How does a user suspension on a domain impact email deliverability and what remediation steps can be taken?
Summary
What email marketers say9Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog explains that a domain's reputation is crucial for deliverability. A suspension can severely damage this reputation, leading to emails being marked as spam. Remediation includes identifying the cause of suspension, cleaning email lists to remove spam traps and inactive addresses, warming up the IP address, and authenticating emails using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
Email marketer from SparkPost shares that avoiding spam filters involves several steps. After a suspension, they recommend cleaning email lists, segmenting based on engagement, avoiding spam trigger words, and ensuring emails are properly formatted. To remediate, they advise to run your emails through a spam filter checker before sending.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that the poster should check their email list for spam traps and remove unengaged users as they cause spam flags to be triggered. The poster should also check what content is in the email that caused the issue and change the content.
Email marketer from SendPulse answers explains that being blocked or suspended can harm a sender's reputation. The blog recommends consistent list cleaning, using double opt-in, monitoring spam complaints, and segmenting lists based on engagement to maintain good deliverability. To remediate, resend email only to the engaged segment.
Email marketer from Litmus shares that proper email authentication is essential for deliverability. To remediate a damaged reputation from a suspended account, it's crucial to implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to prove the legitimacy of emails. Litmus recommends regularly monitoring authentication reports to identify and resolve any issues.
Email marketer from GlockApps shares that IP warming is crucial after deliverability issues. The warm-up should start with a small volume of emails sent to the most engaged subscribers, gradually increasing the volume over several weeks. They recommend carefully monitoring deliverability metrics and adjusting the sending schedule based on performance.
Email marketer from Email on Acid suggests a clean email list is vital for improving sender reputation. The marketer suggests removing inactive subscribers, hard bounces, and spam complaints from your list. Clean your email list to improve reputation.
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that improving sender reputation after deliverability issues related to suspension requires consistent sending practices, engaging content, and proper authentication. To remediate, Mailjet suggests focusing on list hygiene, gradual email volume increases during warm-up, and monitoring deliverability metrics to promptly address issues.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that DMARC monitoring (with a reporting-only policy, p=none) can help track outbound mail volume from each source, helping to identify unusual spikes indicative of cold emailing. He recommends using services like dmarcian.com for user-friendly DMARC report review, highlighting their alert feature for detecting changes.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks explains that a Google suspension for spamming significantly impacts deliverability, potentially causing corporate mail to go to bulk. Stopping the spamming behavior immediately is crucial to prevent long-term damage to the sender's reputation. If the behavior stops Google ML filters will treat it as a blip.
Expert from Spam Resource explains bounce processing, particularly handling hard bounces. Removing bad addresses improves sender reputation and deliverability, helping prevent future suspensions. The summary is that bounces contribute to a poor sender reputation. You should try and resolve issues causing hard bounces as well as removing the email.
Expert from Email Geeks advises against using a corporate domain for bulk marketing, especially if it involves spam.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that a suspension indicates a serious problem and immediate action is needed. To remediate, first understand *why* the suspension happened, then implement technical changes (like improved authentication) and procedural changes (like training and monitoring). A comprehensive approach is critical for long-term recovery.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that suspending a user account will prevent access to Google Workspace services. While suspension itself doesn't directly impact domain deliverability, the actions that led to the suspension (e.g., spamming) certainly do. Remediation involves investigating the cause of the suspension, educating the user on acceptable email practices, and monitoring outbound email for suspicious activity.
Documentation from RFC-Editor explains that Sender Policy Framework (SPF) allows domain owners to specify which mail servers are authorized to send email on behalf of their domain. This helps prevent spoofing, which can lead to suspension if malicious actors abuse the domain. It explains that implementing SPF records correctly improves deliverability by authenticating legitimate emails.
Documentation from Microsoft 365 Defender explains that a compromised account (which might lead to suspension) can severely impact email deliverability. To remediate, it recommends immediate action: resetting the user's password, reviewing recent user activity for suspicious behavior, removing any unauthorized forwarding rules or apps, and educating the user about phishing and security best practices. Also, check for any spam emanating from that user account.
Documentation from DMARC.org explains that DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) helps email receivers handle unauthenticated emails. It allows domain owners to specify what to do with emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks (e.g., reject, quarantine). Implementing a DMARC policy helps prevent spoofing and improves deliverability, especially after an account suspension incident by telling inboxes what to do when emails appear to be originating from your domain but aren't authenticated.