Last updated on April 16th, 2025 at
Kartik Sharma ✅
Reviewed by Email Marketing Expert
Kartik Pandit, Founder of WPKartik
6+ years of experience helping businesses boost revenue through high-converting email campaigns.
You’re not alone. Even the best email campaigns can end up in the spam folder if you’re not careful.
The fix? Improving email deliverability.
When done right, boosting your email marketing deliverability can increase open rates, click-throughs, and overall engagement. But does fixing your deliverability really make that big of a difference?
In this post, I’ll walk you through the email deliverability best practices that helped me get my emails out of the spam folder and into the inbox — where they belong. You’ll learn what actually works, what doesn’t, and how to apply these simple strategies to your own campaigns.
What is Email Deliverability?
Let’s make this easy. Email deliverability is just making sure your email actually gets to your recipient’s inbox — not stuck in the spam folder or junk box. Simple, right? Well, not always.
Think of it like sending a letter. You write it, seal it up, and send it off. But if it never reaches the mailbox because it got lost somewhere, you’ve got a problem. In email marketing, deliverability ensures your carefully crafted emails reach their destination — your reader’s inbox.
How to Check Your Email Deliverability Rate
So, how do you know if your emails are actually making it to the inbox? Checking your email deliverability rate is the first step to figuring out if your campaigns are being seen — or stuck in spam.
Here’s how you can check:
Use Email Marketing Tools
Most email marketing platforms (like MailerLite, GetResponse, etc.) offer a deliverability report. This shows you the percentage of emails that actually make it to the inbox versus those that get caught in spam.Check Your Bounce Rates
If you’re getting a lot of hard bounces (emails that can’t be delivered at all), your email deliverability could be in trouble. High bounce rates usually mean there’s an issue with your email list or your sending practices.Test Your Emails
There are free tools (like Mail-Tester or IsNotSpam) where you can send your email to check if it’s likely to land in spam. These tools scan your email for spammy content, poor sender reputation, or missing authentication records (like SPF or DKIM).
P.S – A good email delivery rate typically falls between 95% and 98%, with anything below 80% indicating potential issues. (Litmus)
Once you know your email deliverability rate, you can start making improvements to get more of your emails into the inbox, where they can actually drive results.
Email Deliverability vs Email Delivery: What’s the Difference?
Email Delivery
Email delivery simply means that your email has made it to the recipient’s email server. It’s like sending a letter through the mail: you’ve dropped it in the mailbox, and it’s on its way to the right place.
What it means: Your email has reached the server, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it will end up in the inbox.
Email Deliverability
Email deliverability is the next step. It’s about making sure your email actually gets into the inbox, not the spam folder or junk mail. It’s the final check to make sure your email is visible and can be read by the person you’re sending it to.
What it means: Your email has reached the server and is allowed into the inbox. If it gets blocked by spam filters, it’s not considered good email deliverability.
Why it matters: Email deliverability is the real goal. Even if your email is delivered to the server, it has to get past filters to be seen by the recipient.
Email deliverability – Actionable startegies to follow
1. Maintain a Consistent Sending Volume
Sending too many emails all at once — especially if you usually don’t — can make email providers (like Gmail or Outlook) suspicious. It’s one of the signals that could land your email in the spam folder.
What to do:
Try to send emails on a regular schedule. For example, if you send one email per week, keep that pace. Don’t suddenly send 10 emails in one day if that’s not your usual behavior.
Bonus Tip:
If you’re just starting to build your list or switching to a new email platform, start slow and gradually increase how many emails you send. This helps build trust with email providers and improves your email deliverability over time.
2. Keep Your Email Lists Clean
Sending emails to fake, old, or inactive email addresses can hurt your email deliverability. If too many emails bounce or go to people who never open them, email providers may think you’re sending spam.
![8 Email List Cleaning Best Practices for 2025 [+Services]](https://moosend.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/email-list-cleaning-benefits.png)
What to do:
Regularly remove email addresses that bounce or haven’t opened your emails in a long time.
Avoid buying email lists — these are usually full of bad or unengaged contacts.
Use a double opt-in process so only people who truly want your emails are added to your list.
How to Clean Your List:
The good news? You don’t have to go through your entire email list manually (unless you really enjoy that kind of thing).
There are email tools out there that will do the heavy lifting for you. These tools automatically clean your list by removing bad emails, ensuring that only active and valid addresses are left.
Most email marketing platforms, like Mailchimp or Aweber, offer built-in features or integrations with cleaning services. They’ll keep your list in top shape, so you can focus on the fun stuff—creating great content!
Bonus Tip:
Some email tools can automatically filter out inactive subscribers — use them to keep your list healthy and active.
3. Authenticate Your Emails (What It Means & Why It’s Important)
Think of email authentication like a digital ID badge for your emails. It’s how email services (like Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook) know you’re really you — and not a spammer pretending to be you.
Without this ID, your emails look suspicious and are more likely to be blocked or sent straight to spam.
Here are the three most important types of email authentication (don’t worry, we’ll keep it simple):
✅ SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
This tells email providers which servers are allowed to send emails for your domain.
📦 Think of it like a list of trusted delivery drivers. If the sender isn’t on the list, the email might get rejected.
✅ DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
This adds a digital signature to your emails to prove they weren’t changed or faked in transit.
✉️ It’s like sealing an envelope with a wax stamp — the receiver knows it hasn’t been tampered with.
✅ DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance)
This works with SPF and DKIM to tell email providers what to do if something looks suspicious — like reject it, quarantine it (send to spam), or just report it.
📋 It also sends you reports so you can monitor your email performance and catch issues early.
Why Should You Care?
✅ Without these, your emails could be seen as spam — even if you’re doing everything else right.
✅ With them, you build trust with inbox providers — and that helps improve your email deliverability.
What You Should Do Next
Ask your email marketing platform for help — most have easy tutorials to set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
Or, talk to your domain provider (like GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.) to help you add these records.
After setting them up, use Mail-Tester.com to check if everything is working properly.
4. Monitor Your Sender Reputation
Your sender reputation tells email providers if you’re a trustworthy sender. If your reputation is low, your emails are more likely to land in the spam folder — or not be delivered at all.
What to do:
Check your sender reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools or Sender Score.
Keep your email list clean and only send to people who open and engage with your emails.
Avoid high bounce rates, spam complaints, or sending too many emails too quickly — all of these can damage your reputation.
Bonus Tip:
Warm up your email domain if it’s new or if you haven’t been sending regularly. Start with small email batches and slowly increase over time to build trust with inbox providers.
5. Avoid Spam Traps
Spam traps are email addresses set up to catch people who are sending spam — even by accident. If you hit a spam trap, your sender reputation can drop fast, and your emails may start going straight to spam.
What is a spam trap?
It’s a fake or inactive email address that shouldn’t be getting emails. Email providers and anti-spam services use them to catch bad email practices.
There are two common types:
Recycled traps – old, unused emails that once were real but are now monitored as traps.
Pristine traps – never real email addresses, hidden on websites to catch people who scrape or buy email lists.
What to do:
Never buy email lists. They’re often full of spam traps.
Use double opt-in so only real, interested people join your list.
Clean your list regularly to remove old, inactive addresses that could turn into traps.
Only email people who have given permission and are actually engaging with your content.
Bonus Tip:
Use an email verification tool (like NeverBounce, ZeroBounce, or MailerCheck) to check your list before sending. It can help spot risky emails and reduce your chances of hitting a trap.
6. Use a Dedicated IP Address
When you send emails, they go out through an IP address — kind of like a digital return address. If you’re using a shared IP, you’re sharing that address with other senders. And if those senders do shady stuff (like spamming), your emails can suffer, even if you’re doing everything right.
A dedicated IP means you’re the only one sending from that address, giving you full control over your sender reputation.
What to do:
If you’re sending a high volume of emails (usually over 100,000/month), ask your email service provider about getting a dedicated IP.
Warm it up slowly — start by sending smaller batches of emails and gradually increase. This helps build trust with inbox providers like Gmail and Outlook.
Keep your sending habits consistent and clean to maintain a strong reputation.
Bonus Tip:
Not all businesses need a dedicated IP. If your email volume is low, a reputable shared IP (from platforms like ConvertKit, Brevo, or Mailchimp) can still perform well — just make sure the provider maintains good standards.
7. Optimize Email Content
Even if your email gets delivered, poor content can trigger spam filters or turn off your readers. Spammy words, bad formatting, or too many images can hurt your email deliverability — and lower your open and click rates too.
Remember: inbox providers look at your content to decide whether your email is helpful… or spam.
What to do:
Avoid spammy words like “Buy now,” “Free!!!” or “Act fast!” — especially in subject lines.
Balance text and images. Don’t send emails that are just one big image. Use real, readable text too.
Use a clear layout with headings, bullet points, and short paragraphs to make it easy to read.
Always include a plain-text version of your email (most platforms do this automatically).
Don’t forget the unsubscribe link. It’s required and builds trust with inbox providers.
Bonus Tip:
Use a tool like Mail-Tester.com to check your email content before sending. It gives you a score and points out things that might hurt deliverability.
8. Monitor Blacklists
Blacklists are like “bad reputation” lists for email senders. If your email address or domain gets added to one of these lists, your emails might be blocked or sent to spam — even if you’re sending high-quality content. It’s crucial to know if you’re on one, so you can fix it right away.
What to do:
Regularly check if your domain or IP address is on any blacklists. You can use tools like MXToolbox to do this quickly.
If you are listed, contact the blacklist provider and follow their steps to remove your domain. Often, this requires showing that you’ve fixed any issues (like spam complaints or bounced emails).
Act fast! The longer your domain or IP stays on a blacklist, the worse your email deliverability will be.
Bonus Tip:
To avoid getting blacklisted in the first place, follow best practices for email list hygiene, authentication, and content optimization. Prevention is always easier than dealing with the aftermath.
9. Implement Abuse Reporting Mailboxes
Abuse reporting mailboxes (like abuse@yourdomain.com) help inbox providers track whether users mark your emails as spam. If you don’t have one, it’s harder to keep track of complaints, and email providers might think you’re ignoring issues, which can hurt your email deliverability.
What to do:
Set up an abuse@yourdomain.com (or similar) email address where recipients can report issues with your emails.
Monitor this inbox regularly to respond to complaints and fix any problems quickly.
Include an easy way for subscribers to unsubscribe from your emails if they no longer wish to receive them — this reduces the chance of them marking you as spam.
Bonus Tip:
Make sure to respond to complaints promptly. If a recipient marks you as spam, some email services will send feedback to help you improve and prevent future issues.
10. Encrypt Your Emails
Why it matters:
Email encryption helps protect the contents of your email from being intercepted or altered by anyone other than the intended recipient. It shows inbox providers that you care about security and trustworthiness, which can improve your email deliverability.
Emails that aren’t encrypted may be flagged as unsafe by inbox providers, causing your emails to end up in the spam folder.
What to do:
Use TLS (Transport Layer Security) for email encryption. Most modern email marketing platforms have this enabled by default.
When possible, opt for end-to-end encryption to ensure that only the recipient can read your email content.
If you’re sending sensitive or private information, always ensure it’s securely encrypted before sending.
Bonus Tip:
Some email services may mark emails without encryption as suspicious or unsafe, so always check with your email provider to confirm that TLS is active.
11. Personalize Your Emails
Why it matters:
Personalized emails are much more likely to be opened and engaged with. They help your emails stand out in crowded inboxes, make your readers feel valued, and reduce the chances of being marked as spam. When emails are personalized, they’re seen as more relevant — and inbox providers reward that with better email deliverability.
What to do:
Use the recipient’s name in the subject line or opening sentence. It makes the email feel more tailored to them.
Segment your email list based on interests, demographics, or behavior. This lets you send more relevant content to different groups.
Send personalized offers or recommendations based on past interactions or purchases. This increases the likelihood that your emails will be opened and engaged with.
Avoid generic, one-size-fits-all messages. The more you can tailor your content to each recipient, the better.
For mastering Email Personlization Read this (Email Personalization: How I Increased My Email Conversions by 45% with Personalization)
Bonus Tip:
Many email marketing platforms (like Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, or ConvertKit) offer easy-to-use personalization features, like inserting the recipient’s name, location, or past purchase details.
12. Test Your Emails Before Sending
Why it matters:
Testing your emails before sending them helps catch issues that could hurt email deliverability. This includes things like broken links, formatting problems, or even words that might trigger spam filters. By testing first, you can ensure your emails look great and are more likely to reach the inbox.
What to do:
Send test emails to yourself or to a small group before blasting it out to your full list. This helps you spot any errors or issues with formatting.
Check across different devices and email clients (like Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail) to make sure your email looks good everywhere.
Use spam testing tools like Mail-Tester to see if your email is likely to be flagged as spam.
Verify all links and images. Broken links or missing images can make your email look unprofessional and may hurt your credibility with inbox providers.
Bonus Tip:
If you’re using an email marketing platform, many of them offer features to check for spam triggers and give you a score. Use these features to identify potential issues before hitting send.
Conclusion: Boosting Your Email Deliverability for Success
Improving your email deliverability is key to making sure your emails actually reach your audience. By following these 12 email deliverability best practices, like cleaning your list, personalizing your emails, and testing before sending, you can avoid the spam folder and get better results.
A little effort goes a long way in boosting engagement, increasing open rates, and building stronger connections with your readers. So, start applying these tips today and watch your email marketing thrive!
