Best Practices To Prevent Your Emails from Ending up in Spam

Ensuring your emails reach your recipients' inboxes rather than their spam folders is essential for effective communication and successful email campaigns. This article outlines the best practices that will help you improve email deliverability and prevent your emails from being flagged as spam.

Key Features and Benefits

• Enhanced Email Deliverability: Following these best practices increases the chances of your emails landing in the inbox, ensuring they are seen and acted upon.
• Improved Sender Reputation: By implementing these guidelines, you can maintain a strong sender reputation, which is crucial for long-term email success.
• Consistent and Reliable Communication: Preventing emails from going to spam allows you to maintain consistent communication with your audience, leading to better engagement.

Best Practices to Prevent Emails from Ending up in Spam

1. Use a Dedicated Email Sending Domain

• What It Is: A dedicated domain is an exclusive domain used solely by you for sending and receiving emails.
• Why It Matters: Sharing a domain with others increases the risk of your emails being flagged as spam. A dedicated domain allows you to control your email reputation and improve deliverability.
• How to Set It Up: If you don't have a dedicated domain, consider setting one up to establish a unique domain reputation, reducing the likelihood of emails being marked as spam.

2. Set Up a Proper "From Email"

• What It Is: The "From Email" is the email address that appears in the recipient's inbox.
• Why It Matters: Using a "From Email" that matches your primary domain ensures that your emails are perceived as legitimate by email providers.
• How to Use It: Always send emails from an address that includes your primary domain. Avoid using generic or mismatched addresses, as these can negatively impact your deliverability.

3. Add Unsubscribe Links

• What It Is: An unsubscribe link allows recipients to opt-out of receiving future emails from you.
• Why It Matters: Including an unsubscribe link is not only a best practice but also a requirement under many email regulations. It helps maintain your email list's health and prevents your emails from being marked as spam.
• How to Implement: Use your email builder to add a default unsubscribe link or create a custom one. Ensure it's easily accessible in every email you send.

4. Avoid Spam Trigger Words

• What It Is: Certain words and phrases can trigger spam filters due to their association with spammy or misleading content.
• Why It Matters: Using too many of these words can increase the likelihood of your email being marked as spam.
• How to Avoid: Be mindful of the language you use in your emails. Avoid overpromising phrases like "100% free" or "Act now." Instead, focus on clear and honest communication.

5. Monitor Your Email List Health

• What It Is: Regularly cleaning and maintaining your email list ensures that you are only sending emails to engaged and active recipients.
• Why It Matters: Sending emails to inactive or unengaged users can harm your sender reputation and increase the chances of being flagged as spam.
• How to Do It: Implement a strategy to regularly remove inactive subscribers from your list. Use a smart list to tag contacts based on their last activity and filter out cold leads.

6. Handle Internal Emails with Caution

• What It Is: Sending an email from and to the same domain (e.g., from [email protected] to [email protected]) can cause it to be marked as spam.
• Why It Matters: Mailbox providers may interpret internal emails as spoofing attempts and mark them as spam.
• How to Avoid It: If you need to test internal emails, use an external service like Gmail. For non-testing purposes, whitelist your SMTP provider's IP address with your domain manager.

7. Implement a DMARC Policy

• What It Is: DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is an email authentication protocol that helps protect your domain from fraudulent emails.
• Why It Matters: Without a DMARC policy, your emails may be marked as spam by recipient servers, negatively impacting your domain reputation.
• How to Set It Up: Check with your SMTP provider to ensure your DMARC policy is properly configured and verified to pass DMARC checks.

8. Avoid Sending from a Public Domain

• What It Is: Sending emails from a free public domain (e.g., gmail.com, yahoo.com) increases the likelihood of them being flagged as spam.
• Why It Matters: Emails sent from a public domain are often considered less trustworthy by email providers.
• How to Avoid It: Use a domain that you own, which matches your branding (e.g., [email protected]) to send emails.

9. Secure Your Subscription Forms

• What It Is: Protecting your forms with reCaptcha or double opt-in ensures that only legitimate users subscribe to your emails.
• Why It Matters: This reduces the likelihood of spam sign-ups and helps maintain a healthy email list.
• How to Set It Up: Implement a double opt-in system where users must confirm their subscription via a follow-up email before being added to your marketing list.

Pro Tips

• Segment Your Audience: Tailor your emails to different segments of your audience to increase engagement. Highly relevant content is less likely to be marked as spam.
• Test Your Emails: Use tools to test your emails before sending them to see if they are likely to be flagged as spam. This can help you identify and correct issues before they impact your deliverability.
• Double Opt-In: Encourage subscribers to confirm their subscription through a double opt-in process. This ensures that your email list consists of genuinely interested recipients, improving overall engagement.

FAQ

1. What is a dedicated email sending domain, and why do I need one?
A dedicated email sending domain is a private domain used solely for your email communications. It is crucial because it helps you maintain control over your sender reputation and improves your email deliverability.

2. How do I ensure my emails are not marked as spam?
To prevent your emails from being marked as spam, follow best practices such as using a dedicated domain, adding unsubscribe links, avoiding spam trigger words, and maintaining a clean email list.

3. Why is it important to add an unsubscribe link to my emails?
An unsubscribe link allows recipients to opt-out of your emails, which is essential for compliance with email regulations and maintaining a healthy email list. It also helps reduce the chances of your emails being marked as spam.

4. How can I prevent internal emails from being marked as spam?
If you're sending internal emails (from and to the same domain), consider using an external service like Gmail for testing. For regular use, whitelist your SMTP provider's IP address to prevent these emails from being flagged as spam.

5. What is DMARC, and how does it impact my email deliverability?
DMARC is an email authentication protocol that helps protect your domain from fraudulent emails. Properly configuring and verifying your DMARC policy ensures that your emails pass authentication checks and reduces the chances of them being marked as spam.

Best Practices for Words to Consider Before Using

Below are some words and phrases that spam filters often view as red flags. Context will also assist, if you utilize only one or two of the words or phrases below, have a low bounce rate, and take other actions to ensure your emails comply with non-spam policies, you’ll be all set. 

Words that make promises too good to be true:

• #1
• 100% more
• 100% free
• 100% satisfied
• Additional income
• Be your own boss
• Best price
• Big bucks
• Billion
• Cash bonus
• Cents on the dollar
• Consolidate debt
• Double your cash
• Double your income
• Earn extra cash
• Earn money
• Eliminate bad credit
• Extra cash
• Extra income
• Expect to earn
• Fast cash
• Financial freedom
• Free access
• Free consultation
• Free gift
• Free hosting
• Free info
• Free investment
• Free membership
• Free money
• Free preview
• Free quote
• Free trial
• Full refund
• Get out of debt
• Get paid
• Giveaway
• Guaranteed
• Increase sales
• Increase traffic
• Incredible deal
• Lower rates
• Lowest price
• Make money
• Million dollars
• Miracle
• Money back
• Once in a lifetime
• One time
• Pennies a day
• Potential earnings
• Prize
• Promise
• Pure profit
• Risk-free
• Satisfaction guaranteed
• Save big money
• Save up to
• Special promotion

Words that may pressure or create urgency for your leads:

• Act now
• Apply now
• Become a member
• Call now
• Click below
• Click here
• Get it now
• Do it today
• Don’t delete
• Exclusive deal
• Get started now
• Important information regarding
• Information you requested
• Instant
• Limited time
• New customers only
• Order now
• Please read
• See for yourself
• Sign up free
• Take action
• This won’t last
• Urgent
• What are you waiting for?
• While supplies last
• Will not believe your eyes
• Winner
• Winning
• You are a winner
• You have been selected

Words that may seem shady or lead to unethical behavior:

• Bulk email
• Buy direct
• Cancel at any time
• Check or money order
• Congratulations
• Confidentiality
• Cures
• Dear friend
• Direct email
• Direct marketing
• Hidden charges
• Human growth hormone
• Internet marketing
• Lose weight
• Mass email
• Meet singles
• Multi-level marketing
• No catch
• No cost
• No credit check
• No fees
• No gimmick
• No hidden costs
• No hidden fees
• No interest
• No investment
• No obligation
• No purchase necessary
• No questions asked
• No strings attached
• Not junk
• Not spam
• Obligation
• Passwords
• Requires initial investment
• Social security number
• This isn’t a scam
• This isn’t junk
• This isn’t spam
• Undisclosed
• Unsecured credit
• Unsecured debt
• Unsolicited
• Valium
• Viagra
• Vicodin
• We hate spam
• Weight loss
• Xanax

Words that are often seen as jargon or legalese:

• Accept credit cards
• Ad
• All new
• As seen on
• Bargain
• Beneficiary
• Billing
• Bonus
• Cards accepted
• Cash
• Certified
• Cheap
• Claims
• Clearance
• Compare rates
• Credit card offers
• Deal
• Debt
• Discount
• Fantastic
• In accordance with laws
• Income
• Investment
• Join millions
• Lifetime
• Loans
• Luxury
• Marketing solution
• Message contains
• Mortgage rates
• Name brand
• Offer
• Online marketing
• Opt in
• Pre-approved
• Quote
• Rates
• Refinance
• Removal
• Reserves the right
• Score
• Search engine
• Sent in compliance
• Subject to…
• Terms and conditions
• Trial
• Unlimited
• Warranty
• Web traffic
• Work from home

Check out our “Email Deliverability 101” article for more tips and best practices on email deliverability.

Keyword Lists retrieved from: https://www.activecampaign.com...