Improve your Email Deliverability

Improving email delivery is a tough task for any email user. To help you improve on this and make the delivery successful, here is a list to lead you through.

The first thing that you need to do is check your domain IP address. Make sure that it has not been blacklisted in the database. The databases store domain addresses that are known as spam. Your internet providers or the administrators may be blocking your domain from sending emails. This may result if someone has used your domain to send spam, or maybe the emails you send may have been reported by someone as being spams, even if that was not the case.

To check your domain IP address, open a command by clicking on the start menu-run-cmd.exe, then typing your domain or URL. From the response got, your IP address will be the one contained within the brackets.

Check your IP address against blacklist databases. If you do not find your IP on any of them, that is good news. You can however go ahead and contact your Internet service provider and see if they can give you a new address. Alternatively, you can contact the owner of the site where your address has been blacklisted and ask them to remove it.

Your attachments may also be the reason behind lack of proper delivery. The attachment sent using your email might cause certain spam filters to block it. At other times, your IP may be reported to a database for black listing. To avoid this, only use PDF when attaching. Most virus filters and mailboxes block attachments that have .exe, .swf, or .zip at the end.

Ensure that your server is configured to reverse DNS Look up. DNS is today used as a tool to fight spam. If your server has not been configured yet to reverse DNS look up, be extra cautious when sending bulk email through that server. This is because the emails sent may end up being reported as spam.

When sending bulk emails, avoid using the BCC or CC fields especially when sending newsletters.

All emails sent out for marketing or promotions should carry an unsubscribe link that gives the recipient the right to unsubscribe from getting the emails. If they unsubscribe, stop sending them more mails. If you do, there will bounce back. Emails that repeatedly bounce back may make the ISP to blacklist your IP address.

Make your recipients/subscribers aware of when to expect a new mail from you. Tell them when to expect the next issue of a newsletter. Also, do not go on sending them other material that they did not subscribe for e.g. promotions or other special offers.

Learn to use double opt-in lists to make all of your mail clean. When someone makes a subscription, send them a link first to verify on their intent and their wish to be added on your mailing list. This will help fight illegitimate email addresses from being added into your mailing list.

To keep your recipients active and cut down on the number of bounced emails, allow them to be able to log in to your website and update their details like their email address.