2024 Email Security Changes: Everything You Need To Know

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Email Security Changes

There have been some pretty major email security changes lately, initiated by Google and Yahoo and helping protect emails from spam. These email security changes primarily affect us, business owners who send emails in bulk from various platforms such as Mailerlite, ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp etc.

What are the email security changes?

Personal Email Addresses

First of all, the most significant of the email security changes in 2024 is the use of personal email addresses. If you are using a personal email address to send emails for your business, you will now be prevented from doing so, especially if it's a Gmail or Yahoo address. This is because personal emails don't have the same security settings that business domain emails have. So, if you are currently using a personal email, you will need to set up and purchase a domain email, with your website address on the end (so mine is hello@wonderfulworldofwebsites.com). You can do this through your hosting provider or by paying for an email address through Google or Microsoft.

Set Up Records to Your Hosting

Next up, you will need to add some records to your hosting to increase the deliverability of your email.

Depending on which email platform you use there will be various records for you to set up. These are most likely to be:

SPF (Sender Policy Framework):

SPF is a record that states to the servers you are using to send emails. So, for example, as I have G Suite and ActiveCampaign, my record would include code from each of those servers.

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail):

DKIM creates a private signature so that your email address can't be spoofed and used by someone else pretending to be you. A bit like a secret digital signature.

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance) checks the results of these records and then states what to do with the emails, to let the recipient receive them or to mark them as spam.

Now, you don't really need to know what any of this means (although some people like to understand!), but what you do need to know is what exact records you need, where you need to add them and how you do that.

So, here goes:

Step 1

So first things first, let's make these email security changes. Sign into your mailing list platform and you will most likely see a notification that you need to authorise your domains, if you don't see that then go to your account settings and the info will be under domains or advanced settings (depending on what you use).

You will then need to click to authorise your domain and then it will give you the records to add to your hosting (some may just give you the records without having to click authorise).

Screen shot of domain authentication screen that you need to access for email security changes

Step 2

So where is your hosting? Your hosting is wherever your website/email DNS is (not necessarily where you purchased your domain). Hosting is where your website files are kept and/or where you purchased your email address from. So for example if you are using WordPress then it could be Siteground, Godaddy, 20i, 123 Reg etc. You would usually be paying a yearly or monthly amount to keep your website and emails running. If you don't have a website just an email address your DNS records will be at your domain. If you have a Wix or Squarespace website and the domain is also with them that's where the records will be.

Once you are logged into your hosting you will need to access your DNS settings or records. If not called DNS settings it could say DNS Zone Editor or Manage DNS - it would differ depending on where your hosting is. If you are unsure then just Google your hosting company and DNS records so for example 'how to access godaddy DNS records'

You will then see something similar to below:

screen shot of DNS record screen you need for email security changes

Now all you need to do is copy and paste the records into the boxes, and then once done, verify in your email platform.

So using the Mailerlite example above, we need to first add a CNAME record, so in the dropdown select CNAME. Then you would copy the first record and paste it in the first box and then copy the second record and paste it in the second box.

Email Security Changes - You Are All Done!

Once verified, your email security changes are all complete! But please note that sometimes DNS records take a while to update, depending on your host, and verification may not be instant. If you still cannot verify after 24 hours, then go back and check the records to make sure they are correct.

Also you shouldn't have two SPF records and many hosts already have one in your DNS settings so this field usually needs to be edited rather than a new record added (copy and paste the second box and replace the current second box in the hosting that has an SPF record.)

Now I think a big congratulations is in order (or a large glass of wine!) as you have successfully completed your email security changes.

If, however, you are still stuck executing your email security changes, we solve tricky tech problems like this every week over in The Tech Tavern, my monthly tech support group where we have Tech Top Up calls each week, masterclasses, guest experts and a chance to ask questions in the group (if you can't make the weekly Q&A calls).

You can join below and get your first month free!

Join 1st Month Free - Tech Tavern

Help ChatGPT find your website a laptop with a megaphone coming out of the screen

I know that sounds ridiculous, but spend a few minutes browsing small-business websites, and you will see why it matters.

For example: A homepage might say: "Helping you achieve your goals." That's great, but what goals? Who are you helping?

A web visitor might work it out from the logo, photographs and navigation. Machines have less tolerance for ambiguity.

Compare that with: " We provide commercial cleaning services to offices, schools and healthcare businesses across South Wales."

Suddenly, there's much less to decipher. Who are you? A commercial cleaning company. What do you do? Clean commercial premises. Who for? Offices, schools, and healthcare businesses. Where? South Wales.

Clear website copy isn't unsophisticated copy. If you want to help ChatGPT find your website, clarity can be a big advantage.

3. Create Proper Pages for Your Main Services

One mistake I regularly see is businesses trying to squeeze everything they offer onto one service page. Imagine a building company offering extensions, loft conversions, kitchen renovations, and garage conversions. Giving each important service its own useful page creates far more context than mentioning all four in a short bullet list.

A strong page can explain:

what the service involves;
who it is suitable for;
common questions customers ask;
the process;
relevant experience;
examples of completed work;
geographical areas covered.

This is not only useful information for potential customers, but also useful for conventional SEO and will help ChatGPT find your website and understand exactly what your business provides.

However, a word of caution. The important word here is useful. Creating 30 near-identical pages simply to target 30 slightly different phrases isn't the answer. Websites are ultimately for people, so create pages because you have something worthwhile to tell them.

4. Answer the Questions Your Customers Really Ask

3d speech bubbles with Q & A in them for Help ChatGPT find your website blog

This is where good blog content becomes particularly valuable and can help ChatGPT find your website.

People often interact with ChatGPT and other AI bots in a conversational way. Rather than searching for something like: "loft conversion Cardiff", they might ask "Do I need planning permission for a loft conversion in Cardiff?" or "Is my house suitable for a loft conversion?". You get my drift.

Think about the questions customers ask you on the phone, in emails, during quotations, or at meetings. Those questions can become extremely useful website content. And don't limit yourself to just obvious FAQs. Some of the best content comes from the questions that require actual expertise to answer: comparisons, costs, pitfalls, misconceptions, alternatives, and situations where one option is better than another. That is where your knowledge becomes valuable. Put that into blogs, and it will help ChatGPT find your website.

5. Don't Just Say You're an Expert - Demonstrate It

Almost every business website claims some variation of: "We pride ourselves on providing a professional, high-quality service." The problem is that anybody can write it. Evidence is much more persuasive.

If you want to help ChatGPT find your website and understand why your business might be a credible source, then you need to give your website substance.

That could include detailed case studies, named authors with relevant experience, customer reviews, original photographs, accreditations, qualifications, awards, research or data you've produced, and genuinely knowledgeable articles/blogs.

A case study saying: We recently completed this project for a client in Newport", isn't particularly informative. Explain the problem. What did the customer need? What did you recommend? Why? What difficulties arose? How did you solve them? What was the outcome?

That is useful information for humans, and it gives search and AI systems considerably more context about your real-world expertise.

6. Make Your Location Clear

Naturally, this is particularly important for local businesses.

If you are an electrician serving customers across South Wales, make that clear on your website. Your address, service areas, and contact details shouldn't require detective work to find.

Your About and Contact pages can reinforce where you are based, while individual service pages can naturally explain areas you cover. However, avoid creating dozens of thin location pages where the only difference is swapping one town name for another, like "Electrician Newport", "Electrician Cardiff", and "Electrician Cwmbran."

That's not useful content. If a location genuinely warrants its own page, give the reader something specific and worthwhile.

7. Build Your Reputation Beyond Your Own Website

Your website doesn't exist in isolation.

If you claim to be a leading expert in your field but nobody else on the internet appears to know you exist, that's not a particularly convincing signal. Therefore, I want you to think about your wider digital footprint.

Are you listed accurately on relevant professional or industry websites? Have local publications mentioned your business? Do reputable websites link to you? Are there genuine customer reviews? Have you contributed expert comments or guest articles elsewhere?

You see, digital PR, quality guest blogging, and traditional link building still have a place. However, the aim shouldn't be to scatter links across hundreds of low-quality websites to help ChatGPT find your website. On the contrary, it's to build a recognisable business with a credible online presence.

8. Write Content Worth Citing

Graphic woman sat at a computer with pages of content coming out of it

This may be one of the biggest opportunities created by AI search.

If everybody writes a generic article called "10 benefits of X", then there is very little reason for any search or AI system to favour yours above the others. To help ChatGPT find your website, you need to give it something better:

Share your experience.

Explain what customers commonly get wrong.
Compare two approaches and say when you'd choose each one.
Publish original examples.
Answer awkward questions.
Discuss pricing honestly where possible.
Challenge a commonly repeated piece of industry advice if you disagree with it – and explain why.

The internet doesn't desperately need another 800-word blog saying the same thing as the previous 100 ones. What it does need are people who actually know their subject sharing information that isn't available everywhere else. Tricky, yes. Impossible, no.

9. Don't Forget Traditional SEO

As I mentioned right at the beginning of this article, trying to help ChatGPT find your website doesn't mean forgetting Google and other search engines. In fact, as I'm sure you've realised by now, many of the fundamentals overlap.

You still need a technically sound, crawlable website with logical navigation, descriptive page titles, useful headings, strong internal links and well-written pages focused on genuine customer needs. Ultimately, your content should make sense to a person first; I always stress this to my clients. There is little to be gained by contorting every single paragraph into something you imagine AI or search engines want to read.

Cater for your customer. Ensure your website clearly explains who you are, what you do, where you operate, and why you know what you're talking about. That's what they need to know, and by doing that you are already building a much stronger foundation for both traditional and AI-driven searches.

Help ChatGPT Find Your Website - But Write For People

Help ChatGPT find your website a 3d graphic of a person in front of a laptop with books and text

AI is changing how people discover information online, but that doesn't mean websites suddenly need to be written for robots. Quite the opposite. After all, humans, your potential customers, are asking ChatGPT the questions. So, if you want to help ChatGPT find your website, you must make it clear, informative, and more authoritative for the people you're trying to reach.

Follow the guidance listed above. None of it is particularly technical (save point 1); it is simply about making sure you have good website content. The difference is that today, a well-written website isn't only helping a potential customer decide whether to contact you; it may also help ChatGPT find your website and decide whether or not to list it in response to a query, ultimately driving fresh traffic your way.

If you would like help reviewing your website content, or creating quality blogs that appeal to both humans and bots, please do not hesitate to get in touch. My name is Heather, and I'm The Content Creator.

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A bit about the author

Heather founded The Content Creator nearly three years ago, combining her love of writing with a genuine passion for helping small businesses and solopreneurs get seen online. She supports her clients with everything from website copy and SEO to AI search visibility, newsletters and social media, taking the stress out of creating content that not only sounds like them, but helps their business grow.

If you need a helping hand with any of these areas, Heather is your go-to girl! We can speak from experience, too, because she works on our own website, helping us keep up with the ever-changing world of SEO and AI search and making sure our content continues to work hard for our business.

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