your email volume over a period, starting with your most engaged subscribers. This process helps establish a positive sending reputation with internet service providers (ISPs) and mailbox providers, showing them that you are a legitimate sender.
The warming process for a new domain often requires patience, as it can take several weeks or even months for a domain to achieve full sending capacity, especially with major providers. New domains are likely to have their volume capacity significantly reduced for at least the first six months. Focus on sending highly engaged content to active subscribers initially to generate positive interactions, which will bolster your new domain's reputation faster. Be prepared for a temporary dip in deliverability during this phase.
It is not recommended for staff to immediately start using the new domain for daily email correspondence at high volumes. While individual low-volume emails might not have a significant impact, any widespread or sudden increase in volume could trigger spam filters. It's best to maintain a consistent warming schedule for marketing emails and ensure that any transactional or essential emails sent from the new domain are also part of a controlled warm-up plan.
Old domain strategy
Maintain full sending volume.
Purpose: Continue engaging your audience and inform them about the upcoming domain change.
Content: Send announcements, special offers, and regular content to keep your audience active.
Deliverability and reputation
Leverage existing positive reputation to ensure high inbox placement for important transition communications.
New domain strategy
Start with low sending volume, gradually increasing over time. Refer to a domain transition guide for a structured approach.
Purpose: Build a new sender reputation with mailbox providers by demonstrating consistent, desired behavior.
Content: Target highly engaged segments first (e.g., recent openers/clickers) with valuable content to generate positive interactions.
Deliverability and reputation
Focus on positive engagement metrics to build trust. Be prepared for lower initial deliverability rates as the domain is unknown.
Monitoring and ongoing maintenance
Throughout the domain change process, continuous monitoring of your email deliverability and sender reputation is essential. Keep a close eye on your inbox placement rates, open rates, click-through rates, and, crucially, your bounce and complaint rates for both the old and new domains. A sudden increase in bounces or complaints on the new domain could indicate issues with your warm-up strategy or authentication setup.
Regularly check your domain's status on various blocklists (or blacklists). Being listed on a blocklist can severely impact your ability to deliver emails. Even if your IP address is consistent, a new domain can still end up on a domain-based blocklist if not handled carefully. You can use a blocklist checker to keep track of its status. For more detailed insights, you can review articles discussing domain reputation and its impact.
Utilize postmaster tools offered by major mailbox providers like Gmail and Yahoo to gain insights into your sending reputation and performance. These tools provide valuable data on spam rates, domain reputation, IP reputation, and DMARC failures, helping you identify and address issues proactively. Consistent monitoring allows for quick adjustments to your sending strategy if you encounter any unexpected deliverability challenges.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Start with clear communication to your audience, informing them about the domain change and instructing them to add the new domain to their safe sender lists.
Implement a gradual warm-up plan for your new domain, starting with highly engaged subscribers and slowly increasing volume over time.
Ensure all email authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) are correctly configured for the new domain before sending any emails.
Common pitfalls
Not resting the new domain for a sufficient period before starting to send emails, which can lead to immediate deliverability issues.
Failing to adequately inform subscribers about the domain change, resulting in increased spam complaints and unsubscribes.
Neglecting to set up or incorrectly configuring SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for the new domain, causing authentication failures.
Expert tips
If possible, keep the same dedicated IP address when changing your domain name, as IP reputation carries significant weight.
Utilize postmaster tools and DMARC reports to monitor your new domain's reputation and deliverability performance closely.
Consider engaging a deliverability expert to assist with complex domain migrations, especially for high-volume senders.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says any new domain is likely to have its volume capacity significantly reduced at most mailbox providers until it is at least 6 months old. They suggested keeping the current domain for email and purchasing an easier-to-say domain, setting up a redirect to the existing site.
2024-04-27 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says it is important to buy the new domain and not use it for email right away. When you do start using it, you will want to do some domain warming, which does not need to be as exact as IP warming, but the newness of the domain (age since purchase) is a big factor.
2024-04-27 - Email Geeks
Navigating your domain change successfully
Changing your domain name for email marketing is a complex process with many moving parts, but by following a structured approach, you can mitigate risks and ensure a successful transition. Prioritize thorough planning, precise technical setup of authentication records, and a gradual domain warm-up. Proactive communication with your audience is also key to maintaining trust and engagement.
Remember, consistency in your sending practices and diligent monitoring of your deliverability metrics are your best tools during this period. While it may seem daunting, a well-executed domain migration can lead to improved branding and long-term email program success. For more in-depth guidance, exploring specific steps to prevent deliverability issues during a domain change is always recommended.
Gmail and 
Yahoo to gain insights into your sending reputation and performance. These tools provide valuable data on spam rates, domain reputation, IP reputation, and DMARC failures, helping you identify and address issues proactively. Consistent monitoring allows for quick adjustments to your sending strategy if you encounter any unexpected deliverability challenges.
