And now, you are left wondering how to fix it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, don’t worry! I can help you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this blog, I\u2019ll walk you through a simple email deliverability checklist<\/strong> that you should follow to maximize your deliverability and maintain an optimal deliverability score<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s get into it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this section, I\u2019m going to share a 10-point checklist that I\u2019ve followed over the years to increase my inbox placement and email deliverability rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Short on time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is a comprehensive 41-point email deliverability checklist<\/a> covering:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Grab your notepad and pen to start taking notes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The very first point on the email deliverability checklist is that you need to take a look at your authentication records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is because, in 2024, Google, Yahoo, and other reputable email service providers introduced<\/strong> revised policy guidelines for email senders, especially bulk email senders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The guidelines specify<\/strong> that any bulk email sender must have their SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records authenticated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, if you\u2019re having trouble with email deliverability, I highly recommend checking and verifying whether your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are set up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bonus Read:<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n\n Learn how to set up SPF, DKIM & DMARC<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Most of us use a primary domain like <name@company.com> for official and enterprise communication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, if you want to send cold emails for sales or marketing, I recommend switching to secondary domains<\/strong> dedicated to this purpose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, your secondary domain could be <sales.name@company.com>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This will ensure that your primary domain\u2019s sender reputation doesn\u2019t suffer<\/strong> because of your outreach campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover, you can scale efficiently while complying with cold emailing best practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And don\u2019t forget to warm up your secondary domains!<\/p>\n\n\n\n One thing I always do before launching a cold email campaign is make a record of my sender, domain and IP reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I do this for two main reasons<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I recommend you do the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After all, your sender, domain, and IP reputation play a critical role<\/strong> in email deliverability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think of them like the credit scores of your email account: if your score is too low, the bank will not give you a loan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, if your sender, domain, and IP reputations are too low, the ESP will likely send your emails to the spam folder!<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what should you do if you discover that your sender, domain, and IP reputations are low?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This will protect your email infrastructure from being compromised by malicious acts of others using the same IP address!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Email warm-up<\/a> is the most important point on this checklist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a very simple reason behind this<\/strong>: email warm-up will help you slowly but surely improve your email deliverability rate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s how it works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, this may look like a simple process, but doing it manually will be a task!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, I suggest that you use automated email warm up services<\/a> to automate the whole process for as many accounts as you need!<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the major issues that causes email deliverability problems is hard bounces!<\/p>\n\n\n\n And they occur due to an unverified or outdated email list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, to avoid these mistakes, you should \u2192<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pro Tip:<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n\n Several B2B databases<\/a> also offer email list enrichment services that can help you clean your email lists and remove duplicates or unverified email addresses.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n As we\u2019ve seen in the first point, ESPs like Google and Yahoo have introduced several new policies for email senders to protect their users against malicious email communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, every ESP imposes a daily sending limit<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This means you can\u2019t send more than X number of emails within a 24-hour period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you overshoot this limit, your deliverability rate might suffer!<\/p>\n\n\n\n To fix this specific problem, I suggest you follow this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n My recommendation:<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n\n Review all your ESP’s other policies to ensure that your email-sending patterns don\u2019t affect your email deliverability.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Have you ever wondered how exactly your ESP knows which emails are spam and which are important? And if they discover a consistent pattern of emails<\/strong> containing these words or phrases from specific accounts, they\u2019ll send such emails straight to spam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, if you want to avoid the spam folder, you must thoroughly check your email copy and remove all spammy words. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Also read: Top Spam words you should avoid in your emails!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n One thing I\u2019ve learned the hard way is that you should always personalize your outreach emails, regardless of how many emails you send.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is because of two reasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hence, if you don\u2019t personalize your emails<\/strong>, you\u2019re very likely to see a drop in your email deliverability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019ve ever opened a spam email out of curiosity (which I highly recommend you don\u2019t!), you must have noticed that most of them want you to click on a link. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You might also notice that some of them might be vividly designed emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, spammers use links, attachments or scripts in their emails to make their emails look more lucrative.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, if you want to ensure that your emails don\u2019t land in spam, I suggest that you avoid including links, attachments or HTML scripts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019ve established an email thread with your recipient, you can include all the links and attachments you want. But till then, keep your emails simple, clean, and plain<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The last point on my email deliverability checklist is to add an unsubscribe link to all your emails. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Adding an unsubscribe link to your outreach emails improves email deliverability<\/strong> by reducing spam complaints, as recipients can opt-out easily instead of marking your email as spam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sending emails is one thing\u2026but ensuring that they reach the inbox is a much more difficult task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, I\u2019m confident that if you follow the email deliverability checklist, you\u2019re very likely to enhance your email deliverability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Make sure you tick all the boxes before sending cold emails if you want to make the most of your time and money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, the average deliverability rate is around 83%. Anything higher than that is usually a good deliverability rate. However, we ensure that our clients usually enjoy more than a 95% deliverability rate for their emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Delivery rate refers to the percentage of emails that make it to the recipient\u2019s server (they can then be routed to any folder from inbox to spam). On the other hand, the deliverability rate is the percentage of emails that land directly in the inboxes of your recipients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In my opinion, you should follow this checklist to send bulk emails without being rejected as spam:<\/p>\n\n\n\n From all the different ESPs and cold emailing software I\u2019ve tried and tested, Saleshandy has a deliverability rate of 98% on grade-A emails. So, if you\u2019re looking for cold email software that guarantees a high deliverability rate, I recommend using Saleshandy<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nTop Email Delivery Issues \u2013 TOC\n <\/h2>\n
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Improve Email Deliverability With this Checklist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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![\"Email](\"https:\/\/www.trulyinbox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/CASF-01.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n1. Authenticate Your Email Account<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Use Secondary Domains for Outreach Emails<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Track Your Sender, Domain, and IP Reputation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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4. Warm-up Your Email Account<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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5. Verify and Clean Your Email Lists<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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6. Check the Policies of Your ESP<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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7. Avoid Using Spammy Words<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s how it works: the ESP\u2019s algorithm looks for spammy words or phrases like<\/strong> \u201cDeal,\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re a Winner,\u201d \u201cDiscount,\u201d \u201cEarn,\u201d and \u201cAct Fast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
8. Personalize Your Outreach Emails<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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9. Avoid Excessive Links, Attachments or Scripts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
10. Add an Unsubscribe Link<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Now It Is Time to Put the Checklist to Work!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Email Deliverability Checklist: FAQs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. What is a good email deliverability rate for emails?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. What is the difference between delivery rate and deliverability?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. How can I send bulk emails without being rejected as spam?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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4. Which ESP or cold emailing software has the best deliverability rate?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n