What should I do if Google is blocking my emails due to poor domain reputation?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Email Geeks advises to stop the prospecting. There is nothing that will ever make prospecting/cold email *not* spam, so not only is Gmail handling the spam that your customers are sending properly, but frankly if it's not happening at other inbox providers, you're on a limited hail Mary pass.
Email marketer from GMass advises to use an email verification service to remove invalid or risky email addresses from your list. This helps reduce bounce rates and protect your sender reputation. Services like NeverBounce or ZeroBounce can assist with this.
Email marketer from Mailtrap recommends monitoring feedback loops to identify and address spam complaints. If subscribers are marking your emails as spam, investigate the reasons and take corrective action to improve your content and targeting.
Email marketer from Reddit recommends gradually increasing your sending volume. Starting with a small number of emails and slowly increasing it over time helps establish a positive sending reputation with ISPs, preventing them from blocking your emails.
Email marketer from Mailjet responds to improve deliverability by authenticating your emails with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. This proves to ISPs that you are who you say you are, reducing the likelihood of being marked as spam. Ensure your sending domain is properly authenticated.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum explains to regularly check if your domain is on any email blacklists. If you find yourself on a blacklist, take steps to get removed by contacting the blacklist provider and addressing the issues that led to your listing.
Email marketer from Litmus advises to focus on sending engaging content to your subscribers. Higher engagement rates (opens, clicks) indicate that your emails are valuable, improving your reputation with ISPs and reducing the likelihood of being blocked.
Email marketer from EmailOnAcid responds to regularly clean your email list to remove inactive or unengaged subscribers. Sending emails to these addresses can lead to high bounce rates and spam complaints, damaging your sender reputation.
Email marketer from SenderScore explains that maintaining a consistent sending volume helps build trust with ISPs. Avoid sudden spikes in email volume, as this can trigger spam filters and negatively impact your domain reputation.
Email marketer from EasyDMARC explains to make sure your sending IP address has a valid reverse DNS (rDNS) record. This maps your IP address back to your domain name, helping ISPs verify your identity and improve your sender reputation.
What the experts say9Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks shares if the business needs are "we need to send spam" than don't bother trying to "fix" it as the spam filters are working exactly as designed.
Expert from Email Geeks shares the best option is to stop all email to Google for a couple of weeks to allow things to cool off, and then send very slowly, testing the waters.
Expert from Word to the Wise shares it is vital to use seedlists, and check blocklists to identify deliverability issues. Tools can be set up to automatically check these on a regular basis and report any potential problems.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that if you warm up with one traffic source (opt-in mail) and then move to spam, the filters can see right through you.
Expert from Spam Resource highlights the importance of maintaining consistent sending practices. Avoid sudden spikes in email volume, adhere to established sending schedules, and ensure that your email content remains relevant and engaging to your subscribers to maintain a favorable sender reputation.
Expert from Email Geeks warns that the customer needs to adjust their practices, or they'll be back with the same issue in short order.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains the importance of knowing your reputation, indicating that it can impact inbox placement. It advises checking tools to see what the different mailbox providers think about your mailings, and if you have a problem, you need to fix it.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that implementing proactive reputation management is crucial. This involves regularly monitoring your domain's reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools, promptly addressing any identified issues, and actively working to maintain a positive sender reputation.
Expert from Email Geeks advises to stop the prospecting emails. Explaining the customer is likely being blocked because more of their mail is spam than not-spam. If they stop sending spam, and give their reputation a rest, they’ll stop getting blocked for spamming.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Google outlines guidelines to prevent emails sent to Gmail accounts from being blocked or marked as spam. Adhering to these guidelines, which include authenticating your email, sending from a consistent IP address, and maintaining low spam complaint rates, is critical for ensuring deliverability.
Documentation from DMARC.org explains Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC) builds upon SPF and DKIM by allowing you to specify how ISPs should handle emails that fail authentication checks. Implement DMARC to protect your domain from spoofing and phishing attacks.
Documentation from DKIM shares DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) adds a digital signature to your outgoing emails. This signature verifies that the email hasn't been tampered with during transit, enhancing your domain's reputation and deliverability.
Documentation from RFC-Editor shares Sender Policy Framework (SPF) allows you to specify which mail servers are authorized to send email on behalf of your domain. Implement an SPF record to prevent spammers from forging your email address and harming your domain reputation.
Documentation from Google explains Google Postmaster Tools provides insights into your domain reputation. Use it to identify issues causing deliverability problems, such as spam complaints or high spam rates. Addressing these issues directly improves your reputation.