How does sending domain differing from click tracking domain affect email deliverability?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Reddit shares mismatched domains can raise red flags for spam filters because they are often used in phishing attacks. Recommends aligning these domains if possible.
Email marketer from GMass says maintaining a good domain reputation is essential for avoiding spam filters, and inconsistencies in domain usage can erode that reputation.
Email marketer from SendGrid states that sender authentication such as SPF and DKIM help to ensure that the person who sent an email is authorized to do so by the owner of the domain and helps protect recipients and senders from spam, phishing, and spoofing. If the click tracking domain is different, this can cause concern with SPF and DKIM.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign explains that for a successful email campaign, it's important to maintain your sending reputation and ensure there are no red flags for spammers and phishers. Your domain reputation is a score that determines if you are seen as a legitimate email sender. If your sending and click tracking domains are different, it can impact your sending reputation negatively.
Email marketer from Email Vendor Guide shares that domain alignment is crucial for passing email authentication checks like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and failing these checks can significantly harm deliverability.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that mismatched domains can hurt your sender reputation because it can look suspicious to mailbox providers and recipients, potentially leading to deliverability issues.
Email marketer from Stack Overflow shares that if the click tracking domain has a poor reputation, it can negatively impact your deliverability, regardless of your sending domain's reputation.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares it would be better to have the sending and click tracking domains aligned, but it has no real effect as long as the domains have good reputations.
Email marketer from Litmus shares that proper domain alignment helps build trust with mailbox providers, and a lack of alignment can be seen as a sign of phishing or spam.
Email marketer from Campaign Monitor shares a good sender reputation helps your campaigns reach the inbox. One of the things that impacts this is mismatched domains. This happens when the sending domain and the domain you use for tracking clicks are different. If possible, it's best to have both of these domains match.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that while link wrapping itself doesn't directly impact deliverability, the reputation of the click tracking domain significantly matters. If the wrapped links redirect through a domain with a poor reputation, it can negatively affect deliverability.
Expert from Email Geeks shares almost every sender using mailchimp has click links that are in different domains than are in the from address.
Expert from Email Geeks responds saying it is a non-issue, it's fairly common.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that the reputation of all domains involved in the email sending process, including those used for click tracking, impact deliverability. A mismatch can raise suspicion with filters and recipients.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Google Support explains that maintaining a consistent domain and IP address can help build a positive reputation, and sudden changes can negatively impact deliverability. While not directly addressing click-tracking domains, it highlights the importance of sender reputation.
Documentation from Microsoft Support explains that consistent sending practices and domain usage are crucial for maintaining a good sender reputation and avoiding spam filters. While it does not mention click-tracking, it implicitly covers it under domain consistency.
Documentation from DMARC.org explains that DMARC requires alignment between the 'From:' domain and the domain used in SPF or DKIM, and failing alignment can lead to DMARC failures, impacting deliverability based on the DMARC policy.
Documentation from RFC Editor explains that SPF is used to verify the sender's domain, and misalignment between the sending domain and the domain used for other purposes (like click tracking) can lead to SPF failures, affecting deliverability.