How do URL shorteners and domain reputation impact email deliverability?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Reddit explains that while URL shorteners can make links look cleaner, they can hurt deliverability. Many spam filters flag them due to their association with malicious content. Using a branded tracking link is a better alternative.
Email marketer from EmailVendorSelection explains that monitoring your sender reputation is key to identifying and addressing deliverability issues. Regularly checking blacklists and using feedback loops can help maintain a healthy reputation.
Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog shares that domain reputation directly impacts deliverability. Building a strong reputation involves consistent sending practices, engaging content, and proper authentication to avoid being flagged as spam.
Email marketer from Woodpecker shares the concept of gradually warming up a new domain to build a positive sender reputation. Starting with low sending volumes and gradually increasing them helps establish trust with ISPs and improves deliverability.
Email marketer from Gmass answers the question about URL shorteners and open rates by saying they can impact deliverability because many email clients flag shortened URLs. Using a custom tracking domain is preferable for better deliverability.
Email marketer from Mailjet warns that using URL shorteners can negatively impact your sender reputation. They explain that because shorteners are often used in spam, filters may flag emails containing them. Using a custom domain for link tracking is recommended.
Email marketer from Litmus details the importance of domain authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) for establishing trust with email providers. Properly authenticating your domain helps improve deliverability by verifying that your emails are legitimate and not spoofed.
Email marketer from Sendinblue emphasizes the importance of a good sender reputation for improving email deliverability. They state that maintaining a clean email list, authenticating your domain, and avoiding spam triggers are vital for building and protecting your reputation.
Email marketer from Stackoverflow highlights that a domain's reputation significantly affects whether emails land in the inbox or spam folder. Factors like bounce rates, spam complaints, and blacklisting all contribute to this reputation.
Email marketer from Email Geeks advises to avoid linking to any hostname/domain that you don't control, if possible, to maintain better control over your email's reputation.
What the experts say7Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource explains that domain reputation is a critical factor in email deliverability. They share that a good domain reputation helps ensure messages reach the inbox, while a bad reputation can lead to emails being blocked or sent to spam folders.
Expert from Email Geeks confirms that many ESPs offer the ability to whitelabel tracking links, allowing you to use a subdomain on your site instead of the ESP's domain.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests registering your own URL shortener domain to maintain control over your link reputation.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that short URLs can negatively impact deliverability. They share that many filters are more likely to block emails with short URLs, and recommends using proper domain authentication to avoid being marked as spam.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that using intermediary reporting tools with shared hostnames can be problematic for email deliverability, as the reputation of these hostnames can affect whether your email is filtered as spam.
Expert from Email Geeks advises that in 2021, you should avoid services that require you to put their hostname in your email and prioritize vendors that support custom domains or subdomains for tracking and image hosting.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that using URLs with publicly available and unpoliced hostnames in emails is risky, especially URL shorteners like bit.ly, as they can negatively impact email deliverability.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from RFC-Editor (defining SPF) clarifies that using SPF records helps establish a domain's reputation by authenticating the sender and preventing spoofing. This authentication improves deliverability by assuring recipient servers that the email is genuinely from the claimed domain.
Documentation from Microsoft details several factors impacting email deliverability, including IP address reputation, domain reputation, authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and sender history. Microsoft emphasizes the importance of maintaining a positive reputation and adhering to best practices to ensure reliable delivery.
Documentation from Spamhaus answers questions about domain and IP address reputation explaining that they are critical factors in determining email deliverability. Listing on blocklists like Spamhaus can severely impact the ability to reach recipients' inboxes.
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that a sender's IP address reputation is crucial for deliverability. A good reputation helps ensure messages are delivered to recipients' inboxes, while a poor reputation can lead to messages being marked as spam.