We often ask, “Why are my emails going to spam?” Whether you send or receive an email, it is always frustrating to find your important emails landing in the spam folder.
Although a spam folder exists for a reason, it may lead to concerns, especially if you have corporate engagements. You may lose deals because some artificial intelligence flagged your email as spam.
So how to make sure your email doesn’t go to spam? What are the steps you can take to avoid it? Or, more specifically, why do my emails go to spam in the first place?
This article will help you understand the functionalities of a spam folder and how to avoid email going to spam.
Why are my emails going to spam?
According to DataProt, the daily volume of global spam emails is 122.33 billion, meaning 85% of emails sent every day translate to spam. Out of this, 36% consists of advertising emails, and 31.7% are adult-related content. In short, you may receive more than 10 spam emails by the time you read this article.
This increase in spam emails has forced email services to set up various filters to ensure security. Although it is good to have such filters, common mistakes like missing information or improper punctuations can turn your legitimate emails into spam.
Here are the reasons for “Why does my email go to spam.”
- Authentication problem – Proper authentication is crucial to make your emails pass through email service filters. If a filter fails to authenticate your emails, your messages will land in the spam folder. You can use DomainKey Identified Mail or Sender Policy Framework to make your mails legitimate.
- Inaccurate information – Inaccurate or missing sender information can fail filters, marking your emails as spam. For instance, you will have to ensure that the sender’s information is accurate and authentic. Likewise, marketing emails require a valid physical address to make them legitimate.
- Improper punctuations – Misspelled words or grammatical errors can initiate spam filters, sending your emails to the spam folder. For instance, excessive exclamation marks, emojis, or creating your email in capitals can trigger spam filters. It would be best to avoid these triggers to make your emails look legitimate.
- Misleading links – Email marketing is all about links, but if you have misleading links in your email, spam filters will consider it a violation, and your emails will go to the spam folder. Likewise, URL shorteners are also a primary cause of turning your legitimate emails into spam.
- Bad email list – Corporate businesses send bulk emails to subscribers to boost their revenue and retention. However, a bad email list may backfire, forcing spam filters to categorize your emails as spam. For instance, low engagement, inactive accounts, or denied permissions can result in a bad email list.
- Multiple attachments – Email phishing is a huge concern for email services, and attachments are the perfect way of distributing malware. If your email contains numerous attachments, spam filters will consider it spam.
- Multiple images – Using a single large image or multiple images also attracts spam filters, making your emails look suspicious. It would be best to avoid replacing texts with images.
- Marked as spam – Since all email services allow users to mark emails as spam, your recipients may have done the same. Likewise, too many spam markings can develop a negative effect, forcing spam filters to consider your emails as spam.
How to keep emails from going to spam?
Email phishing has seen a drastic rise since 2020, with more than 81% of global organizations reporting these issues. Various government agencies like the FBI have enforced multiple regulations to counter these situations. In short, you have to follow these regulations while sending your emails.
So how to stop email going to spam? Here are some tips you can follow to make your emails look legitimate and improve deliverability.
Tip 1: Use a mail testing program
Mail testing programs like Mail Tester are excellent for testing technical issues, helping you avoid spam problems. Mail Tester’s user interface is intuitive and allows you to send emails to a specific address for evaluation. Once the program evaluates your email, it will provide scores based on your email’s performance.
This free mail testing tool checks your email on various parameters, including broken links, spam triggers, and blacklist categories. If your email’s performance is low, the program will provide specific suggestions to improve deliverability.
Tip 2: Switch to a dedicated SMTP provider
One of the common problems associated with spam emails is the lack of a dedicated SMTP provider. This problem is primarily evident with WordPress websites as their default method triggers spam filters, turning your legitimate emails into spam.
Switching to a dedicated service will boost authority and improve email deliverability without hindering your business. You can find various free services or choose premium SMTP providers to increase your email marketing and avoid emails from going to the spam folder.
Tip 3: Authenticate your emails
Authentication is crucial to boost your email’s performance. For instance, spam filters consider content and reputation to distinguish spam emails. In short, a sender with proper authentication will get better results than someone with a lower reputation.
You can use SPF and DKIM for email authentication and avoid your emails from going into the spam folder. These services boost your online reputation and engage your targeted audience to increase revenue.
Tip 4: Maintain a stable subscriber list
As we mentioned earlier, one of the root causes of spam emails is a poorly-managed subscriber list. For instance, if your subscriber list contains inactive subscribers, spam filters consider your emails spam.
Here are the things you can do to maintain a stable subscriber list:
- Check your list for inactive or dead subscribers
- Embed unsubscribe options for subscribers
- Make sure your subscribers are organic
Tip 5: Follow generic rules
Besides email authentication and maintaining a subscriber list, you can follow these general rules to avoid spam emails.
- Avoid using multiple images instead of texts
- Avoid using spammy words or grammatical errors
- Provide an accurate physical address
- Avoid multiple attachments
- Avoid using inaccurate links
Why is my email going to spam? Wrap Up!
Email marketing is crucial for any business as it boosts authority and revenue. However, witnessing your emails end up as spam can be frustrating and undoubtedly not ideal for your brand.
Hopefully, our steps will help you fix this problem and improve your email deliverability.
