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Email Deliverability Checklist
A comprehensive 41-point checklist covering domain authentication, IP reputation, email infrastructure, sending practices, content optimization, and ongoing monitoring. Check items as you go and export the results to share with your team.
SPF is a DNS record that lists which servers are allowed to send email from your domain. Without it, your emails look suspicious.Action: Ask your tech team to add a TXT record in your DNS settings. Use our free SPF Generator tool.
DKIM is like a digital seal on your emails — it proves you actually sent them and nobody changed them.Action: Enable DKIM in your email provider settings (Gmail, Outlook, etc.) and add the DNS record they give you.
DMARC tells email providers what to do when SPF or DKIM fails. Start with 'monitor only' mode.Action: Add a DMARC TXT record to your DNS. Start with p=none to monitor, then switch to p=quarantine after a few weeks. Use our free DMARC Generator.
The return-path is the 'reply address' that email servers see behind the scenes. It must match your From domain or authentication will fail.Action: Ask your email provider to set up a custom return-path that uses your domain, not theirs.
MX records tell the world your domain can receive email. Spam filters get suspicious if you send from a domain that can't receive mail.Action: Check your DNS settings — every domain you send from should have MX records pointing to your email provider.
BIMI shows your company logo next to your emails in Gmail and Yahoo inboxes. It builds trust so people open your emails.Action: Create an SVG version of your logo, then add a BIMI DNS record. Note: Gmail requires a VMC certificate for this.
If you bought a domain that was previously used for spam, its bad reputation carries over to you.Action: Search your domain on web.archive.org and check it on mxtoolbox.com/blacklists. If it has a bad history, consider using a different domain.
Blacklists are shared lists of known spammers. If your domain is on one, your emails go straight to spam.Action: Go to mxtoolbox.com/blacklists, enter your domain, and check. If listed, follow the blacklist's removal instructions.
Your sending server has an IP address, and it can get blacklisted separately from your domain.Action: Find your sending IP (ask your email provider), then check it at mxtoolbox.com/blacklists. If listed, contact your provider or request delisting.
Google Postmaster Tools is a free dashboard from Google that shows how Gmail sees your emails — reputation, spam rate, and more.Action: Go to postmaster.google.com, sign in, add your domain, and verify it with a DNS record. Check it weekly.
SNDS is Microsoft's version of Postmaster Tools. It shows how Outlook/Hotmail rates your sending IP.Action: Go to sendersupport.olc.protection.outlook.com/snds, sign up with your Microsoft account, and add your sending IPs.
A brand-new domain sending lots of emails immediately looks like a spammer. Email providers trust older domains more.Action: Buy your domain at least 30 days before you plan to send. Use that time to set up authentication and start warmup.
Sender Score is like a credit score for your email reputation (0-100). Below 70 means your emails likely hit spam.Action: Go to senderscore.org, enter your sending IP, and check your score. If below 70, focus on list cleaning and warmup.
On a shared IP, other senders' bad behavior hurts your deliverability too. A dedicated IP means only your reputation matters.Action: Ask your email provider if you're on a shared or dedicated IP. If sending 50K+ emails/month, request a dedicated IP.
Reverse DNS links your IP address back to your domain name. Many email servers reject emails without it.Action: Ask your hosting provider or email service to set up a PTR record for your sending IP that points to your domain.
TLS encrypts your emails while they travel between servers. Gmail marks unencrypted emails with a warning.Action: Most modern email providers enable TLS by default. Ask your tech team to confirm TLS is turned on in your email server settings.
A 'hard bounce' means the email address doesn't exist. Sending to them repeatedly makes you look like a spammer.Action: Set up your email tool to automatically remove addresses that hard bounce. Never send to them again.
Gmail and Yahoo now require a one-click unsubscribe button. Without it, your emails may go to spam automatically.Action: Add a List-Unsubscribe header to your emails. Most cold email tools do this automatically — check your settings.
Feedback loops tell you when someone clicks 'Report Spam' on your email so you can stop emailing them.Action: Search for '[provider name] feedback loop signup' and register your sending domain/IP with Yahoo, Microsoft, and Comcast.
Your email tool tracks opens/clicks using a tracking domain. The default shared one is used by thousands of senders and often flagged.Action: In your email tool settings, set up a custom tracking domain like track.yourdomain.com.
Sending a lot of emails from a new account on day one is the biggest spam signal. You need to start small and increase slowly.Action: Use TrulyInbox or a similar warmup tool. Start with 20 emails/day and increase by 10-20% every few days.
Gmail allows ~500/day for free accounts, ~2,000/day for Workspace. Going over gets you temporarily blocked.Action: Check your email provider's daily sending limits and stay below them. Split large campaigns across multiple days.
Sending 1,000 emails at 9:00 AM sharp looks like a robot. Real people send at different times.Action: Use your email tool's scheduling feature to spread sends across several hours (e.g., 9 AM to 5 PM with random intervals).
When people reply to your emails, it tells Gmail/Outlook you're a real person having conversations. 'no-reply@' kills this signal.Action: Always send from a real email address that you monitor. Set up a shared inbox if needed.
Sending to old or invalid email addresses causes bounces, which tanks your reputation fast.Action: Run your list through a verification tool (NeverBounce, ZeroBounce, etc.) before every campaign. Remove any invalid or risky addresses.
If your cold emails hurt your reputation, it can also block your password reset emails and invoices. Keep them separate.Action: Use different domains for different email types. E.g., company.com for transactional, outreach-company.com for cold email.
Words like FREE, URGENT, ACT NOW, and excessive punctuation (!!!) are flagged by spam filters. Keep it natural.Action: Write subject lines like you're emailing a colleague. No ALL CAPS, no exclamation marks, no salesy language.
Some email apps only show plain text. Sending both HTML and plain text versions shows you're a legitimate sender.Action: Most email tools let you add a plain text version. Check your tool's settings — some generate it automatically.
Emails that are mostly images (like a single big banner) are a classic spam trick. Spam filters flag them.Action: Make sure your email has more text than images. Avoid sending image-only emails. Write your message as text with small supporting images.
Spammers use shortened links to hide where they're sending people. Spam filters know this and flag bit.ly links.Action: Always use full URLs to your website. If you need shorter links, set up a custom short domain (e.g., go.yourcompany.com).
Emails that say 'Dear Customer' instead of 'Hi Sarah' look like mass blasts. Personalized emails get better inbox placement.Action: Use merge tags ({{firstName}}, {{company}}) in your email tool. Test by sending yourself a preview first.
Broken HTML code in your emails (missing closing tags, errors) is something spam filters look for.Action: Use your email tool's built-in editor. If writing custom HTML, validate it with an HTML checker before sending.
Emails packed with many links look like phishing or spam. Keep it simple with just the links that matter.Action: Limit to 3-4 links max per email. One main CTA link is ideal for cold emails. Remove unnecessary footer links.
Changing who your emails are 'from' confuses spam filters and recipients. Consistency builds recognition.Action: Pick one From name (e.g., 'Sarah from Acme') and one email address, and use them for all emails in a campaign.
US law (CAN-SPAM Act) requires a physical mailing address in commercial emails. Missing it can get you fined and flagged.Action: Add your company's street address or PO Box to your email footer template.
Warmup keeps your sender reputation healthy while you're also sending real campaigns. Stopping it lets your reputation drop.Action: Keep TrulyInbox warmup running on all accounts, even after you start sending campaigns. Don't pause it.
Before emailing your real contacts, test whether your email lands in inbox or spam using a test tool.Action: Send a test email to mail-tester.com before each campaign. Score above 8/10 means you're good. Below that, fix the issues it flags.
If your deliverability drops, catching it early prevents a snowball effect. A weekly check takes 5 minutes.Action: Set a weekly calendar reminder to check your email tool's deliverability dashboard and Google Postmaster Tools.
If your domain or IP gets blacklisted, you want to know immediately — not weeks later when all your emails are in spam.Action: Set up free monitoring at hetrixtools.com or mxtoolbox.com/monitoring. They'll email you if you get blacklisted.
Gmail and other providers watch these numbers closely. Go over and they start sending your emails to spam.Action: Check your bounce and complaint rates after every campaign. If bounce > 3%, clean your list. If complaints > 0.1%, review your targeting.
Spam scoring tools check your email against the same filters Gmail and Outlook use, before you send to real people.Action: Go to mail-tester.com, send your email to the address shown, and review your score. Fix any issues before launching.
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What is Email Deliverability Checklist?
Email deliverability is the ability of your emails to reach your recipients' inboxes rather than being filtered to spam or blocked entirely. It depends on a combination of factors: domain authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), sender reputation, email infrastructure, content quality, and sending practices. This checklist covers all of them so you can systematically audit and fix your setup.
How to Use This Tool
1
Work Through Each Category
Go through the 6 categories systematically: domain authentication, reputation, infrastructure, sending practices, content, and monitoring. Check off each item as you complete it.
2
Fix What's Missing
Unchecked items are your action items. Use our free SPF, DKIM, and DMARC generators to set up authentication. Follow the hints for guidance on each item.
3
Share With Your Team
Use the Copy as Plain Text or Copy as Markdown buttons to export your checklist with status. Paste into email, Slack, or docs to share with your tech team.
Frequently Asked Questions
Anyone sending cold emails, marketing emails, or transactional emails who wants to maximize inbox placement. It's especially useful for sales teams, agencies, and marketers who need to diagnose why emails are landing in spam.
Not necessarily. The first three categories (authentication, reputation, infrastructure) are foundational — complete those first. Content and sending practice items depend on your use case. Monitoring items are ongoing tasks, not one-time fixes.
Start with Domain Authentication. If SPF, DKIM, and DMARC aren't set up correctly, nothing else matters. Then check Domain & IP Reputation for blacklisting. Finally, review your Email Content for spam triggers.
Yes — that's exactly what it's built for. Click 'Copy as Plain Text' or 'Copy as Markdown' to export the full checklist with your checked/unchecked status. Paste it into an email or Slack message for your team.
Do a full audit when you first set up cold email or when deliverability drops. After that, check the Monitoring & Maintenance section weekly. Re-audit fully every quarter or when you change email providers.
Warmup is item #1 in Sending Practices and Monitoring. Even with perfect authentication and content, new domains need warmup to build sender reputation. TrulyInbox automates this with AI-powered warmup emails.