Got a bad email reputation?
This isn’t a spunky punk anthem sung by Joan Jett — having a bad email domain reputation is bad news.
The good news is you can fix it! In this article, we explain how to check and improve your domain reputation with advice from experts:
- Product Manager at Cognism (Formerly, Technical Support & Implementation Implementation Manager at HiBob (Formerly, Head of Support at Cognism)
Let’s get into it
What is domain reputation?
Domain reputation is the overall “health” of your branded domain, based on factors like engagement, spam complaints, traps, and bounces.
Also known as sender reputation, it’s a critical factor ESPs (email service providers) use to determine whether an email should be delivered to the recipient’s inbox or marked as spam. It is a measure of the trustworthiness and reliability of the sending domain.
How does email domain reputation work?
Your domain email reputation is based on ten factors:
Factor one: the first five days
Like your own reputation, it takes time to build up, so all new email domains are immediately considered suspicious for the first five days.
Factor two: web classification
Your email domain gets a classification on the web that can include anything from education, business, finance or dating, to name a few.
Understanding your domain reputation is vital for successful email marketing. Your email service provider closely monitors how you utilise your, subjecting it to an evaluation of 0 to 100.
To ensure trust, they’ll check your domain reputation score and scan your messages. The better your score (which can be enhanced by utilising a secure and reliable the less likely your email will be rejected or marked as a spam domain.
A higher score indicates a reputation authority that can significantly impact your email deliverability and engagement. Maintaining a strong domain reputation score is your key to inbox placement.
When your score is high, your emails are less likely to be rejected or sent to the dreaded spam domain, ensuring they reach your intended audience.
It’s important to note:
Email domain reputation is not static; it’s multifaceted and tailored to the unique scoring processes of each email receiver, all contributing to the overall email reputation.
Factor three: spam reports
They indicate the frequency at which your emails are marked as spam. You can minimise spam reports by sending relevant, valuable content to a targeted audience.
