How do I troubleshoot spam placement in Google Workspace?
Summary
What email marketers say9Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Mailjet Blog shares that you need to use a dedicated IP address for sending emails. This helps in building a positive reputation with Gmail. Also ensure emails are personalized, properly segmented, and include clear unsubscribe links to avoid being marked as spam.
Email marketer from Quora suggests that ensure you have properly configured your domain's DNS records, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Google Workspace relies heavily on these records for verifying the authenticity of your emails. It also helps to monitor your sending reputation using Google Postmaster Tools.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that when trouble shooting Google Workspace deliverability ensure you check Google Postmaster Tools to understand the sender domain reputation. Then review authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) configuration and setup. Also review spam complaints and ensure these are supressed from sending.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that Gmail users should encourage recipients to add their sending email address to their contacts. This can significantly improve inbox placement. Also ensuring you include a text version for your emails and check your URLs against blocklists before sending.
Email marketer from SendGrid Blog shares to segment your email list based on engagement and send targeted content to each segment. This helps in improving engagement rates and reducing the likelihood of being marked as spam. It also advises using double opt-in to ensure high-quality subscribers.
Email marketer from GMass Blog shares tips about how to avoid the promotions tab - including sending emails that look like they come from another person. Asking the recipient to reply to the email, and avoiding links in the first email.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that Google Workspace spam scores are binary, with 0 meaning not spam and 1 meaning spam.
Email marketer from EmailToolTester shares tips to regularly clean your email list to remove inactive or invalid email addresses. This helps reduce bounce rates and improve sender reputation. Also segment email addresses based on demographics and behavior.
Email marketer from Stack Overflow suggests checking the content of your emails for spam triggers. Avoid using excessive exclamation marks, all caps, or spammy keywords. Use tools to check the spam score of your email content before sending.
What the experts say3Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise emphasizes the importance of stringent authentication using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. They elaborate on configuring DMARC to enforce policies that protect against domain spoofing and improve deliverability to Google Workspace, as well as other email platforms.
Expert from Email Geeks explains to do standard deliverability work: dig into bounces for patterns, review data for suppression issues, look at engagement rates, test content segments for bad links and review all data looking for any clues to issues.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that Google Postmaster Tools is an invaluable resource for understanding deliverability to Gmail. They share it provides insights into spam rates, feedback loops, and authentication status, allowing you to proactively address issues and improve email performance.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from RFC explains that proper implementation of SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is critical for email authentication. Ensure your SPF record includes all legitimate sending sources and is correctly formatted to prevent deliverability issues. Note that this is standard and will help across all email platforms not just gmail.
Documentation from SparkPost explains that to troubleshoot deliverability issues, check your sender reputation using tools like Sender Score or Google Postmaster Tools. Also, monitor your bounce rates and feedback loops to identify and address any problems.
Documentation from Google Workspace Help explains that senders should authenticate their email with SPF and DKIM. They must also keep their spam rate below 0.10% and avoid sudden bursts in email volume. Also ensure the sending domain has a valid, working reverse DNS record.
Documentation from Microsoft explains that implementing DMARC is essential for preventing domain spoofing and improving deliverability. Regularly review DMARC reports to identify and fix authentication issues. Use an aggregate reporting tool to interpret the data.