This guide walks you through the full setup — from choosing a domain to monitoring performance.
Do you need a dedicated domain?
You can skip this setup if you're sending fewer than 10 cold emails per day and your domain already has a strong reputation.
For any consistent or scalable outreach, a dedicated domain is strongly recommended.
💡 Want to skip the manual setup? Hunter offers managed email accounts with domains that come pre-configured with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC — no DNS setup required. 👉 Learn about managed email accounts
Why use a dedicated domain?
Using a separate domain for cold outreach protects you from:
Reputation damage — low engagement or spam reports won't affect your main domain.
Deliverability issues — your primary inbox stays healthy for customer and partner communication.
Brand risk — if the outreach domain gets flagged, your main domain is unaffected.
Setup checklist
Follow these steps in order.
1. Choose a domain name
Pick a name clearly connected to your brand (e.g. trybrand.com, getbrand.com).
Use trusted extensions:
.com,.io,.net.Avoid TLDs commonly flagged as spam (e.g.
.xyz,.click).
2. Check the domain's reputation
Verify the domain has no prior spam history before purchasing.
If it's been used for spam before, choose a different one.
💡 You can check domain reputation using tools like MXToolbox or Google Postmaster Tools.
3. Redirect the domain to your main website
Set up a 301 redirect from your new domain to your main website. This ensures that if a prospect visits the domain directly, they land on your real site.
👉A 301 redirect is a permanent forwarding rule. Your domain registrar or developer can set this up for you.
4. Connect the domain to an email service provider
To send emails from the new domain, you need to link it to an email service provider (ESP).
Choose an ESP — Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or Zoho Mail are common options.
Create your outreach mailbox (e.g.
firstname@yournewdomain.com).Follow your ESP's process to verify domain ownership.
5. Set up SPF and DKIM records
SPF and DKIM are DNS records that help email providers authenticate your messages and improve deliverability.
Log in to your domain registrar's DNS settings.
Add the SPF and DKIM records provided by your ESP.
💡 Refer to your ESP's help documentation for the exact records to add — they vary by provider. A general overview of email authentication protocols is also available.
6. Warm up the domain
Don't start sending at full volume right away. Warm up the domain gradually to build a positive sending reputation.
The recommended approach is to use Inbox Protection, Hunter's native warm-up tool, which automates this process directly from your account.
If you prefer to warm up manually:
Start with a small number of emails per day (e.g. 5–10).
Increase volume slowly over 2–3 weeks.
7. Use this domain only for cold outreach
Keep your main domain for:
Customer support
Internal communication
Partner and vendor emails
Reserve the dedicated domain strictly for cold outreach campaigns.
8. Monitor performance
Once you start sending:
Track bounce rates and spam complaint rates.
Pause outreach if engagement drops significantly.
Use Google Postmaster Tools or your ESP's analytics to monitor domain health.
What to expect
After completing setup, your cold email domain is ready to use in Hunter's Email Sequences or your chosen sending tool.
Expect the warm-up phase to take 2–4 weeks before reaching full sending volume. During this time, deliverability will gradually improve as the domain builds a reputation.