How to Set Up Business Email on Your .co.ke Domain: MX, SPF and DKIM Step by Step

Buying business email is the easy part. The step that trips people up is the one in between: telling the internet that mail for yourbusiness.co.ke should go to your new mailboxes. That is done with a handful of DNS records. This guide explains each one in plain language, shows where to add them, and lists the mistakes we see most often.

What you need before you start

• A domain you control, such as yourbusiness.co.ke. No domain yet? Search and register one first.
• Access to your domain's DNS. This is wherever your domain's nameservers point: your registrar, your web host, or a service such as Cloudflare.
• Your email setup page. With Hostiko Business Email, it opens as soon as your order is paid and lists every record with copy buttons.

The records, one by one

1. Verification (TXT)

A TXT record that proves you own the domain. It does not affect mail delivery; it simply lets the mail platform switch your domain on. Your setup page shows the exact host name and value.

2. MX: where your mail is delivered

MX (mail exchanger) records tell other mail servers where to deliver messages for your domain. This is the record that actually moves your email. Remove any old MX records from a previous provider, otherwise some messages will keep going to the old place.

3. SPF: who may send as you

SPF is a TXT record that starts with v=spf1 and lists the services allowed to send mail for your domain. Receiving servers check it to spot forgeries. A domain must have only one SPF record. If you already have one (for example for your website or a newsletter tool), add the new include: to it instead of creating a second record.

4. DKIM: a signature on every message

DKIM adds a digital signature to each email you send. The public half of the key is published as a TXT record, and receiving servers use it to confirm the message really came from you and was not changed on the way. Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo all weigh DKIM heavily when deciding between the inbox and the spam folder.

5. The mail server name (CNAME)

A CNAME for mail.yourbusiness.co.ke gives your mail server a name on your own domain, which you then use in Outlook and on phones. Once it is in place, a security certificate is issued for it automatically.

6. DMARC (recommended)

DMARC tells receiving servers what to do with mail that fails SPF and DKIM, and sends you reports. Start gently with v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:[email protected] and tighten it later. Our guide to SPF, DKIM and DMARC explains how.

Where to add the records

• Domain registered with Hostiko and using our nameservers? Tell us and we will add the records for you.
• Domain on Cloudflare? Add the records under DNS. Set the mail CNAME to DNS only (grey cloud). Mail does not pass through Cloudflare's proxy, and a proxied record will stop phones and Outlook connecting.
• Domain with another registrar or host? Look for "DNS management", "Zone editor" or "Advanced DNS" in their control panel, and add each record exactly as your setup page shows it.

Copy and paste the values rather than typing them. A missing full stop or an extra space is the most common reason a record does not work.

How long does it take?

New records usually work within minutes, but they can take a few hours to reach every network, depending on the TTL of the old records. Your Hostiko setup page ticks each record off as it goes live, so you can see progress without guessing. You can also check any record yourself with our free DNS lookup tool.

After the records are live

1. Create your mailboxes: info@, sales@, accounts@ and one for each person.
2. Sign in to the webmail at workspace.hostiko.co.ke and send a test message to a Gmail address. Then reply to it to check incoming mail.
3. Connect phones and Outlook using our guide to adding business email to your phone.
4. Move your old mail if you are switching providers. See how to move email without losing messages.

Common mistakes

• Two SPF records. Receivers treat this as an error and may fail every message. Merge them into one.
• Old MX records left behind. Mail is split between the old and new provider. Delete the old ones.
• The mail CNAME proxied on Cloudflare. Switch it to DNS only.
• Records added to the wrong place. If your nameservers point to Cloudflare, records added at your registrar do nothing. Add them where your nameservers point.
• The domain repeated in the host name. Some panels add your domain automatically, so mail.yourbusiness.co.ke becomes mail.yourbusiness.co.ke.yourbusiness.co.ke. If your panel does this, enter only mail.