Got problems? Get a second opinion from the internet

I see lots of people running into problems with their email or website infrastructure

• “I’m sure I’ve set my DNS correctly… I think”

• “I can’t access by website from my ISP … I think my ISP might be blocking it”"

• “I’m not sure if my SPF record is correct or not, but I gave it my best”

• “my SSL certificate works on my machine… I hope it works for everyone else!”

The real problem in these cases is that not that there might be a configuration issue, but that these people are lacking a way to really test whether things are set up properly or not

Are my DNS settings correct?

• Always use a free tool like MxToolbox to check your DNS settings. It really doesn’t matter if your DNS settings look great on your local machine… What really matters is what the rest of the Internet sees.

Is my website working for people that are not me?

• Worried about what your website looks like to the internet at-large? It really doesn’t matter if your website looks great on your local machine… What really matters is how it looks to the internet at-large

• Use a free website performance testing tool such as WebPageTest.org to test your site … and you’ll be able to see exactly what the internet sees when they visit ... including how fast they see it.

Does my SPF record have proper syntax?

• Use a free SPF checking tool that will even tell you if you have any syntax errors

• Several free tools listed in this article

Is my TLS/SSL certificate working properly for website visitors?

• Use the SSL Server Test from SSL Labs to check your website encryption certificate (SSL/TLS)