Email deliverability basics
What decides whether your issue reaches the inbox, in plain language, and the few settings to check.
Deliverability is whether your email reaches the inbox, the promotions tab or spam. Most of it comes down to whether mailbox providers trust you, and whether readers want your email.
Authentication
Your sending domain should have three records set up: SPF, DKIM and DMARC. They prove the email really comes from you. If your platform sends from its own domain, it handles these; if you use your own domain, follow its setup guide once and confirm the records are valid.
Engagement
Mailbox providers watch how readers respond. Opens, replies and moving your email out of spam all help. Ignoring and deleting without reading hurt.
- Ask new readers to reply to your welcome email.
- Send on a consistent schedule so readers expect you.
- Remove readers who have not opened anything for a long time, after one re-engagement email.
Content
- Avoid link shorteners from public services; they are often associated with spam.
- Keep a sensible balance of text and images.
- Make the unsubscribe link easy to find. Hiding it leads to spam complaints instead.
When something goes wrong
If opens drop sharply in one week, send a test to accounts at several providers and see where it lands. Check that your authentication records are still valid, and look at what changed in that issue.
