Summary
Improving domain health and avoiding the Google domain 'dog house' requires a comprehensive strategy focused on building a strong sender reputation and fostering positive recipient engagement. Key actions include obtaining explicit consent from subscribers, sending valuable and engaging content, and diligently cleaning email lists to remove inactive or unengaged users. Implementing robust email authentication protocols such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is critical for preventing spoofing and improving deliverability. Avoid using purchased lists or third-party data lacking proper consent, as this negatively impacts sender reputation. Gradual IP and domain warming, consistent sending volume, and regular monitoring of sender reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools are also essential. Remember that changing domains without addressing underlying issues is only a temporary fix. Lastly, seedlist testing is only good for a certain purpose but should not be relied on entirely.
Key findings
- Sender Reputation: A strong sender reputation is fundamental to good domain health and deliverability.
- Explicit Consent: Obtaining explicit consent is crucial for building a healthy email list and avoiding deliverability problems.
- Valuable Content: Providing valuable and engaging content improves recipient engagement and sender reputation.
- Email Authentication: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are essential for authenticating emails, preventing spoofing, and enhancing deliverability.
- List Hygiene: Regularly cleaning email lists by removing inactive subscribers improves sender reputation and deliverability.
- Third-Party Data: Using third-party data without consent negatively impacts sender reputation and deliverability.
- Monitoring Tools: Tools like Google Postmaster Tools provide valuable insights into domain health and deliverability.
- Domain vs Behaviour: Changing a domain alone is a temporary fix; fixing the underlying behaviour causing deliverability problems is key.
- Low Spam rates: It is important to keep your spam rates below 0.1%
Key considerations
- Consent Practices: Review and update consent practices to ensure compliance and transparency.
- Content Strategy: Develop a content strategy focused on providing value and engaging recipients.
- Authentication Setup: Verify and update email authentication settings to ensure proper configuration.
- List Management: Implement a process for regularly cleaning and maintaining email lists.
- Data Sources: Evaluate data sources and eliminate those that lack proper consent or are of questionable quality.
- Sending Volume: Manage sending volumes, particularly when warming up new IPs or domains, to avoid triggering spam filters.
- Engagement Metrics: Monitor engagement metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribes to identify areas for improvement.
- Postmaster Tools: Regularly monitor Google Postmaster Tools to identify and address any potential issues with domain health or deliverability.
- Do not rely on SeedList: Seed lists are good for testing, but do not take the results as an absolute since you can't account for real users.
What email marketers say
9 marketer opinions
Improving domain health and avoiding the Google domain 'dog house' involves several key strategies. Primarily, focusing on building and maintaining a strong sender reputation is crucial. This includes obtaining explicit consent from subscribers, consistently delivering valuable and engaging content, and adhering to authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Regular email list cleaning to remove inactive subscribers and using suppression lists for unsubscribed users are also essential. Gradual warming up of new IPs and domains with consistent sending volumes helps establish trust. Monitoring sender reputation via tools like Google Postmaster Tools allows for proactive adjustments. Sending valuable email content, honoring unsubscribes, and focusing on engagement are all critical for email deliverability and preventing your emails from landing in the spam folder.
Key opinions
- Sender Reputation: Building and maintaining a strong sender reputation is fundamental to improving domain health.
- Explicit Consent: Gaining explicit consent from subscribers is vital to avoid deliverability issues and comply with best practices.
- Valuable Content: Consistently providing valuable and engaging content increases engagement and improves sender reputation.
- Email Authentication: Implementing authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are crucial for verifying your emails and preventing spoofing.
- List Cleaning: Regularly cleaning your email lists by removing inactive subscribers helps maintain a healthy sender reputation.
- Suppression Lists: Using suppression lists to honor unsubscribes ensures compliance and improves deliverability.
- IP Warming: Gradually warming up new IPs and domains by starting with low sending volumes and increasing over time helps establish trust with ISPs.
- Monitoring Tools: Monitoring sender reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools allows for proactive adjustments to improve deliverability.
Key considerations
- Consent Practices: Review your current consent practices to ensure compliance and transparency with subscribers.
- Content Quality: Assess the quality and relevance of your email content to ensure it meets the needs and expectations of your audience.
- Authentication Setup: Verify that your email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is correctly configured and up to date.
- List Hygiene: Implement a regular list cleaning process to remove inactive subscribers and maintain a healthy email list.
- Sending Volume: Carefully manage sending volumes, especially when warming up new IPs or domains, to avoid triggering spam filters.
- Engagement Metrics: Monitor engagement metrics like open rates and click-through rates to identify areas for improvement in your email strategy.
- DMARC Policies: Implement DMARC policies to give email providers instructions on how to handle unauthenticated email.
- Value to Subscribers: Ensure the subscribers find value in your emails.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Mailjet Blog explains that a good sender reputation is key to avoiding the spam folder. To improve it, they recommend authenticating emails, cleaning your lists, and sending engaging content.
3 Jul 2024 - Mailjet Blog
Marketer view
Email marketer from Neil Patel Blog explains that improving domain health involves building a strong sender reputation by consistently sending valuable content to engaged subscribers, authenticating your emails using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and monitoring your sender reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools.
24 Sep 2023 - Neil Patel Blog
What the experts say
7 expert opinions
Improving domain health involves a multifaceted approach, focusing on sender reputation and recipient engagement. Changing domains without addressing underlying issues is a temporary fix. It's crucial to understand that domain health reflects how recipients react to your emails. Prioritize identifying and engaging subscribers who want your mail. Avoid using third-party data lacking consent, as it negatively impacts deliverability. Implement strong email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and use Google Postmaster Tools to monitor your reputation at Gmail. Be cautious with seedlist testing and dont rely on this data. Your sending reputation can be negatively impacted by factors like sending spam messages and unwanted marketing messages.
Key opinions
- Recipient Engagement: Domain health is directly tied to how recipients engage with your emails.
- Data Consent: Using third-party data without explicit consent negatively impacts deliverability.
- Authentication Importance: Strong email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is crucial for improving domain reputation.
- Google Postmaster Tools: Google Postmaster Tools provides valuable insights into your domain's reputation at Gmail.
- Underlying Issues: Changing domains alone will not fix deliverability problems; addressing the core issues is essential.
- Sending reputation: Sending unwanted marketing message negatively impacts your sending reputation and domain health.
Key considerations
- Identify Engaged Subscribers: Determine which subscribers are actively engaging with your emails and focus on nurturing those relationships.
- Re-evaluate Data Sources: Assess your data sources and eliminate any that lack explicit consent or are of questionable quality.
- Implement Email Authentication: Ensure your email authentication protocols are correctly configured and up-to-date.
- Monitor Postmaster Tools: Regularly monitor Google Postmaster Tools to identify and address any issues affecting your domain's reputation.
- Behaviour impact: Ensure emails are not spamming or misleading or unwanted to your subscribers.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explains that changing domains without changing behavior is a temporary fix, and it's faster to rehabilitate an existing domain. They share that domain health reflects recipient reaction and recommend identifying and continuing to mail those who want the mail until domain reputation improves.
13 Mar 2024 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks shares that using third-party data, which lacks permission/consent, correlates to spam placement and deliverability issues. Changing domains won't fix it if non-permissioned data is used.
13 Jul 2022 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
3 technical articles
Improving domain health and avoiding the Google domain 'dog house' involves carefully monitoring your domain and IP reputation using Google Postmaster Tools, keeping spam rates low (below 0.1%), and ensuring proper email authentication to prevent spoofing. Configuration must be correct to avoid junk folder placement and should include checking SPF and DMARC settings, along with possibly joining Microsoft's sender support. SPF is a validation system designed to prevent email spam by verifying sender IP addresses.
Key findings
- Monitoring Tools: Google Postmaster Tools is crucial for monitoring domain and IP reputation, spam rates, and feedback loops.
- Low Spam Rates: Maintaining spam rates below 0.1% is essential for avoiding deliverability issues.
- Email Authentication: Proper email authentication, including SPF and DMARC, is necessary to prevent spoofing and improve domain health.
- Configuration Settings: Correct configuration is necessary to avoid sending mail to the junk folder
- Email Spoofing: SPF (Sender Policy Framework) can help prevent email spoofing.
Key considerations
- Regular Monitoring: Establish a routine for regularly monitoring Google Postmaster Tools to identify and address any potential issues.
- Authentication Review: Review and update your email authentication settings (SPF, DMARC) to ensure they are correctly configured.
- Sender Support: Check to see if joining Microsoft's sender support could benefit your email programs
- SPF Implementation: Implement SPF to ensure only verified senders can send emails using your domain.
Technical article
Documentation from Microsoft support says that to improve your domain health make sure you are correctly configured to avoid sending mail to the junk folder. It says to check settings such as SPF and DMARC, along with joining sender support to assist.
3 Jun 2023 - Microsoft support
Technical article
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools Help explains that you can use Google Postmaster Tools to monitor your domain and IP reputation, spam rate, and feedback loop. They advise keeping spam rates low (below 0.1%) and authenticating email to prevent spoofing.
3 Feb 2025 - Google Postmaster Tools Help
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