How can I avoid having my emails blocked by spam filters?
GoDaddy takes all possible actions to help ensure your email gets through to your readers’ inboxes, but spam filters are very sophisticated nowadays. For example, many filters are customized to the habits of each recipient rather than following blanket rules about what is and isn't spam. Many will also consider the reputation of your sending domain, list health and past stats.
To avoid spam filters, think about how your campaign is presented as a whole rather than simply leaving out specific keywords. The best tips are not black and white. This may feel less satisfying in the short term, but it's more effective in getting your message into your customers' inboxes, now and in the long run.
When creating your marketing email, look at your content and ask yourself these questions:
Am I sending to contacts who signed up for my emails and also want this particular content?
It can take as little as one determined and unhappy person to cause filtering problems for your emails. If people are marking your emails as spam at a higher rate (>0.1% or 1 in 1,000 emails), those negative feedback loops can really impact your sender reputation and your future email deliverability. So, if you’re not sure if a certain list will want an email, it’s better to leave them out entirely. Only send email to contacts who have expressly subscribed to receive your emails.
Will email filters and subscribers immediately recognize me?
The sender domain that shows in your email addresses, templates and styles should stay very clear from email to email. This helps both filters and humans establish who you are. Your branding creates a track record of trust. If people were receptive to your emails in the past, consistent branding will get you better filtering results.
Have I made a good first impression?
If you haven’t sent emails to your list yet, or the emails you sent previously weren’t well received, try sending to a smaller list of your most recent and engaged subscribers. Then slowly ramp up sending as a way to “warm-up” your domain reputation. Take extra care to ensure the content is something your subscribers will be excited about reading or interacting with. When subscribers interact positively with your mail, it helps further build a good sender domain reputation, which is vital to getting favorable treatment by mailbox providers.
Is my email focused on charming my subscribers rather than “blasting” them?
Remind readers of your existing relationship with them, and then build on that rapport. Write emails in a conversational style, similar to how you’d address a friend or colleague. Hard-sell tactics invite complaints and suspicion from both filters and humans. That said, don’t go out of your way to hide that you’re sending a bulk email. Spam filters can tell if you’re sending the same email to many people.
Here are a few content tips. Keep in mind, the subject title is particularly sensitive.
- Avoid hard-sell catchphrases like Free, Instant, Double your money, Sex, XXX, Win, Cash, Bonus, Membership, Free Offer, Call Now, Rates, $$$’s, Success, etc.
- Excessive use of CAPS LOCK can cause issues. NO ONE LIKES TO BE YELLED AT!
- Minimize your use of punctuation—!!!’s and ???’s can be troublesome. Keep your promotion conversational rather than a hard-sell EXTRA!!!! BUY NOW!!! style.
- Pricing and $$$ signs are especially important. Including the pricing in your promotion can trigger a spam filter. An effective way to get around this and increase web traffic is to describe the special offer and link to your website. An image with the pricing is also effective.
- Subject lines are extremely important. If you put thought into your subject titles it will help avoid spam filters, and your view rates will also improve.
Does it look like I’m hiding something?
- If you use images, also use text content to make sure you're clear about the intent of the message. This way filters can more easily understand your identity and your intention. Image-only emails are often filtered to spam.
- Link shorteners are abused heavily in emails to hide malware and other not-so-great stuff, so don’t use those.
- Avoid using raw URLs or “open URLs”. Hyperlink a word or phrase instead. For example, instead of typing out and hyperlinking godaddy.com, try using the URL to hyperlink a word or phrase like "GoDaddy website".
Have I added custom authentication records to my sender domain?
If you’re using a public email address to send mail, consider using a custom domain-based email address and configure it using custom authentication records. This can help improve deliverability because it ensures proper domain alignment and can also help with DMARC authentication. These are records you would need to add to your sender domain’s DNS.
Find out more about using authentication records for email campaigns.
Do I have a DMARC record on my sender domain?
If you’re sending a large amount of mail, it’s a good idea to ensure you have a DMARC policy in place for your sender domain. Starting February 2024, Gmail requires that those sending mail to 5,000 contacts or more include a DMARC policy for their domain. They’re not requiring a strict policy, so you can get started with a policy of “p=none”.
What if I’m doing all of the above but I'm still having problems?
Try a different subject line or take out links to websites that you don’t have full control over. Then create a test list and send the mail to a few different email accounts before sending to your entire list.
