How do I improve email deliverability to Hotmail and avoid the spam folder?

Email marketer from Mailjet explains the crucial role of email authentication (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC) in improving email deliverability, particularly for Hotmail. They advise setting up these protocols correctly to verify your sending identity and prevent spoofing.

Email marketer from Reddit explains the importance of avoiding spam trigger words in your email content. They recommend using a spam checker tool before sending and focusing on providing valuable content to your subscribers to avoid being marked as spam.

Marketer from Email Geeks shares multiple things to check to improve email deliverability to Hotmail, including domain setup and authentication, SNDS and IP address reputation, recipient engagement, and URLs in the content (consistency and SSL certificate presence).

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum suggests regularly checking if your IP address or domain is blacklisted. If blacklisted, they recommend taking steps to get delisted by following the blacklist's removal process.

Email marketer from Litmus advocates for using responsive email design to ensure your emails look good on all devices. They also recommend avoiding large images and using alt text for images to improve accessibility and avoid being flagged as spam.

Email marketer from Email on Acid suggests testing your emails before sending them to ensure they render correctly on different devices and email clients. They also recommend using a reputable email service provider (ESP) that has good deliverability rates.

Email marketer from StackOverflow shares the importance of warming up new IP addresses gradually when starting email campaigns. They advise sending a small volume of emails initially and gradually increasing the volume over time to establish a good sending reputation.

Email marketer from GMass covers the different DMARC policies, from 'none' to 'reject,' and their implications. They strongly suggest implementing a 'quarantine' or 'reject' policy once you are confident in your SPF and DKIM setup to protect your domain from spoofing.

Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog suggests building a clean email list by using double opt-in, segmenting your list, and regularly cleaning out inactive subscribers to improve deliverability. He also recommends monitoring your sender reputation and using a dedicated IP address.

Expert from Word to the Wise highlights the critical role of list hygiene in maintaining deliverability to Hotmail. They recommend removing invalid email addresses, unsubscribed users, and those who haven't engaged with your emails in a long time.

Expert from Spam Resource notes that maintaining a positive sender reputation with Microsoft requires consistent sending habits, authenticated emails, and engaging content. They suggest that sudden changes in volume or content can negatively affect reputation.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains the importance of setting up and monitoring feedback loops with Microsoft. They advise using Microsoft's JMRP to identify subscribers who are marking your messages as spam and removing them from your list promptly.

Expert from Spam Resource emphasizes proactively monitoring blocklist status using tools like those they provide. They recommend not just checking blacklists reactively but setting up ongoing monitoring, so you are aware of any listing quickly.

Documentation from SparkPost details how SPF records should be properly configured to include all sending sources, and DKIM signing should be implemented with a strong key length. DMARC policy enforcement is also critical to instruct receiving servers on handling unauthenticated emails.

Documentation from DKIM.org explains the technical details of DKIM signing, how to generate and store DKIM keys, and how to publish the public key in your DNS records. This resource serves as a central point for DKIM understanding.

Documentation from Microsoft Support emphasizes the importance of Sender Reputation in Hotmail/Outlook deliverability. It highlights using SNDS (Smart Network Data Services) to monitor IP reputation and JMRP (Junk Mail Reporting Program) to handle user complaints. It also stresses authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and maintaining low complaint rates.

Documentation from RFC explains the technical specifics of SPF, detailing how to define SPF records, common errors in SPF configuration, and how SPF interacts with other email authentication methods. It serves as the definitive technical specification.

Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools emphasizes the importance of monitoring your domain and IP reputation. It provides metrics to help senders understand how Gmail users are perceiving their emails and identifies potential deliverability issues.