How can I use my own email address to send and receive emails in Keela?

When you sign up with Keela, you'll automatically be given your own Keela email address that you can use to send (and receive) emails and Email Marketing to your Contacts. You might have your own email address that contains your domain that you would like to use - if so, you've come to the right place!

Here's an example of how your Keela email address may look:

Here's an example of how your own domain email address may look:

If you would like to use your own domain email address in Keela, you'll need to connect your Keela account to your domain. You can do this by integrating Keela with SendGrid.

How does the integration with SendGrid work?

So that Keela can use your domain email address, you will need to provide us access to it. We use the SendGrid system to do this.

Your domain host site will be updated with SendGrid's CNAME and MX records which will connect directly back to Keela. If all four of the new records (3 x CNAME and 1 x MX) are updated successfully, SendGrid will relay this to Keela and your account will be updated to allow for you to use your personal domain.

Can every Domain Host connect with SendGrid?

Every Domain Host is different and has its own settings, functions, and capabilities. In order to use the SendGrid integration your Domain Host will need to have the following fields for CNAME and MX records:

Required Fields for CNAME Records:

• Host Field
• Points To Field

Required Fields for MX Records:

• Host Field
• Points To Field
• Priority Field

If you're not sure if your Domain Host has these fields, we recommend reaching out to your Domain Hosts support team to ensure that they will be able to support the SendGrid integration by asking them if they can support the above.

These are the Domain Hosts who cannot integrate with SendGrid that we are currently aware of:

• Wix

These Domain Hosts cannot integrate with SendGrid because they are missing features that SendGrid requires to complete the integration. Feel free to reach out to their support team to double-check if you can add the required CNAME and MX records outlined above. Update us if they can!

 

Before you begin the SendGrid integration

Psst: Do you have a website or email administrator? If you do - great! You can pass this task off to them!

The best place to start is to figure out:

A) Who hosts your organizations domain
B) Search online for how-to guides for updating the DNS settings for that domain host. For example, if your domain is hosted by Squarespace, search 'Update DNS Settings Squarespace'.
C) Then move on to the steps below

 

How to Integrate with SendGrid

If you don't use GoDaddy or Google as your domain host, follow the below steps. 

Hint: The process for updating DNS settings can be quite similiar across the board - if this is your first time updating them, you might find that watching the GoDaddy Integration video is still helpful - even if you don't use this domain provider!

(1) Confirm your Domain and Create SendGrid Settings in Keela

Navigate to Organization Settings > Select the Integrations tab

Scroll down the list of Integrations to SendGrid > Click Connect

Enter your domain > Click Save

Tip: Your domain is the text that comes after the @ in your email address - do not enter anything before this symbol. For example yourorganization.org (instead of me@yourorganization.org)

Once you've entered your domain, the SendGrid integration status will update to Pending. Click on the Actions button > Click Verify Domain

 

A new window will open that shows you the Domain Authentication (CNAME) and Reply Tracking (MX) settings that you will need to update to your domain in order to connect it with Keela:

Note: Your records are unique to your region and could be different to these example records. 

Next, you will need to create new CNAME and MX records on your domain that match the above settings so that it can be connected to Keela (via SendGrid).

(2) Create DNS Records on your Domain

Note that this step will take place outside of your Keela account. You'll need to access your domain administration website and locate the DNS management tool. This may be located on the domain itself, or in your account settings.

Do you use GoDaddy as a Domain Provider? Step by Step instructions for this step are here.

Hint: If you're not sure how to do navigate to and use your domain's DNS management tool we recommend:

• Contacting your website or email administrator
• Contacting the support team of your domain host
• Searching for Help Centre articles online that talk through how through any of the following:
  • How to add a DNS record
  • How to add a CNAME record
  • How to add an MX record

Next, add a new DNS record, choose the type (CNAME or MX) and copy and paste the settings from the Authenticate Email Domain screen in Keela to fill in the fields on your new DNS record. Below is an example of creating a DNS record for the first CNAME.

First, copy the record details from Keela: 

Then, paste them into the new DNS record that you have created in your domain. It should look a little like this:

Click Save when finished. Repeat this process for the remaining 2 CNAME records, then create the MX record. When you're finished, you should see 3 CNAME records and 1 MX record on your domain's DNS panel.

Notes on creating your DNS records:

• "Points to" may also be called "Destination".
• The TTL field does not need to be changed.
• For the MX record, in the Priority field, enter a value of "10".

(3) Verify your Domain in Keela

Once you've updated your DNS records in step 2, head on over back to Keela and click the Verify button. This will verify your DNS records and connect your domain to Keela.

Note: It can take up to 48 hours for your DNS records to be fully verified. If the Status for each record does not appear as "Verified" after 48 hours, please review our How to Troubleshoot your SendGrid Connection article.

The Status column will update to Verified when the SendGrid Connection is successful.

(4) Change your email addresses to your domain emails

Organization Email

Navigate to the Profile tab in your Organization Settings > Click on the Edit icon

Insert the beginning of your organization-wide email address > Click Save

Note: The email address must be an existing one.

Personal Email

Each user on the account will also need to change their Personal Emails to their Domain address as well. 

Navigate to the Profile tab of your Personal Settings > Click on the Edit Icon

Insert the beginning of your personal email address > Click Save

Note: The email address must be an existing one.

And that's it! You have successfully connected your account to SendGrid!

FAQ

Can I connect my domain to more than one Keela account?

Sorry, but you can only connect your domain to SendGrid once. This is because if you have more than one set of CNAME and MX records on your domain, SendGrid will not know which account to send your email responses to.

 

Do I need a SendGrid account to perform this integration?

Nope! The SendGrid service is completely included in your Keela subscription so there is no need to set up anything with SendGrid directly. It's all done through the Keela steps outlined above.

 

How do I know who my "Domain Host" is?

A domain host is a service that manages your domain, for example, yourdomain.com. They use DNS records to connect your domain name with other web services, like Keela! An example of a very popular domain host is GoDaddy or Google, but there are lots of others out there! 

If you don't know who hosts your domain, you can check your old bills for the company you bought your domain from. Frequently, this is the same company that hosts your domain. You can also try searching your domain in the ICANN Domain Directory.

 

I've followed the above steps but my SendGrid integration is not showing as Connected?

Please refer to our Troubleshooting your SendGrid Connection article.

 

Can I continue to use my regular email client once I integrate with SendGrid (for example, Gmail)?

Yes, you definitely can! The SendGrid integration does not remove your ability to send and receive emails via your regular methods. To capture any emails sent outside the Keela system this way, we recommend using the BCC/FWD Emails tool.

 

Which Domain providers can integrate with SendGrid?

While we don't have a complete list of domain providers (there's hundreds and hundreds) here are the ones that we know definitely integrate with SendGrid:

• GoDaddy
• Squarespace
• Web Hosting Canada
• Bluehost Web Hosting
• OpenDNS
• Pressable

Do you recommend any Domain provider?

While we can definitely confirm that the above domain providers are compatible with SendGrid, we don't have any recommendations about which domain provider your organization should use. Every organization is different and we recommend spending some time to find one that's right for you! When choosing a domain provider, just make sure that they allow the records outlined here.

 

Why is there a "reply" in my Contact Reply To e-mail? Can I remove it?

When a contact replies to an email sent through Keela (either an Email Marketing or Direct Email), even if you've integrated your own domain via SendGrid, the reply address will always contain 'reply.' This is a requirement within Keela, which makes sure that any replies make it back into the system. If you remove this 'reply', the e-mail interaction will not be recorded in Keela and you will not receive an in-app or e-mail notification.

 

Will setting up SendGrid interfere with my current email service?

We certainly don't expect it to! The only situation where setting up the DNS might affect your existing email service is IF the DNS 'Host' names required by Keela are already being used by your email service. See Keela's DNS 'Host' names below. 

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For example, if your email service or an additional integration with your domain is using the 'Host' name reply.yourdomain.com, then there may be potential interference. 

You can check your current DNS setting to make sure these 'Host' names do not already exist. Or, if you are still unsure if SendGrid's requirements will affect your current email service, we recommend checking with your domain host to confirm that the SendGrid requirements are compatible. Note that you can disconnect SendGrid at any time and remove Keela's DNS settings from your domain if there is any interference whatsoever.