Summary
Domain reputation is crucial for email deliverability, influencing whether emails reach the inbox or spam folder. Sender reputation, which significantly affects domain reputation, is determined by factors like spam complaints, user engagement, domain authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), email list hygiene, and IP reputation. High spam complaint rates directly and negatively impact reputation, while positive user engagement (opens, clicks) improves it. Email authentication standards (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) help establish trust and prevent spoofing. Maintaining clean email lists minimizes bounce rates and complaints. Monitoring feedback loops is essential for tracking complaints. Recovery from a damaged reputation can take time.
Key findings
- Spam Complaints Impact: High spam complaint rates are a major negative factor, leading to deliverability issues and potentially requiring 6+ weeks for recovery.
- Engagement Matters: Positive user engagement (opens, clicks) improves sender reputation, while negative engagement (deletions, spam reports) damages it.
- Authentication Essential: Domain authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) establishes trust with mailbox providers, improving deliverability by verifying sender legitimacy and is essential for preventing spoofing and phishing.
- List Hygiene is Key: Maintaining a clean email list by removing inactive addresses reduces bounce rates and spam complaints, leading to improved sender reputation and overall deliverability.
- Google's Influence: Reputation is heavily driven by user interaction at Google, and Google's algorithms closely monitor user complaints.
Key considerations
- Monitor and Reduce Spam Complaints: Actively monitor feedback loops (FBLs) to track and reduce spam complaints, as they are a critical indicator of sender reputation.
- Track and Improve Engagement Metrics: Consistently track and improve engagement metrics, such as open rates and click-through rates, to foster a positive sender reputation.
- Implement Authentication: Ensure proper implementation of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to authenticate your domain and prevent email spoofing and phishing, which will protect sender reputation.
- Practice Email List Hygiene: Regularly clean your email list to remove invalid or inactive addresses to reduce bounce rates and enhance deliverability.
- IP Reputation: Monitor IP reputation and, if bad, fix the source, and then work with Email service providers to get it removed from the blacklists.
What email marketers say
9 marketer opinions
Domain reputation is critical for email deliverability, influencing whether emails reach the inbox or the spam folder. It is heavily influenced by sender reputation, which is based on factors like spam complaints, user engagement, domain authentication, and list hygiene. Positive user engagement (opens, clicks) enhances sender reputation, while negative engagement (spam complaints, deletions) damages it. Maintaining good list hygiene, authenticating your domain, and actively monitoring and addressing spam complaints are essential for a healthy domain reputation and improved deliverability. Recovering from a damaged reputation can take significant time.
Key opinions
- Spam Complaints Impact: High spam complaint rates are a major red flag for mailbox providers, leading to deliverability issues and long-term reputation damage.
- Engagement Matters: Positive user engagement (opens, clicks) improves sender reputation, while negative engagement (deletions, spam reports) damages it.
- Authentication is Key: Domain authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) establishes trust with mailbox providers, improving deliverability by verifying sender legitimacy.
- List Hygiene Essential: Maintaining a clean email list by removing inactive or invalid addresses reduces bounce rates and spam complaints, improving sender reputation.
- Recovery Time: It can take a significant amount of time (6+ weeks) to recover from a damaged email reputation due to sustained high spam rates.
Key considerations
- Monitor Spam Complaints: Actively monitor feedback loops (FBLs) to track spam complaints and identify potential issues affecting sender reputation.
- Track Engagement Metrics: Monitor engagement metrics (open rates, click-through rates) to understand how recipients are interacting with your emails and identify areas for improvement.
- Domain & IP Reputation: Monitor and manage both domain and IP reputation. A bad IP reputation causes the emails to go into spam so you may need to work with email service providers to get it removed from blacklists.
- Address Underlying Issues: Identify and address the reasons behind spam complaints to prevent future reputation damage, which may involve reviewing content, targeting strategies, or opt-in processes.
- Implement Authentication: Ensure proper implementation of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to authenticate your domain and prevent email spoofing.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Sendinblue Blog shares that positive user engagement (opens, clicks, etc.) improves sender reputation, while negative engagement (spam complaints, deletions without opening) damages it. Consistent positive engagement signals a trustworthy sender.
15 Feb 2024 - Sendinblue Blog
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that they've seen it take 6+ weeks to recover reputation after sustained high spam rates.
7 May 2022 - Email Geeks
What the experts say
4 expert opinions
Domain reputation is significantly affected by user interaction, particularly at Google, and spam complaints. High spam complaint rates directly lead to a drop in reputation and potential deliverability issues. While not directly tied to spam complaints, bounces indicate poor list hygiene, which can indirectly impact reputation and lead to ISP blocking. Overall engagement metrics and blocklist inclusions also play a key role in determining sender reputation.
Key opinions
- Spam Complaints Impact: Spam complaints directly cause a drop in domain reputation.
- User Interaction at Google: Reputation is heavily influenced by user interaction at Google, aligning closely with complaint data.
- Engagement and Blocklists Matter: Sender reputation is affected by engagement metrics, blocklist inclusions, and spam complaints. Positive engagement helps, high complaints hurt.
- Bounces Indicate List Issues: High bounce rates suggest poor list hygiene, indirectly impacting reputation and potentially leading to ISP blocking.
Key considerations
- Reduce Spam Complaints: Focus on reducing spam complaints to improve sender reputation and deliverability.
- Improve User Engagement: Optimize email content and targeting to encourage positive user engagement.
- Maintain List Hygiene: Regularly clean your email list to remove invalid or inactive addresses and reduce bounce rates.
- Monitor Reputation: Constantly monitor your sender and domain reputation to quickly identify and address potential issues.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explains that spam complaints will cause your reputation to drop.
9 Oct 2021 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explains that reputation is heavily driven by user interaction at google and that given the data it looks like the complaints track closely with reputation.
1 Nov 2023 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
4 technical articles
High spam rates negatively impact sender reputation, leading to deliverability issues. Google and Microsoft closely monitor user complaints and engagement signals to assess sender quality, where low complaint rates and high engagement are essential for inbox placement. DKIM, SPF, and DMARC authentication standards help domain owners authorize mail servers and control unauthenticated emails, improving email reputation by preventing spoofing and phishing.
Key findings
- Spam Rates Impact Reputation: High spam rates negatively affect sender reputation, causing deliverability problems.
- User Signals Matter: User complaints and engagement significantly influence email deliverability, as monitored by Google and Microsoft.
- Authentication Improves Reputation: DKIM, SPF, and DMARC enhance email reputation by preventing spoofing and phishing.
Key considerations
- Reduce Spam Rates: Actively work to reduce spam rates to maintain a positive sender reputation.
- Encourage Engagement: Focus on increasing positive user engagement (e.g., opens, clicks) to signal sender quality.
- Implement Authentication Standards: Implement DKIM, SPF, and DMARC to protect your domain from spoofing and improve deliverability.
- Monitor Feedback Loops: Use feedback loops to identify and address spam complaints.
Technical article
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools Help explains that high spam rates negatively impact sender reputation, leading to deliverability issues. Google's algorithms closely monitor user complaints to assess sender quality.
9 Sep 2022 - Google Postmaster Tools Help
Technical article
Documentation from DMARC.org states that DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) builds upon SPF and DKIM to provide domain owners with control over how email receivers handle unauthenticated emails. DMARC policies can instruct receivers to reject or quarantine messages that fail authentication, helping to protect against phishing and spoofing attacks and improve domain reputation.
10 Oct 2024 - DMARC.org
How do spam complaints from Google and Yahoo inform ESPs, and how should ARF reports be used?
Are abuse reports and feedback loops (FBLs) still useful in email marketing, and how do they work with different email clients?
How do spam reports affect email domain reputation and deliverability?
How can I accurately monitor complaint rates for email marketing using Google Postmaster Tools, Yahoo FBL, and my ESP?
Are spam complaint rates siloed by provider affecting deliverability?
How do DMARC, spam complaints, and IP reputation affect email deliverability and rejections?
