How does Google's reputation system work and what are the best practices for warming up IPs?
Summary
What email marketers say11Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Quora explains that warming up an IP involves slowly sending email to smaller portions of your subscriber list, and increasing over time while monitoring your statistics for any signs of deliverability issues. If you're seeing a high percentage of bounces or spam complaints, scale back your sending volume until the problem clears up.
Email marketer from SendGrid explains that IP warmup is the process of gradually increasing the volume of emails sent from a new IP address to build a positive reputation with ISPs. Start with low volumes and increase over time. Consistency and engagement are key. Focus on sending relevant content to engaged subscribers to avoid spam complaints and improve deliverability.
Email marketer from GlockApps advises starting the IP warmup process by sending emails to engaged subscribers and gradually increasing the sending volume while monitoring deliverability. They state to segment your subscribers based on engagement and send the first emails to the most active segment. This will improve your IP reputation, as it is based on positive engagement signals from recipients.
Email marketer from Customer.io explains IP warmup requires segmenting your email list and increasing send volumes slowly to your most engaged subscribers, while actively monitoring deliverability metrics. A critical aspect is to focus on providing value to subscribers during the initial phases, incentivizing engagement and establishing a positive sending reputation with ISPs.
Email marketer from Hubspot details how to increase engagement to improve your Google reputation, by telling you to segment your email list. Make sure you're sending the right message to the right people to get higher open and click-through rates. Sending relevant content keeps your subscribers engaged, reduces opt-outs, and minimizes spam complaints.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that Google's sender reputation is heavily influenced by spam complaints and user engagement. High complaint rates and low engagement can negatively impact your sender reputation, leading to emails being filtered to spam folders. Reddit users recommend regularly cleaning your email list to remove inactive subscribers and ensuring that your content is relevant and engaging to your audience.
Email marketer from Email on Acid explains that several factors impact sender reputation, including your IP address's history, the content of your emails, authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and how recipients interact with your messages. They state that low spam complaint rates and high engagement can improve sender reputation and boost email deliverability.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that sender reputation is based on various factors such as IP reputation, domain reputation, email authentication, spam complaints, and engagement. They recommend monitoring these factors closely and making adjustments to email campaigns as needed to maintain a good sender reputation and optimal deliverability.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that sender reputation is a score assigned to your sending IP address and domain, which indicates the likelihood of your emails being delivered to the inbox. Factors influencing sender reputation include email authentication, spam complaints, bounce rates, and engagement metrics. Maintaining a good sender reputation is vital for ensuring high deliverability rates.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign suggests starting with sending to the most engaged segments of your audience, gradually increasing the volume, and monitoring engagement to ensure positive feedback to the ISPs. The length of the IP warming process depends on list size and sending frequency but typically takes several weeks.
Email marketer from Validity explains IP warming is about carefully building a positive sending history by starting with smaller email volumes and gradually increasing based on recipient engagement signals, such as opens and clicks. Proper authentication, consistent sending patterns, and adherence to industry best practices are fundamental to a successful IP warming strategy.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks explains that when warming up IPs the critical consideration are if it’s inside a contiguous range, is the FcrDNS set up correctly and is it sending authenticated email. If it’s in a different /24 (or even on a different provider) then I think it’s probably not a good idea to warm it up faster.
Expert from Email Geeks shares insight from a Google employee regarding Google's reputation service, explaining that a message marked as spam negatively impacts all associated features and domain reputation. Conversely, a new IP can inherit a good reputation from an authenticated domain.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that IP warmup should be done with a clear understanding of the mailing list and its engagement. She states it should be carefully planned and executed to ensure a positive reputation with ISPs.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that warmup is about introducing yourself to the filters and giving them a chance to adapt. Suggesting that the filters are a lot better at managing warmup than they were a decade ago.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that sender reputation is critical to email deliverability, and it is built over time through consistent sending practices and positive engagement. He states that focusing on quality content, email authentication, and list management can help build and maintain a good reputation.
Expert from Email Geeks explains her mental model for warming up IPs is based on the machine learning filters understanding the pattern of IP/domain/spf/dkim, allowing the filters to learn this is a valid source of mail. She suggests a slow start, doubling after a week if things are good, with the 'learning' needing to happen over 3 or 4 days.
What the documentation says3Technical articles
Documentation from SparkPost explains that IP warmup involves gradually increasing sending volume based on a ramp-up schedule that considers your list size and engagement. They state to start by sending only to your most active and engaged subscribers and slowly expand to less engaged users over time. SparkPost's ramp-up schedule offers a structured approach to ensure your IP gains a positive reputation with ISPs.
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools Help explains that Google uses sender reputation to identify spammers. A good reputation results in higher deliverability, while a poor reputation leads to messages being marked as spam or blocked. Maintaining a consistent sending volume, authenticating emails (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and avoiding sending unsolicited emails are essential for building a positive reputation.
Documentation from Microsoft Docs explains that IP warming involves gradually increasing the volume of email sent from a new IP address to establish a positive sending reputation with ISPs. It is recommended to start with a small volume of emails to engaged subscribers and gradually increase the volume over several weeks. Monitoring deliverability metrics and adjusting sending practices based on feedback from ISPs is crucial for a successful IP warming process.