Ensuring your emails reach your recipients' inboxes rather than their spam folders is essential for effective communication and successful email campaigns. This article outlines the best practices that will help you improve email deliverability and prevent your emails from being flagged as spam.
Key Features and Benefits
Enhanced Email Deliverability: Following these best practices increases the chances of your emails landing in the inbox, ensuring they are seen and acted upon.
Improved Sender Reputation: By implementing these guidelines, you can maintain a strong sender reputation, which is crucial for long-term email success.
Consistent and Reliable Communication: Preventing emails from going to spam allows you to maintain consistent communication with your audience, leading to better engagement.
Best Practices to Prevent Emails from Ending up in Spam
1. Use a Dedicated Email Sending Domain
What It Is: A dedicated domain is an exclusive domain used solely by you for sending and receiving emails.
Why It Matters: Sharing a domain with others increases the risk of your emails being flagged as spam. A dedicated domain allows you to control your email reputation and improve deliverability.
How to Set It Up: If you don't have a dedicated domain, consider setting one up to establish a unique domain reputation, reducing the likelihood of emails being marked as spam.
2. Set Up a Proper "From Email"
What It Is: The "From Email" is the email address that appears in the recipient's inbox.
Why It Matters: Using a "From Email" that matches your primary domain ensures that your emails are perceived as legitimate by email providers.
How to Use It: Always send emails from an address that includes your primary domain. Avoid using generic or mismatched addresses, as these can negatively impact your deliverability.
3. Add Unsubscribe Links
What It Is: An unsubscribe link allows recipients to opt-out of receiving future emails from you.
Why It Matters: Including an unsubscribe link is not only a best practice but also a requirement under many email regulations. It helps maintain your email list's health and prevents your emails from being marked as spam.
How to Implement: Use your email builder to add a default unsubscribe link or create a custom one. Ensure it's easily accessible in every email you send.
4. Avoid Spam Trigger Words
What It Is: Certain words and phrases can trigger spam filters due to their association with spammy or misleading content.
Why It Matters: Using too many of these words can increase the likelihood of your email being marked as spam.
How to Avoid: Be mindful of the language you use in your emails. Avoid overpromising phrases like "100% free" or "Act now." Instead, focus on clear and honest communication.
5. Monitor Your Email List Health
What It Is: Regularly cleaning and maintaining your email list ensures that you are only sending emails to engaged and active recipients.
Why It Matters: Sending emails to inactive or unengaged users can harm your sender reputation and increase the chances of being flagged as spam.
How to Do It: Implement a strategy to regularly remove inactive subscribers from your list. Use a smart list to tag contacts based on their last activity and filter out cold leads.
6. Handle Internal Emails with Caution
What It Is: Sending an email from and to the same domain (e.g., from [email protected] to [email protected]) can cause it to be marked as spam.
Why It Matters: Mailbox providers may interpret internal emails as spoofing attempts and mark them as spam.
How to Avoid It: If you need to test internal emails, use an external service like Gmail. For non-testing purposes, whitelist your SMTP provider's IP address with your domain manager.
7. Implement a DMARC Policy
What It Is: DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is an email authentication protocol that helps protect your domain from fraudulent emails.
Why It Matters: Without a DMARC policy, your emails may be marked as spam by recipient servers, negatively impacting your domain reputation.
How to Set It Up: Check with your SMTP provider to ensure your DMARC policy is properly configured and verified to pass DMARC checks.
8. Avoid Sending from a Public Domain
What It Is: Sending emails from a free public domain (e.g., gmail.com, yahoo.com) increases the likelihood of them being flagged as spam.
Why It Matters: Emails sent from a public domain are often considered less trustworthy by email providers.
How to Avoid It: Use a domain that you own, which matches your branding (e.g., [email protected]) to send emails.
9. Secure Your Subscription Forms
What It Is: Protecting your forms with reCaptcha or double opt-in ensures that only legitimate users subscribe to your emails.
Why It Matters: This reduces the likelihood of spam sign-ups and helps maintain a healthy email list.
How to Set It Up: Implement a double opt-in system where users must confirm their subscription via a follow-up email before being added to your marketing list.
Pro Tips
Segment Your Audience: Tailor your emails to different segments of your audience to increase engagement. Highly relevant content is less likely to be marked as spam.
Test Your Emails: Use tools to test your emails before sending them to see if they are likely to be flagged as spam. This can help you identify and correct issues before they impact your deliverability.
Double Opt-In: Encourage subscribers to confirm their subscription through a double opt-in process. This ensures that your email list consists of genuinely interested recipients, improving overall engagement.
FAQ
1. What is a dedicated email sending domain, and why do I need one?
A dedicated email sending domain is a private domain used solely for your email communications. It is crucial because it helps you maintain control over your sender reputation and improves your email deliverability.
2. How do I ensure my emails are not marked as spam?
To prevent your emails from being marked as spam, follow best practices such as using a dedicated domain, adding unsubscribe links, avoiding spam trigger words, and maintaining a clean email list.
3. Why is it important to add an unsubscribe link to my emails?
An unsubscribe link allows recipients to opt-out of your emails, which is essential for compliance with email regulations and maintaining a healthy email list. It also helps reduce the chances of your emails being marked as spam.
4. How can I prevent internal emails from being marked as spam?
If you're sending internal emails (from and to the same domain), consider using an external service like Gmail for testing. For regular use, whitelist your SMTP provider's IP address to prevent these emails from being flagged as spam.
5. What is DMARC, and how does it impact my email deliverability?
DMARC is an email authentication protocol that helps protect your domain from fraudulent emails. Properly configuring and verifying your DMARC policy ensures that your emails pass authentication checks and reduces the chances of them being marked as spam.
Best Practices for Words to Consider Before Using
Below are some words and phrases that spam filters often view as red flags. Context will also assist, if you utilize only one or two of the words or phrases below, have a low bounce rate, and take other actions to ensure your emails comply with non-spam policies, you’ll be all set.
Words that make promises too good to be true:
#1
100% more
100% free
100% satisfied
Additional income
Be your own boss
Best price
Big bucks
Billion
Cash bonus
Cents on the dollar
Consolidate debt
Double your cash
Double your income
Earn extra cash
Earn money
Eliminate bad credit
Extra cash
Extra income
Expect to earn
Fast cash
Financial freedom
Free access
Free consultation
Free gift
Free hosting
Free info
Free investment
Free membership
Free money
Free preview
Free quote
Free trial
Full refund
Get out of debt
Get paid
Giveaway
Guaranteed
Increase sales
Increase traffic
Incredible deal
Lower rates
Lowest price
Make money
Million dollars
Miracle
Money back
Once in a lifetime
One time
Pennies a day
Potential earnings
Prize
Promise
Pure profit
Risk-free
Satisfaction guaranteed
Save big money
Save up to
Special promotion
Words that may pressure or create urgency for your leads:
Act now
Apply now
Become a member
Call now
Click below
Click here
Get it now
Do it today
Don’t delete
Exclusive deal
Get started now
Important information regarding
Information you requested
Instant
Limited time
New customers only
Order now
Please read
See for yourself
Sign up free
Take action
This won’t last
Urgent
What are you waiting for?
While supplies last
Will not believe your eyes
Winner
Winning
You are a winner
You have been selected
Words that may seem shady or lead to unethical behavior:
Bulk email
Buy direct
Cancel at any time
Check or money order
Congratulations
Confidentiality
Cures
Dear friend
Direct email
Direct marketing
Hidden charges
Human growth hormone
Internet marketing
Lose weight
Mass email
Meet singles
Multi-level marketing
No catch
No cost
No credit check
No fees
No gimmick
No hidden costs
No hidden fees
No interest
No investment
No obligation
No purchase necessary
No questions asked
No strings attached
Not junk
Not spam
Obligation
Passwords
Requires initial investment
Social security number
This isn’t a scam
This isn’t junk
This isn’t spam
Undisclosed
Unsecured credit
Unsecured debt
Unsolicited
Valium
Viagra
Vicodin
We hate spam
Weight loss
Xanax
Words that are often seen as jargon or legalese:
Accept credit cards
Ad
All new
As seen on
Bargain
Beneficiary
Billing
Bonus
Cards accepted
Cash
Certified
Cheap
Claims
Clearance
Compare rates
Credit card offers
Deal
Debt
Discount
Fantastic
In accordance with laws
Income
Investment
Join millions
Lifetime
Loans
Luxury
Marketing solution
Message contains
Mortgage rates
Name brand
Offer
Online marketing
Opt in
Pre-approved
Quote
Rates
Refinance
Removal
Reserves the right
Score
Search engine
Sent in compliance
Subject to…
Terms and conditions
Trial
Unlimited
Warranty
Web traffic
Work from home
Check out our “Email Deliverability 101” article for more tips and best practices on email deliverability.
Keyword Lists retrieved from: https://www.activecampaign.com...