Think of your email reputation like your credit score—but for your inbox. Just like lenders use your credit score to decide if you’re trustworthy with a loan, email providers like Gmail and Yahoo use your sender reputation to decide whether your emails should land in someone’s inbox or get flagged as spam.
If you’ve built up a strong history of sending relevant, wanted messages to engaged recipients, your “email credit” looks good. But if you send to bad addresses, get lots of bounces, or rack up too many spam complaints, your score tanks—and your emails might never make it past the spam filter.
Here’s how to build trust with inboxes and make sure your emails reach the audience you’re targeting, instead of ending up in a spam folder.
What is email reputation?
Email reputation—or your sender reputation—is a score email services like Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook assign to you based on how trustworthy and reliable your emails appear to be. For instance, Gmail does so by tracking delivery errors or spam reports, among other metrics.
This score helps determine whether your emails land in someone’s inbox or get flagged as spam. It’s influenced by factors like how often your emails bounce, how many people mark them as spam, and how consistently you send messages.
Each provider has its own method or algorithm to calculate your score from 0 to 100—and the higher that number goes, the more sterling your email reputation is. Generally, a score of 0 to 70 is poor and you have a high likelihood of ending up in spam, 71 to 80 is fair, and higher than 80 is good. The higher the score, the more likely you’ll have a higher email deliverability rate, meaning your mail goes to the right place in front of the right eyes. You can check your score by visiting a website like Sender Score, where you can see where your score lands from 0 to 100.
What affects email reputation?
- Domain reputation
- IP reputation
- Email blacklist
- Engagement
- List quality
- Complaint rate
- Bounce rates
- Email volume
Your email reputation results from many factors coming together to paint a picture for your email provider. Here are the most common ones:
Domain reputation
Domain reputation refers to the credibility of your sending domain (like yourstore.com), tracked over time by email services. All email domains go through an authentication check. Failing that check indicates to email service providers that it could be spam or a phishing attempt. Usually, the longer your domain exists without getting flagged for spam, the better your domain and email reputation.
IP reputation
IP reputation refers to how trustworthy your sending IP address is in the eyes of email providers. It’s based on the email activity coming from that IP—things like spam complaints, bounce rates, and sending volume. If you’re using a shared IP address—common with many email marketing services—your reputation can be affected by others using the same IP. If they send spammy content, your deliverability could take a hit, too.
This is different from domain reputation, which ties to your actual domain name (like yourbrand.com). Even if your IP address changes, your domain reputation can still follow you, so it’s crucial to maintain good email practices across both.
Email blacklist
Landing on an email blacklist means your emails are essentially going into a digital black hole. It’s even in the technical name: Domain Name System-based Blackhole List (DNSBL). It’s a list that email providers regularly update with IP addresses and domain names flagged for spam or bad content. Getting on a blacklist can be difficult to get out of and practically shuts the door to reaching out to more recipients.
Engagement
The metrics you typically track when looking at the performance of your email campaigns, like click-through rates and open rates, also play a role in your email reputation. If your email recipients are regularly opening your emails and acting on the information inside, it means the information you’ve delivered is valuable, giving your email reputation credibility.
If you have high unsubscribe rates, people aren’t opening your emails, or they’re simply deleting them without opening, your email service might flag your content as spammy.
List quality
Think of your email list like the guest list for an exclusive event—only the right people should be on it. If your list is full of invalid addresses (due to typos, fake signups, or inactive users who never open your emails), it hurts your sender reputation and deliverability. A high-quality list means your subscribers actually want to hear from you; they’ve opted in, they’re engaged, and they’re more likely to open, click, and interact with your messages.
Complaint rate
This one’s simple: it’s the number of times people mark your emails as spam. Unlike just ignoring or unsubscribing, marking something as spam is a stronger signal that the email was unwanted. Email providers treat this as a red flag and may start sending your future messages straight to the spam folder. Too many spam complaints can seriously damage your sender reputation.
Bounce rates
Bounce rate measures how frequently your emails don’t reach their intended recipients. There are two types of bounces to watch for: hard and soft.
Hard bounces happen when an email doesn’t deliver because the address is invalid or doesn’t exist—this might be due to a typo or a fake email. Soft bounces, on the other hand, occur due to temporary issues like a full inbox, slow email servers, or the recipient’s email being momentarily unavailable. While soft bounces may resolve on their own, a high number of hard bounces signals poor list quality and can quickly hurt your sender reputation. As a general rule, a bounce rate higher than 2% is a red flag for email providers.
Email volume
Let’s say you send out a monthly newsletter, but then decide to send 5,000 emails in one day. That kind of inconsistency can set off alarms on the email service provider’s side as spam.
How to improve email reputation
- Authenticate your email address
- Send quality content
- Use a double opt-in email sign-up
- Make unsubscribing easy
- Test your emails
- Be consistent
- Practice email list hygiene
- Avoid spam triggers
With strategic planning and the help of email tools, you can improve your email reputation and get your campaigns in front of the right audience. Here are concrete steps you can take to ensure your emails meet the bar:
1. Authenticate your email address
Authenticating your email address is crucial for landing in the right inboxes, and it’s also often necessary to follow anti-spam laws. It shows that the content you’re sending through an email marketing service is credible and trustworthy. There are three main authentication methods:
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SPF (Sender Policy Framework). This compares emails against a list of IP addresses that are allowed to send emails through your domain name.
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DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail). This validates email content with encryption keys and digital signatures.
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DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance). This builds on SPF and DKIM and follows rules set by the domain owner, like sending an email to spam if it fails an earlier authentication check in the process.
One of the easiest ways to authenticate your email address is to use authentication tools within email marketing platforms, like Shopify Email or Mailchimp. They usually have simple steps within their dashboards to make this process as clear as possible. If you use Shopify, you can find those steps in the Help Center.
2. Send quality content
As with any marketing effort, you want people to actually engage with your content. That includes email. It’s important to take time to consider your email strategy and understand the purpose of each email and what your subscribers get out of it.
Does the welcome series include a bundled deal they can’t pass up? Does a gentle reminder about the awesome product they forgot in their cart nudge them to buy it? Dialing in the “why” behind your email campaigns can improve your engagement and maintain your reputation. Many email marketing services also have pre-made templates you can use to design your emails.
3. Use a double opt-in email sign-up
If you want to be sure someone genuinely wants to subscribe, you can set up a double opt-in process where someone gets an email asking them to confirm their email subscription. This ensures recipients provide you with very explicit consent to receive emails, and it also serves as a way to double-check they’re interested in what you’re offering. All of this can help improve your deliverability score.
4. Make unsubscribing easy
Ensure your emails have a clear unsubscribe link with a crystal clear call to action, like “Unsubscribe.” It’s better for people to unsubscribe than it is for them to continually mark your emails as spam. In the US, the law requires you to honor someone’s unsubscribe request within 10 business days.
5. Test your emails
Broken images, inactive links, or a clunky user flow can all lower your email quality. Sending test emails to yourself can help you see what’s working or what needs fixing. It’s also key to check on mobile to ensure no words or images are cut off. You can test emails manually, but many email marketing platforms have tools to test them as well.
6. Be consistent
Stick to a regular schedule when you send emails. Whether it’s once a week or once a month, consistency builds trust with both your recipients and email providers. The one exception to this rule is holidays.
Jacob Sappington, director of email strategy at ecommerce-focused growth agency Homestead Studio, says on a Shopify Masters podcast episode that it’s important to strategically increase frequency during those high-purchase times.
Frequency can actually help you stand out during holidays, like a Black Friday campaign Jacob worked on. “We’re recommending that all of our brands send three emails on Black Friday, multiple emails on Cyber Monday, and multiple texts on Cyber Monday as well,” Jacob says.
7. Practice email list hygiene
Regularly check your email list to delete disengaged subscribers, invalid email addresses, and those who have unsubscribed. One key to building a great email list is to do it organically, whether that’s through your social media content or a pop-up on your website to make sure real people are signing up.
One of Jacob’s tips for building your email list includes adding incentives to pop-ups on your website, like a discount rather than just asking them to sign up. “It’s just something as simple as saying, ‘Do you want 10% off?’” Jacob says. “Or, ‘What are you shopping for today?’ And then having some options for different categories or collections that you have.”
Keep in mind, buying lists or renting them can come with fake addresses and lower your score.
8. Avoid spam triggers
If it sounds a bit too sensational or you’re yelling at people in all caps, it’s probably getting flagged for spam. Words like “free” or “urgent” often get flagged for sounding like clickbait, so look over your subject line copy to make sure it’s not over-promising or too sales-y. Otherwise, it might end up in the junk folder.
Email reputation FAQ
How do I check email reputation?
One way to check your email reputation is to review your email metrics within any email platform dashboard. They usually tell you key metrics like bounce, open, or spam rate. The better your metrics, the higher your score. You can also check your score by visiting a website like Sender Score, where you can see where your score lands from 0 to 100.
How do I fix my email reputation?
One of the main things you should do is authenticate your email, meaning email providers recognize it as a legitimate domain. Platforms like Shopify Email can help you navigate the correct steps to authenticate. You can also improve the quality of your emails to make them relevant to your recipients, make sure your email list has engaged subscribers, and stick to a consistent email schedule.
What is a good email reputation score?
A solid sender reputation usually falls between 80 and 100. If your score drops below 70, it’s a sign that something’s wrong. Scores below 50 may mean your messages are being blocked or flagged as spam.
