Learning how to stop emails from going to Spam
Emails going to spam can be a problem for businesses.
People who signed up to your list then not seeing your content OR more importantly 1-1 emails like quotes, invoices, and day to day business communication not being seen.
Stopping your emails from going to spam involves several factors that you can optimize to increase the chances of your emails reaching the recipient’s main inbox.
Here are some effective strategies to help you prevent your emails from going to spam:
1. Use a reputable email service provider (ESP):
Using a well-known ESP can improve your email deliverability as they have established relationships with internet service providers (ISPs) and can help ensure your emails are properly authenticated.
The list above shows some of the more popular email providers. There are many. Please do your own research and select accordingly.
2. Authenticate your domain:
Implement email authentication protocols such as SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) to verify that your emails are genuinely sent from your domain. This helps ISPs recognize your emails as legitimate.
📌 Learn more: “How to authenticate your Domain”
3. Build a good sender reputation:
ISPs assess the reputation of the sender’s IP address and domain when determining email placement. Maintain a positive sender reputation by consistently sending relevant and engaging content, avoiding spammy tactics, and monitoring your email deliverability.
4. Obtain permission and use double opt-in:
Send emails only to recipients who have explicitly given their consent to receive them. Implement a double opt-in process where subscribers confirm their subscription through a verification link or email. This ensures that your emails are welcomed and reduces the likelihood of them being marked as spam.
📌 Learn More: “What is a double opt-in?”
5. Avoid spam triggers:
Craft your emails carefully to avoid common spam triggers that can cause them to be filtered. This includes refraining from excessive use of capital letters, exclamation marks, misleading subject lines, and spammy keywords like FREE or SALE.
📌 Learn More: “Email Spam Words to Avoid”
6. Provide clear unsubscribe options:
Make it easy for recipients to unsubscribe from your emails. Including a prominent and accessible unsubscribe link demonstrates your commitment to respecting their preferences and reduces the likelihood of your emails being marked as spam.
7. Optimize email content and formatting:
Create well-structured emails with clean HTML coding. Avoid using large images, excessive links, or too many attachments, as these can trigger spam filters. Optimize your email design for both desktop and mobile devices, and include a text version of your email as an alternative.
8. Regularly monitor your email deliverability:
Keep an eye on your email metrics, such as open rates, click-through rates, and bounce rates. Monitor spam complaints and unsubscribe rates to identify any potential issues and take corrective actions as soon as possible. Its also useful to clean up your list from time to time – people who never open your emails, delete them. This helps build the reputation of your email address as a reputable email address that is not spam.
9. Test before sending:
Before sending a large email campaign, conduct small-scale tests to various email providers to see how your emails are being delivered and whether they end up in spam folders. Adjust your strategies based on the results to improve deliverability.
10. Run your email address through an Email Spam Tester.
For example Mailgenius – they will run a test and highlight any reasons why your email might be going to spam. This test is well worth doing.
11. Avoid using @gmail.com email addresses for example.
Better is to use something like “[email protected]”
While these strategies can significantly increase your chances of avoiding spam folders, it is not always possible to guarantee 100% deliverability.
ISPs continually update their algorithms, so it is essential to stay informed about email best practices and adapt accordingly over time.
📌 Learn More: “25 Ways to keep your Newsletter off Blocklists”
Most of the tactics above refer to group emails or emails sent out to your list.
What about basic 1-1 emails that you use everyday like sending out invoices?
When these emails go to spam, this can result in business disruption as quotes get missed, invoices don’t get paid, and actual customers can be “left out of the loop” so to speak.
Here are some tips to help in these instances:
- Get yourself added as a “contact” in that person’s email if possible. Once you are added as a contact, it’s unlikely your email will end up in spam.
- Where possible, get recipients to drag the spam email into their main inbox, rather than replying from spam.
- Get people to click “not spam” or variants of that where possible. This helps, but generally adding your email to their contact list is even better.
As with most things online, avoiding spam and staying up to date is a constant process. Keep an eye on things, keep learning, and keep making the necessary adjustments.
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