🧭 1. Starting Point: Attempting to Set Up a Business Email with Zoho Mail
Initially, I wanted to set up a professional business email for:
- Affiliate marketing emails
- Business communication
- Technical support emails
Therefore, during the Zoho registration process, I selected:
👉 Business Email (Domestic Server)
⚠️ 2. Critical Turning Point: Entering the Payment Page
After clicking “Register Now,” the system redirected directly to the plan selection page:
- Paid Standard / Professional editions
- 15-day trial offered
- No long-term free plan found
👉 Therefore, I decided to abandon Zoho Mail
🧭 3. Fallback Plan: Reverting to QQ Business Email
After reverting to QQ Business Email, I completed the basic configuration:
- Enabled IMAP/SMTP
- Enabled POP/SMTP
- Configured SMTP sending service
🧪 4. Problem Occurs: Gmail Sending Failure (Bounced)
When testing sending an email to Gmail:
- Delivery failed
- Status showed: Bounced
- No detailed error message
🧠 5. Initial Troubleshooting: SPF-Related Issues
During troubleshooting, I discovered:
SPF is used to verify whether the sending domain is trusted
If SPF is not configured, emails may be rejected outright
🧩 6. Fix Step One: Adding the SPF Record
Added in Alibaba Cloud DNS:
v=spf1 include:mail.qq.com ~all
🧪 7. Verifying if SPF is Effective
Verification results:
- SPF resolved successfully
- DNS took effect
- But Gmail still bounced the email
🔐 8. Discovering the DKIM Configuration Entry
In the QQ Business Email admin console, I found:
👉 DKIM verification feature entry
🧩 9. Configuring DKIM Signature Information
The system provides:
- TXT record hostname
- DKIM public key content
- DNS configuration instructions
🧪 10. Completing DKIM Configuration and Verifying Successfully
After adding the DKIM record in DNS:
✔ DKIM status changed to “Verified”
🎉 11. Final Result: Gmail Sending Successful
Re-tested sending emails:
- Delivery successful
- No bounce
📬 12. Gmail Successfully Received the Email
Final result:
✔ Gmail successfully received the email
✔ Sender is the business domain email
✔ No spam marking
🧠 13. Final Summary
The core conclusion of this business email configuration is:
❌ Zoho is not a mandatory choice
- Has a paywall
- Free path is unclear
❌ The email service itself is not the problem
- QQ Business Email is completely usable
❗The real key is the email authentication system:
- SPF (allows sending sources)
- DKIM (email signature verification)