Summary
When personal emails from a custom domain are routed to spam, it often stems from a combination of insufficient email authentication, a poor sender reputation, and problematic email content. Essential steps for resolution include ensuring proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are correctly configured, actively building and maintaining a positive sender reputation through good sending practices, and optimizing email content to avoid triggering spam filters. Addressing these areas comprehensively is crucial for improving deliverability.
Key findings
- Authentication Gaps: A primary cause of emails going to spam is missing, incorrect, or unpropagated SPF, DKIM, and DMARC DNS records, which prevent email service providers from verifying sender legitimacy. These records are foundational for trusted email delivery.
- Sender Reputation Issues: Low sender reputation, often stemming from new or cold domains lacking proper warm-up, sending to disengaged recipients, high bounce rates, or being listed on blacklists, significantly impacts deliverability and leads to spam folder delivery.
- Content and Format Problems: Email content containing spam trigger words, excessive links, poor formatting, or suspicious/incomplete headers can cause emails to be flagged as spam, even with proper authentication in place.
- Blacklisting: The sender's IP address or the custom domain itself might be listed on various blacklists, such as SURBL, leading to immediate spam filtering regardless of other configurations.
- Low Engagement Metrics: Poor recipient engagement, characterized by low open rates or high deletion rates without opening, signals to mailbox providers that the email is not valued, negatively affecting future deliverability to those users.
Key considerations
- Implement Email Authentication: Meticulously set up and verify SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records in your domain's DNS. Use tools like MXToolBox to ensure correct configuration and propagation. While DMARC might seem like overkill for small domains, it offers crucial protection against spoofing and enhances deliverability.
- Build Sender Reputation: Gradually warm up new domains or IPs with low volume sending, maintain a clean and engaged email list by removing inactive subscribers, and adhere to sender guidelines from major providers like Google. Consistent sending to engaged recipients helps build trust.
- Optimize Email Content: Review email copy for spam trigger words, avoid excessive links or poor formatting, ensure clean and complete email headers, and always include a clear unsubscribe link and physical address for compliance. Ensure your 'From' address matches the domain configured in your authentication records.
- Monitor Blacklists: Regularly check if your sending IP or domain is listed on any blacklists, such as SURBL, using online tools. If listed, follow the necessary procedures for removal promptly.
- Practice Good Sending Hygiene: Avoid sending too many emails at once, especially to disengaged recipients, and always respect unsubscribe requests. Segment your email lists and focus on delivering relevant content to improve recipient engagement, thereby boosting your sender reputation.
What email marketers say
10 marketer opinions
To ensure personal emails from a custom domain reach their intended recipients and bypass spam folders, a comprehensive strategy is required. This involves correctly setting up essential email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, actively cultivating a positive sender reputation through consistent and engaged sending practices, and meticulously crafting email content to avoid triggering spam filters. Additionally, vigilance in monitoring for and addressing any domain or IP blacklistings is crucial for maintaining optimal deliverability.
Key opinions
- Authentication Configuration: Errors or omissions in SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are a primary reason for emails being flagged as spam, as they prevent proper sender verification.
- Sender Reputation Impact: A low sender reputation, often due to a new domain without warm-up, poor recipient engagement, high bounce rates, or blacklisting, significantly hinders email deliverability.
- Content-Based Spam Triggers: Email content containing suspicious words, excessive links, improper formatting, or incomplete headers can cause messages to be filtered, even if authentication is correct.
- IP and Domain Blacklisting: If the sender's IP address or the custom domain appears on blacklists like SURBL, emails are likely to be immediately redirected to spam folders.
- Domain Health Diagnostics: Tools like MXToolBox can reveal underlying DNS issues or verify correct configurations, such as Google Apps DNS, which are foundational for deliverability.
- Recipient Engagement Metrics: Low open rates and high deletion rates indicate to mailbox providers that content is irrelevant, negatively affecting future email placement for that sender.
Key considerations
- Verify Email Authentication: Ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are correctly configured and propagated in your domain's DNS settings. Use online tools to confirm their proper setup and address any discrepancies.
- Build and Maintain Sender Reputation: Implement a gradual domain and IP warm-up strategy for new sending, focus on sending to engaged recipients, and regularly clean your email list to remove inactive addresses.
- Optimize Email Content: Review email copy for common spam trigger words, limit excessive links, ensure clean and complete email headers, and always include a clear unsubscribe link and physical address for compliance.
- Monitor Blacklists: Periodically check your sending IP address and custom domain against known blacklists. If listed, promptly initiate the delisting process.
- Diagnostic Tool Utilization: Leverage online tools like MXToolBox to diagnose domain and DNS health, verifying configurations and identifying potential issues that could impact deliverability.
- Foster Recipient Engagement: Send relevant and valuable content, segment your email lists, and encourage interaction to improve open rates and reduce deletions, which positively impacts sender reputation.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that mxtoolbox.com can be used to check domain details and observes the domain is using Google Apps with DNS present.
25 May 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests that links or images within emails could be causing deliverability issues.
3 Oct 2023 - Email Geeks
What the experts say
3 expert opinions
Fixing personal emails from a custom domain that land in spam largely depends on establishing robust email authentication, diligently managing sender reputation, and crafting clean, compliant content. Correctly implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records is foundational, as these protocols build trust with internet service providers. Beyond authentication, consistent good sending practices and avoiding spam triggers within email content are equally vital to ensure deliverability.
Key opinions
- Authentication Deficiency: The most common reason for personal emails from custom domains going to spam is the absence or misconfiguration of essential email authentication records, specifically SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
- Sender Reputation Factors: A domain's sender reputation, influenced by factors like low sending volume, sudden high volume, or sending to disengaged audiences, significantly impacts whether emails reach the inbox or spam folder.
- Content-Based Filtering: Even with proper authentication, email content that contains spam trigger words or is poorly formatted can cause messages to be flagged by spam filters.
- DMARC's Deliverability Role: DMARC, while often perceived as complex, is critical for establishing trust and preventing domain spoofing, directly contributing to improved email deliverability even for individual users with custom domains.
Key considerations
- Implement Full Authentication: Ensure that SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are correctly configured and published in your custom domain's DNS. Even for small or personal domains, these protocols are crucial for verifying sender identity and building trust with mailbox providers.
- Manage Sending Habits: Avoid sending large volumes of emails simultaneously or to unengaged recipients. For new domains, gradually increase sending volume. Consistent, responsible sending helps build a positive sender reputation over time.
- Optimize Email Content: Review your email content for elements that could trigger spam filters, such as overuse of 'spammy' words, excessive links, or suspicious formatting. Clean, relevant content is less likely to be flagged.
- Consider DMARC for Security: While some experts suggest DMARC might be overkill for very small domains, its implementation offers valuable protection against spoofing and further enhances your domain's credibility, making it a worthwhile consideration for improved deliverability.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks recommends setting up Google SPF/DKIM records for small domains, adding that DMARC might be overkill but acknowledging that even small domains can be spoofed.
10 May 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource explains that for personal emails from a custom domain going to spam, common culprits include missing or misconfigured authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), sending too many emails at once or to unengaged recipients, low sending volume which hinders reputation building, and content issues like spammy words. Ensuring proper email authentication and managing sending habits are critical for improving deliverability.
12 Sep 2021 - Spam Resource
What the documentation says
6 technical articles
Successfully delivering personal emails from a custom domain, rather than having them routed to spam, hinges on a combination of strong email authentication and diligent sending practices. It is paramount to correctly set up and maintain SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, as these are fundamental for proving email legitimacy to receiving servers. Furthermore, cultivating a positive sender reputation through good email hygiene and respecting recipient engagement preferences plays a significant role in improving inbox placement.
Key findings
- Authentication Essentials: The correct configuration and propagation of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are fundamental for email service providers to verify sender identity, and their absence or misconfiguration is a primary cause for emails being flagged as spam or rejected.
- Sender Reputation Dynamics: Poor sending practices, such as excessive sending to disengaged recipients, ignoring unsubscribe requests, or failing to maintain list hygiene, directly harm sender reputation, leading to increased spam folder delivery.
- DMARC's Role: Implementing a DMARC policy significantly enhances deliverability by preventing domain spoofing and instructing receiving servers on how to handle unauthenticated emails, building critical trust for your custom domain.
- ISP Compliance: Adhering to sender guidelines from major providers, including maintaining a valid IP address with reverse DNS and ensuring low spam complaint rates, is crucial for consistent inbox delivery, as these factors are heavily weighed by spam filters.
Key considerations
- Implement and Verify Authentication Protocols: Meticulously set up and regularly check SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records in your domain's DNS. Utilize diagnostic tools to confirm correct configuration and propagation, as these are crucial for proving email legitimacy to receiving servers.
- Prioritize Sending Hygiene: Maintain a clean email list, focus on sending engaging content to active recipients, and always honor unsubscribe requests promptly. These practices are vital for building and preserving a positive sender reputation, which directly impacts deliverability.
- Adhere to Provider Guidelines: Familiarize yourself with and follow the specific sender guidelines issued by major email service providers like Google, which include maintaining a valid IP address with a reverse DNS record and minimizing spam complaint rates.
- Leverage DMARC for Enhanced Trust: Even for personal domains, consider implementing a DMARC policy. This protocol protects against spoofing and provides clear instructions for how receiving servers should handle unauthenticated emails, thereby significantly strengthening your domain's trustworthiness and deliverability.
Technical article
Documentation from Postmark Blog explains that for personal emails from a custom domain, poor sending practices like sending too many emails to disengaged recipients or not respecting unsubscribe requests can hurt sender reputation and lead to spam folder delivery. They emphasize focusing on email list hygiene and engaging content to improve deliverability.
14 Dec 2022 - Postmark Blog
Technical article
Documentation from ProtonMail Support advises that if personal emails from a custom domain are going to spam, users should ensure their SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are correctly set up and propagated in their DNS settings. They state that these authentication methods are crucial for email service providers to verify the legitimacy of emails, reducing the chance of them being flagged as spam.
24 Oct 2024 - ProtonMail Support
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