Spam filters are the security guards of the email world. Their job is to protect your inbox from phishing and spam emails. They do that by looking out for anything that looks dodgy. And then either blocking that email entirely. Or sending it to the spam folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spam filters come in different types and work in different ways. The most common are those built into email clients like Gmail or Outlook. These are known as server-side or hosted spam filters. They operate on mailbox servers. And the mailbox provider configures and controls them. This gives you automatic and often free protection. But you get limited control over what to filter. And what to do with rejected emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you want more control over your inbox security, there are two options. You can install your own client-side spam software<\/strong> on devices. Or you can install a physical gateway spam filter <\/strong>on your servers.<\/strong> Both do the same broad job. They check emails as they come into your premises or devices. And give you lots of room to customize spam monitoring. But they cost extra. And require setting up and updating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So how does filtering work? Spam filters look at three key areas when assessing whether or not an email is spam:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Email authentication helps inbox providers and email marketing platforms<\/a> validate legitimate senders. There are 3 main types of authentication:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The main idea behind authentication is to catch spoofed and altered emails. But you can fail by not having SPF or DKIM records set up or managed correctly. You can check this by looking at your DMARC reports. These contain details about why SPF or DKIM authentication fails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to fix<\/strong> List hygiene is important to maintaining good email deliverability<\/a>. And keeping your emails out of spam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A \u2018clean\u2019 contact list is one where all the email addresses on it are genuine and active. There\u2019s no obvious reason why your emails won\u2019t be delivered to these addresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Emails sent to fake, inactive, and invalid addresses will bounce. The more of these addresses you have in your list, the more bounces you get. And spam filters factor in bounce rates when judging overall sender reputation. So the less \u2018clean\u2019 your list is, the more bounces you have, the lower your sender reputation will be. And that increases the chances of your emails being flagged as spam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How to fix<\/strong> Read our full Bouncer review<\/a> to find out more about how it helps you avoid the spam folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All emails are sent from a server. And every server has an IP address. Many large email service providers (ESPs) use multiple servers for sending. Which means multiple IP addresses. And this server infrastructure gets shared across all of a service\u2019s users. So any one IP address could be linked to emails from hundreds of different senders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is good for keeping email cheap. But if the email service provider isn\u2019t careful about who can send from their IPs, it can hurt sender reputation. It only takes one user to start getting flagged for sending spam. Or to have suspicious sending behaviour, or sky-high bounce rates. And it affects the sender reputation of the whole IP address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the reputation of an IP address gets really bad, it gets added to a blocklist. This is basically a \u2018wanted\u2019 list for spam filters. They look up the IP addresses involved in any email received against these lists. If an address is on there, it’s instant bounce or quarantine. It doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re the spam culprit or not. If an IP address is on a blocklist, spam filters don\u2019t take any chances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to fix<\/strong> Finally, you can avoid the risks posed by shared IP addresses by purchasing a dedicated IP of your own. This puts you in full control of your IP\u2019s sender reputation. But it is expensive and only recommended for high-volume senders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can\u2019t have full control over IP reputation without buying a dedicated IP address. But you are in full control of your sending domain\u2019s reputation. Your email domain is the part of your email address after the @ symbol. As a business owner, you should have your own custom domain<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It also allows spam filters to monitor your sending behavior. And there\u2019s a list of things that can cause your domain reputation to get marked down. If you have high bounce rates or people flag your emails as spam, that goes against your domain. If you don\u2019t keep up with your list hygiene and send to dud addresses or spam traps, same story. And if you don\u2019t keep on top of domain authentication, that\u2019s another black mark. The lower your domain\u2019s sender reputation goes, the more of your emails will be filtered to spam. And if your domain gets a really bad rep, it could end up on a blocklist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to fix<\/strong> One of the most damaging things for sender reputation is when contacts flag your emails as spam. This is a huge red flag for spam filters. If actual recipients are sending your emails to the spam folder, you must be sending spam. You know where future emails are going to end up!<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to fix it<\/strong> We\u2019ve talked about why poor list hygiene causes more emails to go to spam. Sending to defunct, broken, or fake email addresses causes bounces. And high bounce rates hurt your sender reputation. But wait a minute\u2026 how do fake email addresses end up in your list, anyway?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The same way most email addresses end up in your list. Sign-up forms. Forms are the default way to capture new leads. They\u2019re easy, and they work. But the downside is, you don\u2019t know who\u2019s using them. Anyone can come along and type in a fake email address. A lot of people do this to get the giveaways used to coax people into signing up. Another big problem is bots \u2018spamming\u2019 forms with fake or fraudulent email addresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to fix it<\/strong> To fully secure your forms, consider adding email verification to your sign-up workflow. With Bouncer\u2019s Shield<\/a> tool, for example, you can validate every new address that gets added. That way, bad emails don\u2019t make it into your list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018No-reply\u2019 email addresses are popular with businesses for sending transactional and marketing emails. You can add them as an optional reply-to address when setting up an email. They avoid company inboxes from becoming clogged up with unnecessary replies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But spam filters don\u2019t like them. There\u2019s a high correlation between no-reply addresses and unsolicited emails. It\u2019s also easy for spam filters to check if a reply-to address is genuine or working. If not, the email goes to the spam folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to fix it<\/strong> Email marketers know there is a lot of pressure to \u2018stand out in the inbox\u2019. To grab attention, you need to look good and tick the right boxes on quality. That\u2019s why HTML designs dominate promotional emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet not all inboxes accept HTML emails. HTML can be used to hide malicious code. So organizations and individuals might choose to reject HTML emails for security reasons. Other people might prefer plain text emails for accessibility. They are easier to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever the reason, HTML emails sent to these inboxes will bounce. That\u2019s not great for your sender reputation or delivery rates. Worse, some spam filters view HTML-only emails as suspicious. Why don\u2019t they want to reach every inbox possible? Why do they need to send HTML only? What\u2019s hidden in the code? <\/p>\n\n\n\n How to fix it<\/strong> Link shorteners turn long links into shorter, snappier text. They are popular in SMS and social marketing, where character space is at a premium. But you should avoid them at all costs in email marketing. Phishers are notorious for using URL shorteners to hide malicious links. It\u2019s so common that ESPs often blacklist a domain just for sending an email containing a shortened link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to fix it<\/strong> Like link shorteners, spam filters are very suspicious of email attachments. They\u2019re fine on one-to-one emails between regular contacts. But even sending a first email to someone new with an attachment can alert spam filters. Bulk emails with attachments are a huge red flag. Attached files are the easiest way to spread malicious code via email. So most spam filters just automatically block any bulk emails with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to fix it<\/strong> We\u2019ve talked about why HTML is popular for email marketing. But it can be a double-edged sword. Sure, good designs cut through and engage readers. Yet HTML emails are put under more scrutiny by spam filters than plain text emails. Why? Because HTML can be used to hide and distribute malicious code. And phishers rely on HTML to spoof the appearance of branded emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spam filters penalise emails with incomplete, broken, or overly complex HTML code. These are signs that code from a genuine email might have been crudely copied and repurposed. Or that the build job has been automated and poorly tested. Large, complex HTML files are prime candidates for hiding malicious code. Especially if it\u2019s packed with images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spam filters look at how an email conforms to professional coding standards. That includes things like setting the appropriate doctype. Correct use of headers and meta tags. Using CSS in-line. And being responsive and accessible. Not following these best practices or shoddy coding could trigger spam filters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to fix it<\/strong> Deliverability issues are frustrating. Having a lot of emails landing in junk means a lot of wasted effort. But the good news is, it\u2019s easy to fix. Yes, there are lots of reasons why spam filters might jump on your email. But passing the spam filter test isn\u2019t that difficult. It\u2019s mostly a case of following good email sending practices. There\u2019s nothing too technical or challenging about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Start with email authentication. Missing or incorrect SPF or DKIM records are a big red flag to spam filters. Authentication is used specifically to weed out fake and spoofed emails. So if you don\u2019t get it right, don\u2019t be surprised that your emails get rejected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If your authentication is on point, good email deliverability depends on two things. Sending to an engaged audience that wants to receive your emails. And protecting the reputation of your IP addresses and domain. That\u2019s why good list hygiene is so important. Verifying email addresses reduces bounces and avoids sending to spam traps. You can use a tool like Bouncer<\/a> to clean lists and check every new subscriber. You should also back this up with double opt-in on your forms. That way, you know you\u2019re sending to genuine people who want your emails. That keeps your open rates and your reputation high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You’re scratching your head, wondering: why are my emails going to spam? We (most likely) have the answer. In this article, we look at the most common reasons for emails to land in spam and how to fix them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":168,"featured_media":95439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"dealstore":[],"coauthors":[820],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95425"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95425"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95450,"href":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95425\/revisions\/95450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95425"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dealstore?post=95425"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=95425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
<\/span>11 Reasons Why Emails Land in the Spam Folder and How to Fix Each<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Your email authentication fails<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
There are lots of tools available to check if your emails are properly authenticated. MxToolbox lets you run a long list of authentication checks for free, simply by typing in a domain. Bouncer<\/a> has an inbox placement testing service that includes regular authentication checks. Or Postmark offers a free DMARC monitoring service. You add a domain, and it returns weekly DMARC reports. This way, you see whether there have been SPF or DKIM failures from emails you sent that week. Once you know authentication is causing spam issues, you can fix it through your email sending service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Postmark](\"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Postmark-Free-DMARC-monitor-1.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n2. You don\u2019t keep your email list clean<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Keeping a list clean means running regular verification on your lists. Email verification means checking that an address is active and working. And most importantly, that emails you send to it won\u2019t bounce. With email verification tools<\/a>, like Bouncer<\/a>, you can run bulk verification checks for your whole email list. It tells you in simple terms whether an email address is \u2018deliverable\u2019, \u2018risky\u2019, or \u2018undeliverable\u2019. And has a 99%+ accuracy rate<\/a>. It also automatically removes \u2018bad\u2019 emails from your list. Google\u2019s Postmaster Tools monitor spam rates, domain reputation, and delivery errors directly from Gmail\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Bouncer](\"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bouncer-list-verification-1.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n3. Your IP has a bad sender reputation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The best defence against a poor IP reputation or blocklisting is vigilance. Use trustworthy newsletter software and an IP reputation monitoring tool<\/a> to check the IP addresses used to send your emails. Bouncer<\/a> includes IP monitoring in its Deliverability Kit. MxToolKit has a blocklist look-up widget in its long list of free tools. Mailgun<\/a> Optimize provides detailed and developer-friendly IP reputation analysis. But it\u2019s pretty expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Bouncer](\"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bouncer-Deliverability-Kit-1.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n4. Your domain has a bad reputation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Protecting or improving your domain reputation depends on doing all the right things. So this whole list of tips is your \u2018how to fix\u2019 guide! Lots of deliverability monitoring platforms have tools for evaluating your domain reputation. Good examples include Bouncer\u2019s Deliverability Kit<\/a>, Mailgun Optimize<\/a>, and GlockApps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Mailgun](\"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mailgun-Optimize-inbox-placement-test.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n5. Recipients marked your emails as spam<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
There are three main ways to stop your emails being flagged as spam:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
6. Your forms are not protected<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can avoid people adding fake email addresses by using double opt-in or CAPTCHA on forms. Using a fake address means you can\u2019t confirm the subscription via email. Similarly, you can protect your forms against bots by adding a CAPTCHA test. These confirm that users are human by setting a challenge that bots can\u2019t interpret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Bouncer](\"https:\/\/www.emailvendorselection.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bouncer-Shield.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n7. Your reply-to isn\u2019t a working email address<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The simplest fix is to always leave the address you send from as the reply address. If you need to use another one, set up a dedicated inbox to receive replies. Regularly empty it and check that it\u2019s working. Full inboxes cause bounces. And that can be picked up by spam filters, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n8. Your emails don\u2019t include a plain text version<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
In a lot of cases, plain text versions of HTML emails are generated and sent automatically. So just don\u2019t switch the plain text version off! But don\u2019t take it for granted. Check your sending settings and make sure plain text is on, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n9. You use link shorteners<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
This one\u2019s very simple. Just never use link shorteners in your emails!<\/p>\n\n\n\n10. You send too many attachments<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
If you have material you want to share via email, you don\u2019t have to attach it as a file. Upload the file to your site and share a link in your email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n11. You\u2019re not following email HTML best practices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Use a spam test tool to check how spam-compliant your HTML is. Tools like GlockApps and Validity Everest analyze your code the way a spam filter would. They flag up flaws and give you the chance to fix them before sending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>It\u2019s Easy to Avoid the Spam Folder with Good Sending Practices<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>FAQs About Emails Going to Spam<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"