Your emails going to the spam/junk folder of Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo? There are a number of possible reasons for this. Let’s have a look at some of them.
Top reasons for delivering emails to the spam folder
- IP reputation
Your deliverability issues can be related to the reputation of your mail server’s IP. Your first port of call should be to check the IP at https://www.scalahosting.com/ip.php – an online service used by many email providers to limit the amount of spam messages flying around. The IP’s reputation relies on many factors, including volume of outgoing emails, the content of the messages, the number of bounced messages and messages sent to not-existing addresses, messages hitting spam traps. Based on all this, SenderBase calculates your IP’s score – an estimate of how likely you are to send spam messages. If your score is too high, your messages will be marked as spam.
- The destination server blocks your domain
Your outgoing emails may also be blocked because the destination mail server has a blacklist with your domain in it. To find out if this is the case, you will have to contact the mail administrator of the destination server.
- Missing or wrongly configured reverse DNS record
If your domain is not correctly configured, you may experience deliverability issues. Check your domain’s nameservers and DNS settings and make sure everything is set correctly.
- Anti-spam filters
All email providers have some sort of anti-spam filters designed to limit the volume of unsolicited messages hitting people’s inboxes. Sometimes, however, these filters come up with false-positives and redirect legitimate communication to the junk folder. There’s nothing you can do to make your way around these spam filters, but if you do some research, you can find out what you can change about your messages, so that they don’t end up blocked.
How do I get 100% inbox delivery?
In reality, you can’t guarantee 100% email deliverability. However, there are some best practices you can follow that will increase your chances of smooth communication with your clients. Here’s what you can do:
- Make sure your mail IP reputation is good.
- Make sure you have an SPF record setup for your domain.
- Enable DKIM for your domain too.
- Use a dedicated IP.
If you’re using a shared hosting plan, your outgoing email communication will be sent through an IP used by hundreds of other people as well. If one of them starts sending spam, the reputation of the IP could be ruined, which could result in your messages being wrongly flagged as spam. If you get a Virtual Private Server, you will have your own IP address, and you won’t need to worry about anyone damaging its reputation.
