Are there deliverability issues sending from new .us domains to Gmail?
Summary
What email marketers say14Marketer opinions
Email marketer from GMass explains warming up a new IP address and/or new domain increases your reputation as a legitimate sender and helps you avoid the spam folder. Gmail looks at the domain age, the volume of emails, as well as your sender reputation.
Email marketer from SendPulse shares that new domains are more likely to be flagged as spam due to the absence of a track record, meaning recipient servers cannot verify sender authenticity. This is a bigger issue with Gmail than others. Recommends warming the IP and following best practices.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that new domains being warmed up are struggling with Gmail specifically on .us domains, possibly indicating stricter warming rules.
Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests that new domains, especially registered within the last 90 days, can struggle due to lack of a track record and reputation. He asks about soft/hard bounce rates and bounce errors.
Email marketer from Email Geeks followed up sharing that after setting up a new domain with a .com TLD and warming it up using the same data as a .us domain, the .com domain achieved a medium reputation in Google Postmaster Tools while the .us domain remained blocked, suggesting new .us domains may have issues with Gmail.
Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests checking if there was a recent change in domain name to the .us domain. Also recommends checking SPF/DKIM setup, warming process and setting up Google Postmaster Tools.
Email marketer from Mailtrap Blog explains that domain reputation is key for deliverability, especially for new domains. They suggest authenticating your email, building a sender reputation gradually, and monitoring your sender score.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that new domains often face deliverability challenges with Gmail due to a lack of established reputation. He suggests warming up the domain gradually and ensuring proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
Email marketer from StackOverflow states that Gmail implements strict checks for sender reputation, particularly for new domains. Proper domain and IP configuration is critical to pass their filters.
Email marketer from DigitalMarketer shares that domain reputation affects deliverability, and recommends warming up slowly and steadily by increasing sending volume. It's particularly important to establish a positive reputation for new domains.
Email marketer from EmailGeek shares that new .us domains may experience deliverability issues due to a higher potential for spam associations and lack of a sending history. He advises setting up proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and warming the IP address by gradually increasing the sending volume.
Email marketer from Email Geeks initially asks if anyone has seen deliverability problems related to sending domains ending in '.us' instead of .com/.net.
Email marketer from Litmus advises new domains to focus on setting up robust email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to establish legitimacy. Poor email authentication or missing records can negatively impact deliverability, especially with Gmail and other major mailbox providers.
Email marketer from Mailjet that new domains must prioritize building a solid sender reputation to ensure consistent email deliverability, particularly on Gmail. Proper email authentication and gradual IP warmup are important initial steps.
What the experts say5Expert opinions
Expert from Spamresource.com shares that for a new IP address, it is important to establish a proper warmup schedule. They are generally built with very low volumes on day one and slowly increase over a period of 30 to 60 days.
Expert from Spamresource.com explains that new domains and IPs, even with perfect setup, face deliverability challenges. They suggest a careful and gradual warmup is essential to establish a sending reputation with mailbox providers like Gmail.
Expert from Email Geeks notes that the client is basically still in the warmup phase. She suggests improving signup notice, sending slower, ensuring the sending domain has a web presence and good search reputation, and checking SPF/DKIM authentication domains.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests that Gmail uses a multifactorial identifier (domain, IP, authentication setup) and changing any of these can temporarily affect deliverability. She also states it's highly unlikely Google is blocking emails solely based on the .us domain.
Expert from Wordtothewise.com says that using a brand new domain or IP to blast email is a very bad idea. When you're launching email out of a new domain or IP, you have no prior reputation, and have to work very hard to avoid going into the junk folder.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from SparkPost explains that sender reputation is crucial for email deliverability, and new domains lack an established reputation. They recommend closely monitoring deliverability metrics such as bounce rates and spam complaints, which will be essential during the domain warmup phase.
Documentation from RFC Editor explains that new domains have no sending history, which can affect deliverability. Proper configuration of DNS records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) are critical to build initial trust. Poor or missing configurations will likely flag the domain as a risk.
Documentation from Microsoft recommends that when you start using a new email domain name, be sure to plan and execute a warmup period. During the warmup period, send low volumes of emails and increase the volumes over time. It is also recommended to make sure that you are sending mail to engaged recipients. New domains that send a high volume of email to unengaged recipients will usually end up with deliverability problems.
Documentation from Google explains that Gmail uses domain reputation as a key factor in filtering emails. New domains, without a history of sending good email, may face deliverability challenges and recommends monitoring your domain's reputation in Postmaster Tools to identify potential issues and ensure a smooth warmup.