What are the deliverability implications of using different domains for website, sending, and reply-to addresses in Klaviyo?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Email Uplers describes the importance of website and email alignment as one of the 7 key factors in determining email deliverability.
Email marketer from Validity explains the importance of email deliverability and how domain alignment plays a key part in the process of getting the emails to customers and avoiding spam filters.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that while it's not ideal to use different domains for mail than the website, it is sometimes necessary. They clarify that if the domain in the from address, return-path, and DKIM match, the setup is acceptable. While alignment with the reply-to address is preferred, it's not strictly required.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum shares that domain alignment (matching domains for website, sending, and reply-to) is crucial for building trust with email providers. Mismatched domains can trigger spam filters and hurt deliverability rates in Klaviyo.
Email marketer from DigitalMarketer emphasizes the impact of domain consistency on email deliverability. Using disparate domains can make it appear as though the emails are sent from a suspicious source, therefore it is important for your brand to ensure that they are using consistent domains when communicating with customers.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that using different domains can negatively impact sender reputation if not properly authenticated. It can lead to confusion with ISPs and spam filters, potentially reducing deliverability.
Email marketer from Customer.io shares the importance of protecting the sender identity and ensuring that customers can trust the emails. They detail how having a clear domain presence plays a part in gaining that trust.
Email marketer from Gmass emphasizes the importance of using a consistent domain reputation and presence as the building blocks of establishing a trustworthy sender identity, and warns of the detrimental effect that can occur on email campaigns if different domains are used.
Email marketer from MailerLite indicates that the email reputation and credibility is created and enhanced by using a consistent domain presence, while having a confusing and disjointed web presence can result in lower engagement with emails and a negative impact on deliverability.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that using a cousin domain seems unnecessary and risks making it look like you are spoofing yourself. She suggests the safest way to know if there are issues is to run an inbox placement test. She mentions that it depends on the reputation of the domain you use in the reply-to and suggests avoiding domains involved in phishing or viruses.
What the experts say2Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource explains that consistent use of a primary domain is crucial for establishing trust and a positive reputation with ISPs. Diverging from the primary domain without proper authentication can raise red flags and negatively affect deliverability.
Expert from Word to the Wise responds that maintaining a consistent domain footprint across website, sending infrastructure, and reply-to addresses is essential for building a strong domain reputation. Inconsistencies can weaken authentication signals, making it harder to achieve optimal deliverability.
What the documentation says6Technical articles
Documentation from Mailjet details how sending reputation is built on consistent domain usage. Using various domains without proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) will damage sending reputation, resulting in the emails going to spam, and being blocked by mailbox providers.
Documentation from SendGrid provides a comprehensive guide and detailed plan on how domain reputation can impact email deliverability and stresses the importance of a consistent web presence, and it also warns against the dangers of using disparate domains.
Documentation from Google explains in detail how it determines whether an email should be sent to customers' inboxes, and how it uses domain alignment and web presence to detect suspicious activity. They note the need for web and email addresses to be aligned.
Documentation from Klaviyo explains that using a dedicated sending domain that aligns with your website domain improves deliverability. It allows you to authenticate your emails properly and signals to ISPs that you are a legitimate sender. Using a different domain without proper setup can cause deliverability issues.
Documentation from Microsoft advises that it is important to align email addresses to website domains to ensure that any emails from the company are properly received in user inboxes, and that they do not fail the companies fraud protection measures.
Documentation from SparkPost outlines the importance of adhering to industry standards for email authentication, noting that failure to do so makes emails highly susceptible to filtering and deliverability issues, especially when domains for sending and website do not align.