Does using a mailto link in email affect deliverability and Gmail reputation?
Summary
What email marketers say8Marketer opinions
Email marketer from HubSpot explains that maintaining a healthy sender reputation is vital for deliverability. While not directly related to mailto links, they emphasize the importance of consistent sending volume, proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and avoiding spam triggers to ensure emails reach the inbox.
Email marketer from Gmass shares that any part of an email can impact your sender reputation. They mention that it is important to track how your email is performing.
Email marketer from Reddit user u/EmailGuru in r/emailmarketing shares that mailto links themselves do not directly impact deliverability. The user’s experience after they click the link matters most. If users mark emails as spam after interacting with a mailto link, that will impact the domain's reputation.
Email marketer from EmailOctopus shares that mailto links can negatively impact user experience if not implemented correctly. They suggest providing clear context and expectations for users before they click the link, and also recommends testing on different devices and clients to make sure the functionality is working as expected.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum shares that their own experience is that it is more likely to effect spam scores rather than direct deliverability. They found it depended on the contents of the actual emails generated.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that while mailto links themselves aren't inherently bad for deliverability, overuse or improper implementation can trigger spam filters. They recommend ensuring the links are relevant and used sparingly.
Email marketer from Stack Overflow shares that the behavior of mailto links can vary across different email clients and devices. Inconsistent rendering or functionality can lead to a poor user experience, potentially affecting how users perceive the sender and impacting engagement metrics.
Email marketer from Litmus shares that deliverability depends on email design. They advise that emails need to be optimised to make sure they are not rendered poorly. The user experience is what matters the most.
What the experts say5Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks explains that using a mailto: link isn't a huge deal, but the destination domain compared to the from line is more important. She also notes there is zero difference between hitting reply and clicking a button in the email, and suggests using the reply-to field.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that pre-populating the subject line requires a mailto: link but advises against it for UX reasons.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that reply-to fields improve reputation at Gmail, whereas a new email might not. If the sender has Gmail reputation issues, they should not use a mailto link.
Expert from Word to the Wise shares that sender reputation is influenced by many factors, including authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), engagement (opens, clicks, replies), and spam complaints. While mailto links aren't explicitly mentioned, they indirectly affect reputation if they lead to negative user behavior or spam traps.
Expert from Spam Resource, Laura Atkins, explains that while mailto links themselves don't directly affect deliverability, they can lead to a poor user experience if not implemented correctly, which can indirectly impact deliverability. If the user is tricked in anyway or spammed because of it this would be a factor.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Google explains that Gmail's algorithm considers user engagement as a key factor in determining email reputation. While mailto links aren't explicitly mentioned, low engagement (e.g., users not replying or marking emails as spam after using a mailto link) can negatively impact sender reputation.
Documentation from Sparkpost shares that a dedicated IP for sending emails, is useful as it can build a reputation for your emails that improves the user experience.
Documentation from RFC Editor specifies the mailto URI scheme. It explains that while the scheme allows for pre-populating fields, improper encoding or excessively long URLs can cause issues with certain email clients or servers, potentially leading to delivery problems.
Documentation from Sendgrid explains to improve deliverability you need to check your URLS are safe and correct. This could impact your deliverability.
Documentation from Microsoft explains that sender reputation affects deliverability in Outlook and other Microsoft email services. Negative user feedback, spam complaints, and poor sending practices contribute to a lower sender reputation, which can impact inbox placement, however does not mention mailto links.