Sender reputation is the score inbox providers quietly keep on everyone who sends to their users. It's the main thing deciding whether your campaign reaches the inbox, the Promotions tab, or spam - more than your subject line or your design.
What reputation is attached to
- Your domain - the part after the @ in your From address. This is the reputation that matters most, and the one you control when you send from your own domain.
- The sending servers - the infrastructure that delivers your mail. We look after this side, and it's shared across everyone sending through us, which is why we act on abuse quickly.
Sending from a SeekaHost address or a Gmail, Outlook or Hotmail address means your campaigns ride on someone else's domain reputation. Sending from your own verified domain means you build your own.
What builds a good reputation
- Authentication - a verified domain with DKIM, plus SPF and DMARC records. This is what lets providers know the mail really is from you.
- Engagement - people opening, clicking, replying and moving your mail out of spam.
- A clean list - addresses people gave you themselves, confirmed where possible, with inactive and bouncing subscribers removed.
- Consistency - sending on a regular rhythm, at volumes that grow gradually rather than in sudden spikes.
What damages it
- Spam complaints - Gmail and Yahoo expect complaint rates well under 0.3%, and the lower the better.
- Bounces from sending to addresses that don't exist, usually a sign of an old or bought list.
- Sending to people who never asked for your mail, including purchased or scraped lists.
- Large sudden jumps in volume from a domain that has rarely sent before.
- Failing authentication - including sending as a free mailbox address, which can never pass DMARC.
Checking your reputation
Once you send from your own domain, the big providers will show you how they see it. Google Postmaster Tools reports your domain's reputation, spam rate and authentication results for mail sent to Gmail users. Microsoft offers similar data for Outlook and Hotmail through its Smart Network Data Services. Both are free and need you to prove you own the domain - another reason to send from one.