To make sure that your business is not amongst these, let\u2019s dive into email sender reputation and how building upon this parameter can give your marketing initiatives a new lease of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is Email Reputation?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nEmail Sender Reputation, or email reputation, is essentially a score assigned to a business or an organization by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). This score determines the deliverability of your emails. Naturally, a high score means higher chances of reaching your target audience. A low score puts your emails at the risk of being flagged, marked as spam or blocked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This score, as well as your reputation, isn\u2019t static.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They can change quickly depending on the ISP’s assessment of the quality of your campaigns. Similarly, the email reputation can also vary from one ISP to another.
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/email.uplers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/campaign-management.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/p>\n\n\n\nTop 10 Factors that Affect Email Reputation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Your email reputation depends on a lot of different factors. The top metrics that govern whether or not you\u2019re a spammer are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Domain Reputation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
When you send an email, the email service provider cross-checks whether the address in the \u2018From\u2019 field matches the domain used for correspondence. In the case of shared domains, provider-specific authentication is added to the \u2018From\u2019 field to ensure that it matches your sending domain. However, this can dent your email reputation, and in turn, the deliverability of your messages<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nUsing a registered domain gives your emails an added layer of security and credibility. Thus, making them more likely to pass any spoofing checks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. IP Reputation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Much like your domain reputation, your IP reputation also largely depends on whether you use a shared or dedicated IP address. Using a shared address means your activity is intertwined with that of other users. Their malpractices can affect your email sender reputation<\/a>. This is known as \u2018bad neighborhood\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA bad neighborhood isn\u2019t just limited to a shared IP address. Other users within a subnetwork can also affect your reputation. In fact, an Internet Bad Neighbourhoods study<\/a> indicated that this phenomenon can also take place on ISPs, and a majority of dodgy activities such as spamming and phishing can be attributed to a small cluster of such bad neighborhoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. Bounce Rate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The bounce rate of your emails<\/a> is determined by the percentage of email addresses to which your communication could not be delivered. This is further divided into two categories \u2013 hard and soft bounce. A hard bounce happens when you\u2019re sending emails to addresses that don\u2019t exist whereas when your email delivery fails on account of recipients\u2019 inbox being full or a message being too large, it is considered a soft bounce.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHard bounce impacts your email sender reputation significantly, as it points to an unauthenticated email list. Purchasing bulk email addresses puts you at the risk of a greater bounce rate.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"bounce](\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/6pBXKpMolMx4DTFXGsj86eiMOZY8KgjqtGUlXZoxX6rPlCE0z2t_bQG7IknOASCD9G9tHY-Rk7WN2ycBvi3XeFEh9HAzhDwJ9F5xohLMQlRVbocwbCqxjwqBBpCzCd_YHhk7aG6g\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nSource<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n4. Content Quality<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The quality of the content you are sharing with your subscribers also impacts your email reputation. Frustrating user experience on account of slow loading messages or poor design, using too many keywords and choice of images are some of the factors that can lead your content being flagged as spammy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. Emails Marked As Spam<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
If your subscribers consistently mark your messages as spam, the ISP considers it as a sign that you\u2019re not delivering relevant content. This, naturally, impacts your email reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6. Unsubscribe Rate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
It is expected that at least some of your recipients may unsubscribe to your emails at some point. That\u2019s alright. However, if there is a sudden or steady rise in the unsubscribe rate, it is considered a red flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7. Low Engagement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Engaging emails organically generate click-throughs. If your email template<\/a> fails to deliver on that metric, the ISP can consider it as a reflection of poor user experience. Your emails may start ending up in the recipients’ spam folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n8. Falling in the Spam Trap<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
These traps are emails used by service providers to monitor spam. If your HTML emails <\/a>end up on a lot of these spam trap IDs, your reputation can take a hit. Curating high-quality email lists through genuine signups rather than purchasing them from bulk providers is a simple way of avoiding these traps. You must also audit your email lists from time to time and weed out all hard bounce addresses to prevent being caught in the spam trap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n9. Too Many Emails<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
While you want to create a recall value among your subscribers, sending out too many emails is not the way to do it. For example, if you\u2019re sending 5 to 7 emails to your recipients every day, the service provider may consider it as too intrusive. This can negatively impact your deliverability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Limiting the number of emails you send, optimizing the send time, and choosing quality over quantity is the way to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10. Spike in Reach<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Of course, you want to reach out to more and more target users through your email marketing campaigns. As long as the growth in the number of email addresses you target is gradual, you\u2019re in the clear. However, if you are sending emails to 1,000 addresses one day and 1 lakh the next, it is bound to raise questions about the credibility of your marketing initiatives.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to Check Your Email Reputation?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Considering the impact of email sender reputation on the effectiveness of your marketing initiatives, it is only natural for you to wonder \u2018how do I check mine?\u2019 Fortunately, the internet is awash with tools that can perform this task for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are the top five resources that you can consider using:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Sender Score<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Sender Score gives you a measure of your reputation in definitive figures. Taking into account the above-mentioned factors, it gives you a score between 0 and 100. A higher score reflects a better reputation. Your score is reflective of a 30-day average of the performance of your emails on various metrics. You also get insights on where your IP address ranks vis-\u00e0-vis others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Reputation Authority<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Reputation Authority by WatchGuard has been developed to protect businesses and organizations from spam, phishing attacks, spyware, malware, and malicious code. It works both for your emails as well as web traffic. You not only get a reputation score in the range of 0 to 100 but can also get insights on good versus bad emails, domain authority<\/a>, and IP address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. Talos Intelligence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Talos Intelligence is another credible resource for checking your email reputation. As opposed to giving you a score, it categorizes your reputation as Poor, Neutral, or Good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Good indicates that your email reputation is sound, Neutral means there is scope for improvement. If your email reputation falls in the Poor spectrum, it means there are serious problems in your email activity. In all likelihood, your messages are being filtered as spam or blocked altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Google Postmaster<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
This is a free tool provided by Google for checking your domain reputation. It also helps you analyze how Gmail views your emails. The results are categorized as Good, Medium, Low, or Bad. Of course, Good is a sound result whereas Bad indicates that your email reputation leaves a lot to be desired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. Trusted Source<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nTrusted Source also gives you insights on both web and email reputation, in addition to domain name system (DNS), affiliations, and mail server information. You can also use it to access details of associations, activation, and history of your domain.
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/email.uplers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Email-Campaign-Audit.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n\nHow to Maintain a Good Email Reputation?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Top 10 Factors that Affect Email Reputation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Your email reputation depends on a lot of different factors. The top metrics that govern whether or not you\u2019re a spammer are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Domain Reputation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
When you send an email, the email service provider cross-checks whether the address in the \u2018From\u2019 field matches the domain used for correspondence. In the case of shared domains, provider-specific authentication is added to the \u2018From\u2019 field to ensure that it matches your sending domain. However, this can dent your email reputation, and in turn, the deliverability of your messages<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using a registered domain gives your emails an added layer of security and credibility. Thus, making them more likely to pass any spoofing checks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Much like your domain reputation, your IP reputation also largely depends on whether you use a shared or dedicated IP address. Using a shared address means your activity is intertwined with that of other users. Their malpractices can affect your email sender reputation<\/a>. This is known as \u2018bad neighborhood\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A bad neighborhood isn\u2019t just limited to a shared IP address. Other users within a subnetwork can also affect your reputation. In fact, an Internet Bad Neighbourhoods study<\/a> indicated that this phenomenon can also take place on ISPs, and a majority of dodgy activities such as spamming and phishing can be attributed to a small cluster of such bad neighborhoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bounce rate of your emails<\/a> is determined by the percentage of email addresses to which your communication could not be delivered. This is further divided into two categories \u2013 hard and soft bounce. A hard bounce happens when you\u2019re sending emails to addresses that don\u2019t exist whereas when your email delivery fails on account of recipients\u2019 inbox being full or a message being too large, it is considered a soft bounce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hard bounce impacts your email sender reputation significantly, as it points to an unauthenticated email list. Purchasing bulk email addresses puts you at the risk of a greater bounce rate.<\/p>\n\n\n Source<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The quality of the content you are sharing with your subscribers also impacts your email reputation. Frustrating user experience on account of slow loading messages or poor design, using too many keywords and choice of images are some of the factors that can lead your content being flagged as spammy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your subscribers consistently mark your messages as spam, the ISP considers it as a sign that you\u2019re not delivering relevant content. This, naturally, impacts your email reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is expected that at least some of your recipients may unsubscribe to your emails at some point. That\u2019s alright. However, if there is a sudden or steady rise in the unsubscribe rate, it is considered a red flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Engaging emails organically generate click-throughs. If your email template<\/a> fails to deliver on that metric, the ISP can consider it as a reflection of poor user experience. Your emails may start ending up in the recipients’ spam folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These traps are emails used by service providers to monitor spam. If your HTML emails <\/a>end up on a lot of these spam trap IDs, your reputation can take a hit. Curating high-quality email lists through genuine signups rather than purchasing them from bulk providers is a simple way of avoiding these traps. You must also audit your email lists from time to time and weed out all hard bounce addresses to prevent being caught in the spam trap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While you want to create a recall value among your subscribers, sending out too many emails is not the way to do it. For example, if you\u2019re sending 5 to 7 emails to your recipients every day, the service provider may consider it as too intrusive. This can negatively impact your deliverability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Limiting the number of emails you send, optimizing the send time, and choosing quality over quantity is the way to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, you want to reach out to more and more target users through your email marketing campaigns. As long as the growth in the number of email addresses you target is gradual, you\u2019re in the clear. However, if you are sending emails to 1,000 addresses one day and 1 lakh the next, it is bound to raise questions about the credibility of your marketing initiatives. Considering the impact of email sender reputation on the effectiveness of your marketing initiatives, it is only natural for you to wonder \u2018how do I check mine?\u2019 Fortunately, the internet is awash with tools that can perform this task for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are the top five resources that you can consider using:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sender Score gives you a measure of your reputation in definitive figures. Taking into account the above-mentioned factors, it gives you a score between 0 and 100. A higher score reflects a better reputation. Your score is reflective of a 30-day average of the performance of your emails on various metrics. You also get insights on where your IP address ranks vis-\u00e0-vis others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reputation Authority by WatchGuard has been developed to protect businesses and organizations from spam, phishing attacks, spyware, malware, and malicious code. It works both for your emails as well as web traffic. You not only get a reputation score in the range of 0 to 100 but can also get insights on good versus bad emails, domain authority<\/a>, and IP address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Talos Intelligence is another credible resource for checking your email reputation. As opposed to giving you a score, it categorizes your reputation as Poor, Neutral, or Good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Good indicates that your email reputation is sound, Neutral means there is scope for improvement. If your email reputation falls in the Poor spectrum, it means there are serious problems in your email activity. In all likelihood, your messages are being filtered as spam or blocked altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a free tool provided by Google for checking your domain reputation. It also helps you analyze how Gmail views your emails. The results are categorized as Good, Medium, Low, or Bad. Of course, Good is a sound result whereas Bad indicates that your email reputation leaves a lot to be desired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trusted Source also gives you insights on both web and email reputation, in addition to domain name system (DNS), affiliations, and mail server information. You can also use it to access details of associations, activation, and history of your domain.2. IP Reputation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Bounce Rate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Content Quality<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Emails Marked As Spam<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. Unsubscribe Rate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
7. Low Engagement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
8. Falling in the Spam Trap<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
9. Too Many Emails<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
10. Spike in Reach<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow to Check Your Email Reputation?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Sender Score<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Reputation Authority<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Talos Intelligence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Google Postmaster<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Trusted Source<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n\nHow to Maintain a Good Email Reputation?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"email](\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/OpXCuTUTtbeUnpUZyqZ4A2IfFXItr2SaKAHrlRv-p4VjcNnvVln-sEQJEnGu7Pty8w0QsqeS7XEP5MPLzUIb9NqDBN5qeVOYEdVBkK3KKtkjlNzaG3eEEuwnJ7uShTmYYoZNeemw\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n