10 Common Reasons Why Your Emails Get Flagged As Spam And How To Fix Them

Imagine this: You’ve put your heart and soul into crafting the right email for your small business, and also you hit that ‘send’ button with high hopes. But then, it happens – your email leads to the dreaded spam folder. Frustrating, right? Well, you’re not alone. According to a study by Return Path, the common email deliverability rate within the US last 12 months was 84.7%. This implies that 15.3% of emails never reached their intended recipients.

Thankfully, you’re not only on the whims of those mysterious algorithms – there are practical steps you possibly can take to enhance your email delivery in Gmail or another email service. Let’s have a look and learn why your emails keep taking the scenic path to the spam folder.

10 Things to Avoid if You Don’t Want Your Emails to Go to Spam in Gmail

We’ve compiled a listing of common issues that may raise red flags with email algorithms, the gatekeepers of your recipients’ inboxes. Whether it’s a one-on-one message or a bulk newsletter, avoiding these pitfalls will help boost your open and response rates. Let’s dive into the list and get your emails on the correct track with some suggestions.

1. Sending Excessive Attachments or .exe Files

Attachments in spam emails often include a side of malicious intent, which is why those vigilant anti spam filters keep an in depth eye on them. To stay on the secure side, it’s a very good idea to maintain a lid on the variety of files you attach when sending emails beyond your organization. By the way in which, Gmail sets a cap of 25 MB for the overall attachment weight.

And here’s just a little tip: keep away from executive files (.exe) – Gmail doesn’t allow you to send those as attachments, and for a very good reason.

What do you do when it is advisable to send a big file or multiple attachments in Gmail?

When it involves sending attachment files within the safest, hassle-free, and non-suspicious way, Google Drive is your go-to option. It not only helps you sidestep file weight limits but in addition accommodates .exe files. Here’s how it really works:

Begin by uploading your files to Google Drive.
Compose your email in Gmail and spot the drive icon on the underside toolbar.

2. Misleading Subject Lines

The subject line is the very first thing people see once they open their email, so making a very good impression is very important. You can use a clever subject line to pique their interest but don’t overdo it. Spammers often use misleading subject lines to trick people into opening their emails. Be careful not to return across as spammy.

Here are a number of examples of misleading subject lines:

Re: This makes it seem like the e-mail is a reply to a previous email, even when it’s not.
Urgent! Action is required. This is a pressure tactic that spammers use to get people to open their emails.
Confirmation of your reservation. This pretends that you just’ve already made a reservation or order, even in case you haven’t. This can alarm people and make them think their account has been hacked.

It’s also vital to avoid using spammy words in your subject line. Words like “free,” “special offer,” and “win” are sometimes utilized by spammers, in order that they’re more more likely to be sent to the spam folder.

Instead, try to put in writing a subject line that is evident, concise, and accurately reflects the content of your email. You also can use keywords that you think that your recipient shall be involved in.

For example, as a substitute of writing “Re: Urgent! Special offer on shoes,” you possibly can write “New shoe styles at 20% off.” This subject line is more informative and fewer more likely to be flagged as spam.

Spammers are notorious for his or her sloppy writing and grammar. They often use automatic translations to English, which might result in errors, they usually use emotionally charged language and punctuation to create a way of urgency.

In other words, avoid using the next phrases and tactics:

Writing in all caps
Brightly coloured text
An excessive variety of emojis
Spam-related guarantees that create a way of urgency, scarcity, and a way of obligation: “Get wealthy quick!”, “Make money fast!”, “Earn extra money with none effort!”, “Lose weight overnight!”, “Get a six-pack in two weeks!”, “Find your soulmate in minutes!”, “Limited-time offer!”, “Act now!”, “Don’t miss out!”, This is your last probability!” and others.
Improper salutations, reminiscent of “Dear <your email address>,” “Dear friend,” “Greetings of the day!,” and “Dear <fallacious name>,”
Avoid using phrases like “this isn’t junk” or “not spam” in your emails, as they will sarcastically trigger spam filters.
Many exclamation points!!!1!! Multiple query marks??? and ellipses…
Poor grammar and spelling errors.

Another factor that may negatively impact your email deliverability is violating GDPR or other local regulations, reminiscent of Europe’s GDPR, Canada’s CASL, Brazil’s LGPD and others, by sending business or sales offers to individuals who haven’t expressed interest in receiving them.

How can you establish if persons are involved in your offers?

Begin by obtaining consent, whether for mass emails, newsletters, or individual outreach. When creating an email list through a web based form, include an opt-in checkbox, and clearly define the expected content and frequency.

Ensure that each email features a distinguished ‘unsubscribe’ option.

When reaching out to someone external to your organization with a business proposal, your initial email needs to be concise, serving as an introduction before providing further details.

5. Excessive Image-To-Text Proportion

Certainly, tempted to incorporate many screen captures or a big image with a gorgeous sales offer in your email? Although graphic elements could make the critical information in your email pop up, sadly, they also can make the entire message disappear right into a spam folder.

This is due to long-lasting arms race between spammers and algorithms. When mailbox filters began to be sensitive to spam-related words and grammar issues, senders of unsolicited offers began to make use of workarounds, considered one of which was putting the contents of messages on a picture.

Advanced email services, like business Gmail in Google Workspace, are actually equipped with optical character recognition (OCR), so tricks like which are pointless. If you’re an admin of Google Workspace Enterprise accounts, you possibly can even employ this technology in Data Loss Prevention policies to stop sensitive information from being sent outside the organization as images.

(*10*)6. Misleading or Too Many Hyperlinks

Linking to domains related to spam and malware is an obvious red flag for antispam filters. However, even in case you’re using a link to a legitimate website, some techniques that all of us sometimes employ for convenience could make it look unintentionally suspicious:

Using a link shortener that hides a lengthy address.
Anchoring a link on text suggesting a distinct domain, for instance, writing yourcompany.com and linking it to landingpage.yourcompany.co.uk.
Including links or buttons that initiate multiple redirections.
Sending many links at the identical time.

To avoid this, be mindful that neither users nor algorithms wish to be surprised after following a link in an email message. Try to make links as transparent as possible and avoid using shortening techniques, especially when sending bulk emails or the primary message to a latest person from outside your organization.

Another crucial consideration is where those links direct recipients. Ensure that any external web sites linked in your emails have valid SSL certificates and utilize HTTPS for added security. Additionally, be mindful of the anchor text you utilize for every link; keep away from terms like “free” or “click here,” as they could raise suspicions in regards to the legitimacy of the linked content.

7. Sending Messages to Inactive Accounts

If you end up receiving bounce-back notifications like ‘message not delivered’ or ‘550: no such user here,’ it’s essential to deal with this issue to take care of your email deliverability.

Be diligent about verifying email addresses within the ‘To:’ field to catch any typos. When conducting mass email campaigns, consider utilizing validation services, which might robotically check and clean your contact list for accuracy, helping you maintain a high-quality recipient database and improve your email deliverability.

This helps make sure you’re not sending emails to unengaged users who haven’t opened your emails within the last three months.

8. Insufficient Domain Authentication, Sender Details and Poor Server Reputation

To make sure that your emails reach their intended recipients and don’t find yourself in spam folders, web service providers (ISPs) have implemented DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting & Conformance) policies. These policies require authentication through either DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) or SPF (Sender Policy Framework).

In simpler terms, having an authenticated sender domain is crucial. It’s like having a trusted stamp in your emails, ensuring they’re not treated as suspicious or potentially harmful. Without this authentication, your emails is likely to be blocked or marked as spam by recipient mail servers.

Authentication also permits you to use additional security measures like DKIM and SPF. DKIM adds a digital signature to every outgoing message, verifying its authenticity, while SPF provides extra safeguards by restricting which IP addresses can send outbound emails out of your server.
Similar to non-public credit scores, email servers have “popularity scores” for his or her IP addresses.
Major email providers like Google use AI of their filtering, considering the popularity of email server IP addresses. Companies assign IP risk scores, which increase when malicious or spammy behavior is detected.
This data is monitored by providers, integrated into intelligence feeds, and impacts email delivery, potentially causing even non-newsletter-type emails to land in spam folders, resulting in business communication challenges.

These measures add an additional layer of security to forestall malicious emails from being sent by someone impersonating one other user. So, ensuring your domain is authenticated and email server high rating is vital to successful email delivery and avoiding those dreaded spam folders.

9. Reputation of Domains and IP Addresses

Just like in real life, your online popularity is formed by past actions. However, in relation to domains, IP addresses, and email delivery, your popularity will also be influenced by the actions of your colleagues. Even in case you consistently follow email best practices, an unlucky email campaign from other departments could impact your sender popularity.

Keep a watch in your email popularity. There are quite a lot of free and paid services that may assist you to monitor your IP popularity, domain popularity, and email deliverability metrics.
Talk to your colleagues about email best practices. Make sure everyone seems to be aware of the importance of email deliverability and is following good email habits.
Use a good email service provider. A good ESP could have a very good popularity and can find a way to assist you to protect your domain popularity.

And if all else fails, you possibly can all the time try in charge your boss…

10. Your Recipient Marked Your Emails as a Spam

This is probably probably the most common reason. We’ve all been there – a crowded inbox, a rush to declutter, and the spam button becomes a straightforward goal to quickly sift through emails. Even in case your email accommodates award-worthy content or a highly vital message, the mood of your recipients might be unpredictable.

Unfortunately, if a major variety of your messages get flagged as spam, it will probably trigger default spam filters at major email providers like Gmail and others. Once this happens, your messages may robotically land in spam folders, and there’s not much you possibly can do to forestall it.

In such cases, consider apologizing to the recipient, acknowledging the difficulty, and politely requesting to be faraway from their spam list, if applicable, to enhance future email deliverability.

Closing thoughts

Imagine you’re a salesman, desirous to start a conversation with a possible customer after crafting the right email pitch. But whenever you hit send, your email lands within the spam folder. It’s a frustrating experience for all parties involved, but there are steps you possibly can take to forestall it.

By incorporating the strategies mentioned earlier, you possibly can safeguard your email popularity and enhance the likelihood of your messages reaching their intended destination. Utilizing Google Workspace services can provide additional support in achieving this. So, before hitting send in your next message, review the following pointers – they might work wonders on your email game!

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