How does the hostname used for image hosting affect email deliverability?
Summary
What email marketers say9Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that sender reputation is tied to the domain. If you use a shared domain for image hosting, your deliverability can be affected by the actions of other users. Using a subdomain or a dedicated domain for image hosting helps isolate your reputation.
Email marketer from Reddit recommends using a dedicated subdomain for image hosting (e.g., images.yourdomain.com) to isolate potential deliverability issues related to image hosting from your main email sending domain.
Email marketer from StackOverflow notes that if an image hosting domain is blacklisted for spam or abuse, emails containing images from that domain are more likely to be flagged as spam, affecting deliverability.
Email marketer from Email on Acid explains that the domain used for hosting images can impact your sender reputation. If you share a domain with spammers or have a poor reputation yourself, your images might get blocked, leading to deliverability problems.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that deliverability can be affected by whether you are using some variation of amazon.com for hosting images or a subdomain of your sending domain, eg: img.domain.com.
Email marketer from Gmass shares that the best approach is to use a separate domain for email images to protect your primary sending domain's reputation.
Email marketer from Litmus shares that image hosting domains can indirectly impact deliverability if the domain has a bad reputation or is associated with spammy content. Using a dedicated subdomain is a best practice.
Email marketer from SparkPost responds that the domain you use to host images impacts deliverability because it contributes to your overall sender reputation. Using a dedicated subdomain (e.g., images.yourdomain.com) helps separate image hosting from your primary sending domain.
Email marketer from Sender.net answers that the domain used for hosting images can impact your sender reputation. Using a dedicated subdomain helps you maintain control over your reputation.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks shares that Cloudfront is like Akamai and is built on top of S3.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that the main thing that affects deliverability is the hostname used in the URL.
Expert from Email Geeks details that if the hostname is literally "cloudfront.com", you're sharing content reputation with all other users which may be good or bad. However, if it's something like "tiffanis-excellent-cupcakes.cloudfront.com", you're sharing reputation to a much smaller degree.
Expert from Email Geeks clarifies what a hostname is, explaining it's the portion of the URL from https:// to the next "/".
Expert from Spam Resource states that if the hostname used for image hosting is associated with spam or malicious content, email providers may filter or block emails containing those images, thus impacting deliverability. Using a reputable or dedicated image hosting service is recommended.
Expert from Word to the Wise suggests that using a shared domain or hostname for image hosting can damage your sending reputation if that domain is used by spammers or has a poor reputation. It recommends using a dedicated domain or subdomain to isolate your reputation.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft explains that domain reputation affects email deliverability and is influenced by several factors, including the domain used for hosting images linked in emails. A poor reputation can lead to emails being marked as spam.
Documentation from Google highlights the importance of maintaining a good sending reputation to ensure emails reach the inbox. This includes ensuring that any domains or subdomains used for image hosting have a positive reputation.
Documentation from RFC Editor clarifies how the Domain Name System (DNS) affects email routing and deliverability. Correct configuration of DNS records for the image hosting domain is essential for establishing trust and avoiding spam filters.
Documentation from Amazon Web Services explains that using a dedicated hostname (CNAME) for your CloudFront distribution allows you to control the domain's reputation, which can positively impact deliverability by isolating your image traffic from other users of the default CloudFront domain.