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SPF "too many DNS lookups" (PermError): how to count them, and why it only breaks for some of your senders.
RFC 7208 sets the limit at 10. What counts:
• include, a, mx, ptr, exists and redirect: 1 lookup each, including the ones nested inside your providers' includes.
• ip4, ip6 and all: free.
Go past 10 and the receiver must return permerror.
Why it's easy to miss
The record is still valid syntax, so a checker that only reads your top-level record says it's fine. And mechanisms are evaluated left to right, stopping at the first match: a server matched early passes before an 11th lookup is ever needed. The one that fails is usually the provider listed last, often the one you just added.
A real example, from a run of my email-auth-checker this morning: github.com uses exactly 10 of 10. Eight includes on the record itself, one more inside SendGrid's include, one exists inside Salesforce's. One more lookup anywhere in that tree and the last senders stop passing SPF.
How to get back under 10
• Remove includes for tools you no longer send from. An include pointing to a domain with no SPF record is a permanent error for every message.
• Move senders that don't need your root domain to a subdomain (news.yourdomain.com), with its own SPF record and its own 10 lookups.
• Replace an include with the provider's ip4/ip6 ranges only if they publish fixed ranges, and recheck them, because they change.
• Recount after every new tool. Nested records belong to your providers and change without you touching anything.
How many includes are on your SPF record, and are you still sending from all of them?
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I Found 70 Spam Comments on My Own Website This Morning 😅
Yes. Mine.
I build and fix websites for a living. And this morning I opened my own dashboard to find:
❌ 70 comments waiting for approval, almost all of them betting sites, adult links and “great post, admin!” bots.
❌ 16 plugins sitting there with updates waiting.
❌ Contact forms with zero spam protection.
Nothing was “broken.” The site still loaded. Still looked fine.
That’s exactly the problem.
Most website problems don’t announce themselves. They build up quietly in the background while you’re busy running your business.
Outdated plugins become security gaps.
Spam comments make a site look abandoned.
Unprotected forms flood your inbox until you stop checking it, and miss the one real enquiry that mattered.
So here’s what I did:
✔ Updated every plugin (with backups first)
✔ Added a spam filter for comments
✔ Added hidden spam protection to every form
✔ Cleared out the 70 spam comments
Less than an hour. But only because I actually looked.
A website isn’t something you launch and forget.
It’s more like a car. It runs fine… until the day it doesn’t.
Quick question: When was the last time you logged into your website’s dashboard? 👇
If the honest answer is “I don’t remember,” send me a message. I’ll take a look.
Haha the irony is real Victor! I build and fix websites for a living and then your own dashboard has 70 spam comments waiting 😅 Those "great post, admin!" bots and betting sites are relentless. Nothing looked broken, that was exactly the problem - so relatable! Love how you turned it into a content piece too.
I optimized email click-through rates (CTR) by split-testing high quality lifestyle imagery against product-focused layouts, resulting in a more cohesive brand identity and higher engagement
Split-testing lifestyle imagery for email CTR is a smart test. Which version won, and by roughly how much?
Stop relying on social algorithms—own your audience.
While social platforms change rules overnight, email is your highest-converting channel to turn browsers into loyal buyers. Here is a metrics of a High Value Customer below; strength of Email Marketing.
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Direct Access: Bypass algorithms and land right in the inbox.
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