How can I avoid Gmail security warnings on emails?

10 Marketer opinions 3 Expert opinions 3 Technical articles 3 Resources

Summary

To avoid Gmail security warnings, a multi-faceted approach is required, focusing on authentication, sender reputation, content, and infrastructure. Proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are essential for domain authentication and alignment. A clean and consistent IP address, warmed up appropriately, builds a positive reputation. Personalized, engaging content without URL shorteners or direct attachments is crucial. Regular list hygiene and monitoring sender reputation via Google Postmaster Tools help maintain deliverability. Valid SSL certificates and avoiding sending 'to' and 'from' the same address ensure secure connections and valid sending practices. Reviewing landing page content is also a consideration.

Key findings

Email Authentication: Proper domain authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is critical for Gmail to trust your emails and avoid security warnings.
Sender Reputation: Maintaining a clean and consistent IP address, warming up IP/domains, and engaging in consistent sending practices are crucial for a positive sender reputation.
Content Security: Personalized, engaging content without URL shorteners or direct attachments improves engagement and reduces the risk of being flagged.
List Hygiene: Regularly auditing email lists and removing inactive subscribers maintains a healthy sender reputation.
Infrastructure: Check your infrastructure - including SSL certification, DNS records - is setup correctly.

Key considerations

DMARC Alignment: Ensure your 'from' address aligns with your DMARC policy to prevent authentication failures.
Link & Content Audits: Regularly check for compromised links and scrutinize information requests to maintain content integrity.
Google Postmaster Tools: Actively monitor sender reputation using Google Postmaster Tools and address deliverability issues promptly.
IP Management: Manage your IP address and warm it up to help build a good sending reputation.
Best Practices: Follow email best practices to minimise being flagged as spam by Gmail.

What email marketers say
10Marketer opinions

To avoid Gmail security warnings on emails, various strategies can be employed focusing on authentication, sender reputation, and content. Ensuring proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are in place is crucial, alongside using a consistent sending IP address and warming up IPs/domains. Avoiding URL shorteners and attachments directly in emails, while personalizing content and regularly auditing email lists, contributes to a positive sender reputation. Monitoring sender reputation through tools like Google Postmaster Tools and ensuring the 'from' address matches the domain in the DMARC policy are also essential. Finally, SSL certificates for sending domains should be valid to secure connections.

Key opinions

Authentication: Properly configured SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are critical for authenticating emails and preventing Gmail from flagging them.
IP Reputation: Using a consistent sending IP address and warming up IPs/domains are essential for building and maintaining a positive sender reputation.
Content Quality: Personalized content and avoiding generic templates can improve engagement and reduce the likelihood of Gmail flagging emails as suspicious.
List Hygiene: Regularly auditing email lists and removing inactive subscribers helps maintain a healthy sender reputation.
Secure Connections: Ensuring the sending domain has a valid and non-expired SSL certificate builds trust and avoids warnings related to insecure connections.
Address Integrity: Double check the 'to' and 'from' addresses are not the same, and avoid using free email provider addresses as the sender.

Key considerations

DMARC Alignment: Ensure the 'from' address matches the domain you authenticated in your DMARC policy to avoid authentication failures.
Content Risks: Avoid using URL shorteners and attachments directly in emails, as they are often associated with phishing attempts.
Reputation Monitoring: Consistently monitor sender reputation through Google Postmaster Tools to identify and address deliverability issues.
Address Checks: Ensure you are not sending from and to the same address which may cause a security warning.
Authentication: Ensure your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configurations are setup correctly and you have no issues with your configuration.

Marketer view

Email marketer from SendGrid explains that consistently monitoring sender reputation through Google Postmaster Tools can help identify and address deliverability issues that might trigger security warnings.

April 2024 - SendGrid

Marketer view

Email marketer from Litmus shares that regularly auditing your email list and removing inactive subscribers helps maintain a healthy sender reputation and reduces the risk of Gmail security flags.

May 2022 - Litmus

Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit shares that personalizing email content and avoiding generic templates can improve engagement and sender reputation, reducing the chance of Gmail flagging emails as suspicious.

November 2023 - Reddit

Marketer view

Email marketer from StackOverflow says to ensure your sending domain has a valid and non-expired SSL certificate. This helps build trust and avoid warnings related to insecure connections.

July 2022 - StackOverflow

Marketer view

Email marketer from SuperOffice shares that avoiding sending emails with attachments, and instead linking to files hosted on a secure platform, can prevent security warnings in Gmail.

December 2021 - SuperOffice

Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that you should double check the to and from address is not the same, as Gmail always throws a warning with that. Also use a different from address, NOT from a free MBP.

June 2021 - Email Geeks

Marketer view

Email marketer from GMass suggests to warm up your IP address and domain properly before sending large email campaigns. This establishes a good sending reputation with Gmail.

April 2021 - GMass

Marketer view

Email marketer from Hubspot shares that make sure your 'from' address matches the domain you authenticated in DMARC policy.

May 2021 - Hubspot

Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailjet shares that using a consistent sending IP address can help build a positive reputation and avoid security warnings in Gmail. Gradually increase sending volume from new IPs.

January 2024 - Mailjet

Marketer view

Email marketer from EmailGeeks Forum shares that avoiding the use of URL shorteners in email bodies can reduce the likelihood of triggering security warnings, as they are often associated with phishing attempts.

September 2022 - EmailGeeks Forum

What the experts say
3Expert opinions

To avoid Gmail security warnings, it's essential to focus on domain authentication, sender reputation, and content security. Ensure domains are authenticated and aligned with DMARC, check for compromised links, and scrutinize information requests in emails. Maintain a clean IP address with consistent sending practices and volume. Proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is crucial for Gmail to trust your emails, requiring correctly configured DNS records.

Key opinions

Domain Authentication: Ensuring proper domain authentication and alignment with DMARC is critical.
Content Security: Checking for compromised links and carefully considering information requested in emails is important.
IP Reputation: Maintaining a clean IP address and consistent sending practices are vital for avoiding spam flags.
DNS Configuration: Correctly configured DNS records for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are essential for Gmail to trust your emails.

Key considerations

DMARC Implementation: Pay close attention to DMARC alignment and ensure all authentication methods are correctly set up to avoid warnings.
Link Security: Regularly audit and check all links in your emails to prevent users from being directed to compromised hosts.
IP Health: Monitor IP reputation and adhere to consistent sending volume to maintain a good sending history.
Infrastructure: Make sure your infrastructure is properly configured to correctly perform authentication of emails.

Expert view

Expert from Spamresource responds by emphasising the importance of maintaining a clean IP address. They explain that a history of good sending practices is essential to avoid Gmail flagging emails as suspicious. Consistent volume and engagement metrics are vital.

October 2024 - Spamresource

Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is crucial for ensuring Gmail trusts your emails. They emphasize that incorrect or missing authentication records can lead to Gmail displaying security warnings or filtering messages as spam. Ensuring DNS records are properly configured is vital.

May 2023 - Word to the Wise

Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks explains that first steps are to make sure your domains are authenticated and aligned as you would for DMARC. Then check your links in email and make sure they’re not pointing to a compromised host. Finally look at what type of information (if any) you’re asking for in the body of the message or on the message’s landing page.

July 2022 - Email Geeks

What the documentation says
3Technical articles

To avoid Gmail security warnings, the central theme across all documentation is the critical importance of email authentication. Setting up proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your sending domain is essential. Implementing DMARC allows domain owners to specify how email receivers should handle unauthenticated emails, reducing spoofing risks. Using DKIM signing helps verify the sender's authenticity, preventing spoofing and related warnings.

Key findings

Authentication is Key: Email authentication using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is paramount to avoiding Gmail security warnings.
DMARC Control: DMARC provides control over how receivers handle unauthenticated emails, reducing spoofing.
DKIM Verification: DKIM signing verifies the sender's authenticity and reduces the risk of security warnings.

Key considerations

SPF Setup: Ensure your SPF records are correctly configured to authorize your sending sources.
DKIM Implementation: Implement DKIM signing for all outgoing emails to prove your identity.
DMARC Policy: Establish a DMARC policy to instruct email receivers on how to handle unauthenticated messages from your domain.
DNS Records: Validate that all DNS records for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are correctly published and error-free.

Technical article

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that Gmail displays security warnings when messages are not authenticated. To avoid this, ensure proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are set up for your sending domain.

July 2022 - Google Workspace Admin Help

Technical article

Documentation from DKIM.org explains that using DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) signing for outgoing emails helps verify the sender's authenticity, preventing spoofing and reducing the risk of security warnings.

June 2023 - DKIM.org

Technical article

Documentation from RFC Editor (RFC 7489) explains that implementing DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) allows domain owners to specify how email receivers should handle unauthenticated emails, reducing the risk of spoofing and related security warnings.

July 2022 - RFC Editor

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