Improve Email Sender Reputation for Better Deliverability

Email filters are key to ensuring messages reach inboxes. If you're in email marketing, maintaining a strong email sender reputation is essential. Your domain and IP reputation directly affect whether your emails land in spam or the inbox.

If these terms sound complex, don't worry. In this blog, we’ll break down how to improve your email sender reputation with easy-to-follow tips and a comparison guide to highlight its importance.

If you want to improve the email reputation of your brand, this blog will explore all the key perspectives. But first, we need to define and understand what email reputation is.

What is Email Sender Reputation?

Email sender reputation assigns senders a reputation score based on various factors, which ultimately determines whether your emails land in the spam folder or the recipient's inbox. A high email sender score increases the likelihood of your emails being delivered directly to the inbox.

Several factors directly or indirectly influence your sender reputation, such as the level of engagement with your subscribers, the amount of time they spend on your emails, whether they click or interact with your content, and the consistency of your sending schedule. To improve your score, it's important to plan your email sending schedule and structure carefully.

Domain and IP reputation are often confused, but they are distinct metrics that assess your trustworthiness as a sender. Domain reputation focuses on the sender’s identity and the domain’s reliability. To improve domain reputation, you should prioritize high-quality, engaging content and ensure consistency and authenticity in your email headers.

IP reputation, on the other hand, is based on the trustworthiness of your email server. It’s important to monitor the volume and type of emails sent from your IP address. A quick search can help identify any unusual traffic patterns. If you’re using a shared IP address, there’s a higher risk of being flagged for spam activity. Regularly checking these factors can be effective in managing your IP reputation.

How Email Sender Reputation Affects Email Deliverability

Now that we've covered the general definitions, let's dive into the how and why. Email sender score is a crucial factor when considering what affects email deliverability.

If your email sender score is low, you're more likely to be flagged as a spam email sender, which could even result in being blocked. Therefore, when scheduling bulk emails, it's important to periodically check these metrics to monitor your score. Here’s what you should check:

• Spam Filters: Review how Internet Service Providers (ISPs) filter out spam emails. By understanding their filtering policies, you can avoid being mistakenly flagged as spam.
• Bounce Rates Impact: If recipients open your emails only briefly and do not engage, it leads to a high bounce rate, which negatively impacts your sender reputation. To reduce this, create compelling emails that capture recipients' attention and encourage them to spend time engaging with the content.
• Recipient Engagement: Low engagement is another factor that can harm your score. To increase engagement, include action-driven CTAs or special offers that motivate recipients to interact with your emails.

Factors That Affect Your Email Reputation Score

Email Authentication

To improve your sender reputation, it’s important to consider checking the authentication protocols used by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The successful delivery of your emails to recipients’ inboxes depends on these protocols. There are several authentication methods you can implement to align with best practices. Here are some examples of email authentication protocols:

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework): This protocol specifies which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain. It works by listing these servers in your DNS records, helping ISPs identify unauthorized sources and preventing impersonation.
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): DKIM adds a signature to your email headers that ensures the message hasn’t been altered during transit. This adds an extra layer of integrity to your emails.
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance): DMARC provides ISPs with instructions on how to handle emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks, making it the final step in email authentication. It also offers reporting capabilities, allowing you to monitor potential misuse of your domain and adjust your email policies accordingly.

Bounce Rates

Unfortunately, not every recipient will read every email you send. However, you may still notice an increase in open rates. While this might seem like a positive sign, it’s important to check whether recipients are engaging with your content—such as clicking on CTAs—or if they’re simply opening and quickly closing the email. This behavior defines the bounce rate. Therefore, your goal should be to keep the bounce rate as low as possible.

Engagement Metrics

You should track engagement metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. The higher these metrics, the better the outcome for your campaign.

Compliance with Email Regulations

By familiarizing yourself with the email regulations of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), you can align your practices with laws and policies such as CAN-SPAM and GDPR. Adhering to these regulations helps you avoid penalties and reputation damage. Therefore, conducting thorough research is essential. To improve email reputation, it’s important to work in compliance with these regulations rather than against them.

Spam Complaints

If recipients feel that you are spamming their inbox—even if you’re following the policies—they may still report your emails as spam. Multiple and consistent spam complaints or reports of phishing can harm your sender reputation. To minimize complaints, implement the measures we’ve discussed, such as providing clear unsubscribe links, using cleaner email text, and reducing the frequency of your email sends.

Spam Traps

ISPs sometimes use bots or abandoned email addresses as spam traps. If you don’t maintain a clean list, such as buying email addresses in bulk without verifying them, you risk sending emails to these traps. If ISPs detect that you’re sending non-engaging emails consistently to these addresses, your reputation will suffer. Regularly review and delete inactive or alert-based subscribers to keep your list clean and avoid falling into spam traps.

Tips on Improve Your Email Sender Reputation

Maintain a Clean Email List

Although buying email lists in bulk might seem like an easy way to start, it can negatively impact your reputation. If these lists contain non-engaging or abandoned email addresses, your email reputation score will suffer. Here are some tips to help maintain a clean email list:

• Avoid Purchasing Email Lists: With spam traps in place, ISPs can catch you if you send emails to non-consented addresses. Sending emails to these addresses increases the risk of being flagged as spam, and numerous complaints will significantly lower your reputation score.
• Use Double Opt-In: When users sign up on your website, there’s a chance they may provide fake or abandoned email addresses. To prevent these non-engaging addresses from affecting your score, always ask for email confirmation as part of the sign-up process.
• Regular List Hygiene: If you notice email addresses that rarely engage with your content or consistently hard bounce, it’s a good idea to remove them from your list. Start by sending an email to alert the recipients about their inactivity, and if there’s no response or engagement, remove them from your list.

Implement Proper Sending Practices

If you want to know how to improve email deliverability, having a well-planned schedule and strategy for sending emails is essential. A thoughtful email schedule can help you avoid falling into the spam or inactivity categories and will also make your workload more manageable.

• Consistent Sending Schedule: If you’re someone who enjoys planning and creating schedules, this will be a breeze. By organizing your newsletters, promotional emails, and notifications on a regular schedule, you can build trust with your recipients. Consistency helps establish a reliable communication pattern.
• Gradual Increase in Sending Volume: Just like avoiding bulk-purchased email lists, starting with a high volume of emails can backfire if recipients mark you as spam. To improve your domain reputation, begin with a smaller volume and gradually increase it over time.
• Limit Daily Emails Sent: The ideal range for sending emails is between 50 to 200 per day per address. Even if you have a larger list, consider breaking it into smaller categories. This approach helps maintain consistency and avoids the appearance of spam-like behavior.

Create Engaging and Relevant Content

Staying on top of graphic design trends and relevant content is crucial, especially as people are becoming accustomed to certain aesthetics and messaging on social media. To stand out in a sea of generic subject lines and email bodies, you should focus on creating high-quality content.

• Personalization: Tailoring your content to the recipient, such as using their name or referencing their previous purchases or interests, can significantly boost engagement. Personalization helps capture their attention in a more meaningful way.
• Avoid Spam Trigger Words: ISPs flag certain words as spam triggers, so it’s important to avoid using them in your emails. Some common spam-like words to steer clear of include:
  • 100% free
  • Additional income
  • Big bucks
  • Best price
  • Cash bonus
  • Double your income
  • Earn extra cash
  • Free gift
  • Free hosting
  • Free money
  • Get paid
  • Giveaway
  • Make money
  • Once in a lifetime

Authenticate Your Emails

Email regulations are not your enemy; rather, they can be leveraged to improve your domain reputation. By understanding and implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, you can use these tools to your advantage.

• Enhance Trustworthiness: Begin by researching the authentication methods that help ISPs verify your identity. Familiarize yourself with their reputation policies and shape your practices around these standards to boost trust with ISPs.
• Prevent Phishing and Spoofing: If users perceive your emails as spam, they might report them as phishing or spoofing attempts. To avoid this, maintain a clear and legitimate domain. Send clean, well-structured emails and ensure that your domain is not being used without authorization.

Warm Up Your IP Address and Domain

If you're just starting your email marketing journey, there's no need to rush. Taking the time to grow your audience gradually is key, as adopting aggressive practices too early may attract the attention of ISPs.

• Start with Engaged Users: Focus on subscribers who are most likely to engage with your emails. These users will have the biggest positive impact on your reputation. Engage them with valuable content to help build your email sender score.
• Monitor Deliverability Metrics: To improve email deliverability, continuously evaluate your strategy and make adjustments based on your performance. Regularly review metrics such as engagement levels to fine-tune your approach and keep improving your deliverability.

Tools to Monitor and Improve Sender Reputation

We've discussed what affects email deliverability in previous sections of this blog, and now it's time to explore the policies and tools you can use to check and manage your reputation. Here’s a list of useful tools that can help you with your research:

• Google Postmaster Tools: By leveraging Google’s data, you can track which emails are successfully delivered and which are not. Google Postmaster Tools offers insights on domain and IP reputation, Gmail delivery issues, and more. You can also monitor email authentication, spam reports, and email encryption.
• Microsoft SNDS: Similar to Google’s tool, Microsoft’s Smart Network Data Services (SNDS) provides valuable insights into your sending IPs, including metrics like spam complaint rates and spam trap hits. By reviewing your IP data, you can assess whether you're maintaining a clean reputation.
• SenderScore.org: If you're looking for a more detailed tool, SenderScore.org offers a score based on your IP’s trustworthiness. With a score out of 100 (over 80 is considered successful), it evaluates your activity over 30 days and provides criteria to help you adjust your email strategy.
• Mailchecker.net: This tool helps you check both your domain and IP reputation score. It also assesses the cleanliness of your email list and the appropriateness of your campaigns. Mailchecker.net provides in-depth explanations on how to fix email deliverability issues when necessary.
• BarracudaCentral: Barracuda checks both your domain and IP reputation in real time. Using its real-time databases, it provides immediate feedback. Additionally, Barracuda’s Spam and Virus Firewall can block or allow email sending based on the sender’s IP address.

Best Practices for Maintaining a Strong Sender Reputation

• Provide Easy Unsubscribe Option: A key element of maintaining a good sender reputation is respecting recipient preferences. Always include a visible and easy-to-find unsubscribe link. A streamlined unsubscribe process helps avoid high bounce rates from non-engaged recipients.
• Segment Your Email Lists: Focus on engaging users by segmenting your email lists. Sending tailored content to different groups within your audience will enhance engagement and, in turn, improve your sender reputation.
• Stay Compliant with Regulations: Compliance with regulations like CAN-SPAM and GDPR is crucial. Avoid sending emails to recipients who have not consented, as this can lead to complaints or flagging as spam. Adhering to regulations helps protect your domain and mail server reputation.
• Regularly Monitor Your Metrics: Email metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and engagement levels are vital indicators of your campaign's success. By regularly monitoring these metrics, you can adjust your strategy, refine your content, and improve the overall quality of your email marketing efforts.

Common Mistakes That Harm Sender Reputation

• Purchasing Email Lists: Buying email lists in bulk can negatively impact your sender reputation. You risk including spam traps in these lists, and since recipients haven't consented to receiving your emails, this can result in high bounce rates.
• Ignoring Spam Complaints: Accumulating spam complaints can severely damage your reputation. To avoid this, regularly monitor complaints and clean your email lists to remove inactive or non-engaging contacts.
• Sending Irrelevant Content: Sending generic or irrelevant content leads to disengagement. To improve your sender reputation, craft personalized and targeted content. Segment your audience and tailor emails based on their interests or previous purchases.
• Lack of Email Authentication: Failing to follow email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC can hurt your reputation. Implementing these authentication methods helps ensure your emails are properly recognized by ISPs, reducing the chances of your emails being flagged as spam..

Quick Checklist for a Strong Sender Reputation

To wrap up, we've discussed what email reputation is and how it impacts email deliverability, along with tools and metrics to help you maintain a positive reputation. Now, you're ready to implement a clean and strategically planned email marketing approach. Here's a checklist to guide you:

• Ensure your email list is clean, made up of consented subscribers, and that you gradually grow your sending volume.
• Request email authentication from new subscribers to guarantee that your emails are reaching engaged recipients.
• Authenticate your domain using policies like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to enhance your email reputation.
• Send emails on a consistent schedule and keep your email volume at a manageable, humanly scale.
• Personalize your emails by addressing recipients by name or referencing their previous purchases.
• Monitor your email metrics to ensure you're maintaining a strong email trust score. Keep your subject lines, content, and CTAs engaging to boost interaction.
• Periodically review your subscribers and clean your list when necessary.

We hope this blog has helped you understand the fundamentals of email reputation. Happy emailing!