Email Reputation Check: A Practical Guide

You’ve spent hours crafting the perfect email campaign. The copy is compelling, the offer is irresistible, and your list is ready. You hit send, but the results are disappointing—low opens, few clicks, and almost no replies. It often feels like your emails are hitting an invisible wall. That wall is the spam filter, and it’s built brick-by-brick by your email reputation. This reputation is simply a measure of how trustworthy mailbox providers believe you are. If they don't trust you, your emails never get a chance. To start breaking down that wall, you need to conduct an email reputation check to see where you stand and identify the cracks in your foundation.

Key Takeaways

Prioritize a Clean Foundation: Your sender reputation starts with a healthy email list and correct technical authentication. Always send to opted-in subscribers, regularly remove inactive contacts, and ensure your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are properly set up.
Engagement is Your Reputation's Currency: Internet Service Providers care most about how people interact with your emails. High open and click rates build trust, while spam complaints tear it down. Send valuable, relevant content to keep your audience engaged and your reputation strong.
Stay Proactive with Monitoring: Your reputation can change with every campaign, so you can't afford to ignore it. Regularly check tools like Google Postmaster Tools and SenderScore to catch deliverability issues early, before they can do real damage to your outreach.

What is Email Reputation? (And Why It's a Big Deal)

Think of your email reputation as a credit score for your sending domain and IP address. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo act as the credit bureaus. They watch how you send emails and how recipients interact with them, then assign you a score. This score, your sender reputation, tells them whether you’re a trustworthy sender or a potential spammer.

If you have a high score, ISPs roll out the welcome mat, guiding your emails straight to the inbox. But if your score is low, they become the bouncers at the club, sending your messages to the spam folder or blocking them entirely. For any business that relies on email to connect with customers—especially for high-volume outreach—understanding and maintaining this reputation isn't just a technical detail; it's fundamental to your success. A great email is useless if it never gets seen.

What makes up your sender reputation

Your sender reputation isn't based on a single factor. Instead, it’s a complex assessment of your sending habits. According to email experts at Litmus, "Your email sender reputation is a score or measure that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) assign to an organization sending emails." This score is shaped by several key elements.

ISPs look at the quality of your email list, your recipient engagement rates, and how many people mark your emails as spam. They also track technical details like whether your domain is properly authenticated, your sending volume and consistency, and the age of your domain and IP address. Essentially, they’re asking: Are you sending relevant content to people who want it, or are you blasting out messages to anyone and everyone?

How reputation impacts your deliverability

The connection between your reputation and your deliverability is direct and powerful. ISPs use your reputation as a primary filter to decide where your emails go. As the team at Constant Contact puts it, "ISPs use email reputation checks to decide if your emails land in spam folders or inboxes." A strong reputation is your ticket to the inbox, ensuring your messages reach their intended audience.

On the flip side, a poor reputation can cripple your outreach. Your emails will be flagged, filtered into spam, or blocked before they even have a chance to be read. This is especially critical for cold email initiatives, where you're building trust from scratch. Without a solid reputation, your efforts to reach new leads and grow your business will be stopped in their tracks.

The real cost of a poor email reputation

A damaged email reputation isn't just an inconvenience; it has tangible costs that can affect your bottom line. When your deliverability drops, every email you send has a lower chance of being seen. That means fewer leads, fewer conversions, and a lower return on your marketing investment. You spend time and money crafting the perfect campaign, only for it to disappear into the spam folder abyss.

Continuing to send emails that get low engagement or high complaints will only dig you deeper into a hole. A poor reputation can tarnish your brand's credibility, making it harder to connect with your audience even after you've tried to fix the issues. It’s a cycle that can be difficult to break, which is why proactively managing your reputation is so important.

Common myths about email reputation

Navigating email reputation can be tricky, partly because of some persistent myths. One of the biggest is that marketers and subscribers define "spam" in the same way. For a subscriber, spam can simply be an email they don't find relevant at that moment, even if they opted in. This can lead them to hit the spam button, which directly harms your reputation.

Another common myth is that unsubscribes are the worst thing that can happen. In reality, an unsubscribe is helpful feedback. It’s a clear signal that someone isn't interested, allowing you to clean your list and focus on an engaged audience. A spam complaint is far more damaging. Understanding these common email deliverability myths is the first step toward building a healthier, more effective email strategy.

How to Check Your Email Reputation

Your email reputation isn't a single score floating around in cyberspace. It’s a complex health report built from several different factors that mailbox providers like Google and Microsoft use to decide if your emails are trustworthy. Think of it like a credit score for your email program. A good score gets you into the inbox, while a bad one sends you straight to the spam folder, or worse, gets your emails blocked entirely.

Understanding what goes into this score is the first step to managing it. Your reputation is tied to your sending domain, your IP address, the content you send, and the technical signals you have in place. By looking at each of these pieces, you can get a clear picture of how mailbox providers see you and identify exactly where you need to make improvements. Let’s break down the key areas to investigate.

Factors tied to your domain

Your sending domain (the part of your email address after the "@") has its own reputation. Every email you send contributes to its history. If you consistently send valuable content that people engage with, your domain builds a positive reputation. On the other hand, if your emails generate spam complaints or get sent to invalid addresses, your domain’s reputation will suffer.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) use this history to predict future behavior. They keep track of domains that are known for sending spam by maintaining an email blacklist. If your domain ends up on one of these lists, your deliverability will plummet. This is also why a brand-new domain needs to be "warmed up" with low-volume, high-engagement campaigns. Without any sending history, ISPs are naturally suspicious.

Factors tied to your IP address

Just like your domain, the IP address you send emails from has a reputation score. An IP address is the unique numerical label assigned to each device on a computer network. When you send an email, it originates from an IP address, and services like Cisco Talos track the sending behavior associated with them.

If you’re using a standard email marketing service, you’re likely on a shared IP with other senders. The downside? If one of them is a spammer, their bad behavior can hurt your reputation. This is where a dedicated IP address, a core part of a dedicated email infrastructure, gives you complete control. Your sending reputation is entirely your own, built by your practices alone.

The role of content and engagement

What you send and how your audience reacts to it are massive factors in your reputation. Mailbox providers pay close attention to user engagement signals. Positive signals include opens, clicks, replies, and moving an email from spam to the inbox. These actions tell providers that your recipients want to receive your emails.

Negative signals, like high bounce rates, spam complaints, and low open rates, do the opposite. If you continue sending emails to people who never open them, you’re signaling to ISPs that your content isn't relevant. Continuing to send emails without engagement will directly affect your sender reputation and your ability to reach the people who actually want to hear from you.

Why authentication matters (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

Email authentication protocols are your way of proving to mailbox providers that you are who you say you are. Think of them as a digital signature that verifies your identity and prevents others from sending emails on your behalf. The three main protocols are SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) specifies which IP addresses are authorized to send emails for your domain.
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a digital signature to your emails, which receiving servers can verify.
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) tells servers what to do with emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks.

Properly setting up these records is non-negotiable for good deliverability. A strong DMARC policy in particular shows ISPs that you take email security seriously, making them much more likely to trust your messages.

Using feedback loops and monitoring systems

You don’t have to guess what your email reputation is. You can actively monitor it using a variety of tools and systems. Many major mailbox providers offer feedback loops (FBLs), which send you reports when a subscriber marks your email as spam. This gives you a direct line of sight into spam complaints so you can immediately remove those users from your list.

Beyond FBLs, you should use reputation monitoring tools. Services like Google Postmaster Tools, SenderScore, and Microsoft SNDS provide valuable data on your domain and IP reputation, spam rates, and delivery errors. By regularly monitoring your email sending reputation, you can catch potential issues before they escalate into major deliverability problems, keeping your email program healthy and effective.

What to Look for in an Email Reputation Tool

Choosing the right tool to monitor your email reputation can feel overwhelming, but it really boils down to a few key features. A great tool doesn't just give you a score; it gives you actionable insights to protect and improve your deliverability. When you're comparing options, look for a platform that offers a comprehensive suite of features that work together. The goal is to find a solution that works proactively, alerting you to potential issues before they derail your campaigns and damage your sender reputation. Here are the essential features you should have on your checklist.

Email validation

Before you hit send on any campaign, you need to know your email list is clean. An email validation feature is your first line of defense against high bounce rates, which can quickly tarnish your reputation. This function scans your list to remove invalid addresses, typos, and temporary accounts, ensuring your messages are only sent to active, legitimate inboxes. Sending to a validated list signals to internet service providers (ISPs) that you're a responsible sender, which is a cornerstone of a healthy reputation. Think of it as basic hygiene for your email marketing efforts—it’s a simple step that prevents a lot of future headaches.

Risk score assessment

Some email addresses, while technically valid, can still be harmful to your sender reputation. A risk score assessment helps you identify these potential threats before you ever send them an email. The tool analyzes an address and assigns a score based on its history, flagging accounts that are suspicious, associated with spam traps, or known complainers. By checking an email’s risk score before adding it to your list, you can avoid sending to addresses that are likely to damage your credibility with ISPs. This proactive approach is crucial for maintaining a high-quality subscriber base and protecting your domain from long-term harm.

Blacklist monitoring

Landing on a blacklist is one of the fastest ways to kill your deliverability. Blacklist monitoring is a non-negotiable feature that constantly checks if your domain or IP address has been flagged by major spam-fighting databases. If you do get listed, a good tool will tell you which blacklist you're on and, in many cases, provide information on how to request removal. Since even a single blacklisting can prevent your emails from reaching the inbox, continuous blacklist monitoring is essential for any serious sender. It allows you to act quickly to resolve the issue and restore your sending capabilities with minimal disruption.

Automated alerts

You can't be expected to watch your sender score 24/7. That’s where automated alerts come in. A top-tier reputation tool will notify you immediately when it detects a problem, whether it's a sudden spike in bounce rates, a new blacklisting, or a dip in your reputation score. These alerts can be sent via email or Slack, ensuring you and your team can address deliverability issues in real time. This feature turns your monitoring from a reactive task into a proactive strategy, giving you the power to fix problems before they cause significant damage to your campaigns and your bottom line.

Simple integrations

Your email reputation tool shouldn't operate in a silo. To be truly effective, it needs to integrate smoothly with the other platforms in your marketing stack, like your CRM or email service provider. Simple integrations allow you to automate tasks like list cleaning or pre-send risk assessments directly within your existing workflow. This not only saves you time but also ensures that reputation management is a consistent part of your process. When your tools work together seamlessly, you can maintain a healthier sender reputation with far less manual effort and keep your focus on crafting great campaigns.

Clear reporting

Data is only useful if you can understand it. Look for a tool that provides clear, intuitive reports on your email reputation. You should be able to easily see your reputation scores for different domains and IP addresses, track trends over time, and pinpoint exactly what's impacting your deliverability. Good reporting helps you understand the "why" behind your metrics, whether you're seeing success from a list-cleaning effort or need to investigate a sudden drop in engagement. These actionable insights are what empower you to make smarter decisions and continuously improve your email strategy.

The Best Tools to Check Your Email Reputation

Once you understand the factors that shape your email reputation, the next step is to measure it. You can’t improve what you don’t track, right? Luckily, there are several excellent tools out there designed to give you a clear picture of how mailbox providers see your domain and IP address. Using a mix of these tools will give you a well-rounded view of your sender health. Some focus on specific mailbox providers, like Google and Microsoft, while others give you a broader industry score. Think of it as getting a second (and third, and fourth) opinion on your sending practices. Let's walk through some of the best options available so you can start monitoring your reputation and making data-driven decisions to improve your outreach.

ScaledMail

While the tools below are fantastic for monitoring your reputation, building a strong one starts with your sending infrastructure. That’s where ScaledMail comes in. We provide you with a dedicated, custom-built system designed for high-volume outreach. Think of it as building your house on a solid foundation instead of shaky ground. When you send from a clean, dedicated infrastructure, you have full control over your sending practices and can prevent the "bad neighbor" effect that often comes with shared sending services. This proactive approach makes managing your reputation much simpler. You can get started with an infrastructure that sets you up for success from day one.

SenderScore

Think of Sender Score as a credit score for your email sending IP address. Operated by Validity, this tool provides a score from 0 to 100 that reflects your sender reputation. A higher score means your reputation is better, and mailbox providers are more likely to trust your emails. You can look up your IP address for free and get a report that shows how you stack up. It’s a quick and easy way to get a snapshot of your IP’s health and is often one of the first places marketers look when diagnosing deliverability issues. The Sender Score Reputation Network is a valuable resource for any serious sender.

Google Postmaster Tools

If you send emails to anyone with a Gmail address (and who doesn't?), Google Postmaster Tools is non-negotiable. This free service from Google gives you direct insight into how the world's largest email provider views your domain. After verifying your domain, you can access dashboards that track data on your IP and domain reputation, spam rate, delivery errors, and authentication status. This is invaluable information straight from the source. It helps you spot potential problems, like a sudden spike in user-reported spam, so you can address them before they cause serious damage to your email deliverability.

Talos Intelligence

Run by Cisco, Talos Intelligence is a powerhouse for threat intelligence, and its reputation data is top-notch. You can use their Email Reputation Center to look up the reputation of your domain or IP address. The tool will classify your reputation as Good, Neutral, or Poor, giving you a clear indicator of how your emails are perceived from a security standpoint. Because Cisco’s security network is so vast, its data reflects how you’re viewed across a wide swath of the internet. It’s a great tool for understanding if your sending practices are triggering any security red flags that could get your messages blocked.

Microsoft SNDS

Similar to Google Postmaster Tools, Microsoft’s Smart Network Data Services (SNDS) gives you a look behind the curtain at how Microsoft services like Outlook.com and Hotmail see your IP address. After you request access, SNDS provides data on things like your IP’s reputation, the volume of mail sent, and complaint rates from their users. Since a huge number of people rely on Microsoft for their email, keeping an eye on your SNDS data is crucial for ensuring your messages reach those inboxes. It’s an essential tool for any B2B or B2C sender who wants to maintain a good email reputation.

MxToolbox

MxToolbox is like a Swiss Army knife for email diagnostics. While it offers a wide range of services, its blacklist check is one of the most popular. You can enter your domain or IP to see if you’ve been listed on over 100 common email blacklists. Being on even one of these lists can seriously harm your deliverability. Beyond blacklist monitoring, MxToolbox provides tools to check your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, making it a comprehensive resource for troubleshooting all sorts of email delivery problems. It’s a must-have in any email marketer’s toolkit for maintaining a good reputation.

Barracuda

Barracuda is a major player in the email security space, so its opinion of your domain and IP matters. Their threat intelligence network, BarracudaCentral, offers a free lookup tool that lets you check your reputation against their system. If you’re listed as a poor sender by Barracuda, there’s a good chance your emails are being blocked by any organization that uses their security products. This is especially important for B2B senders whose recipients are often behind corporate firewalls. Checking your status here can help you identify and resolve issues that might be getting your emails filtered before they ever reach the inbox.

GlockApps

GlockApps is a comprehensive email deliverability suite that helps you see the full picture. It doesn't just tell you your reputation score; it shows you the results of that reputation by testing where your emails actually land across major mailbox providers. You can see if your messages are hitting the inbox, the spam folder, or getting blocked entirely. It also provides diagnostic information on your authentication, IP blacklists, and content. This tool is perfect for understanding how all the different elements of your sending practices come together to impact your final inbox placement rate, giving you actionable steps for improvement.

Common Mistakes That Hurt Your Email Reputation

Building a strong email reputation is a lot like building trust in any relationship—it takes time, consistency, and avoiding a few key missteps. Even with the best intentions, it’s easy to make mistakes that can damage your sender score and land your messages in the spam folder. The good news is that these errors are completely avoidable once you know what to look for. Let’s walk through the most common mistakes so you can steer clear of them and keep your deliverability high.

Sending too much, too soon

Jumping into a new email platform and immediately blasting your entire list is one of the fastest ways to get flagged. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are wary of new domains or IP addresses that suddenly send a massive volume of emails because this is classic spammer behavior. Sending too many emails too quickly looks suspicious and can get your IP address blacklisted before you even get started.

The solution is to properly warm up your email account. Start by sending a small number of emails to your most engaged recipients. Over several weeks, you can gradually increase your sending volume. This slow and steady approach shows ISPs that you’re a legitimate sender, building their trust and protecting your long-term reputation.

Keeping a messy email list

Your email list is a living thing; it needs regular care and attention. Sending campaigns to a list full of old, inactive, or invalid email addresses is a major red flag for ISPs. It leads to high bounce rates and increases your chances of hitting a spam trap—an email address used by providers to identify spammers. A messy list signals that you aren't paying attention to who you're contacting or how you're collecting addresses.

To avoid this, practice good email list hygiene. Regularly clean your list to remove unengaged subscribers and use an email verification tool to weed out invalid addresses before you hit send. This ensures you’re only sending to people who want to hear from you, which keeps your engagement rates high and your reputation intact.

Ignoring high bounce rates

A bounce happens when an email can't be delivered. While a few are normal, a consistently high bounce rate is a clear sign to ISPs that something is wrong. If many of your emails don't get delivered, it directly hurts your sender reputation. ISPs see this as evidence that you’re using a low-quality or outdated list, which is a common trait of spammers.

Pay close attention to your campaign reports. You should aim to keep your bounce rate below 2%. If you see it creeping up, it’s time to investigate. Immediately remove any hard bounces (which are permanent delivery failures, like an invalid address) from your list. Proactively managing your bounces shows ISPs that you’re a responsible sender.

Using spam-triggering content

The words and formatting you use in your emails matter. Certain phrases, like "make money fast" or "100% free," can instantly set off spam filters. The same goes for using excessive exclamation points, writing in all caps, or including attachments that could be perceived as harmful. Even the links you include are under scrutiny; linking to a disreputable website can tarnish your own reputation by association.

Before launching a campaign, review your copy for common spam trigger words. Keep your formatting clean and professional, and ensure your subject line accurately reflects the email's content. A simple, honest message is always more effective and far less likely to get flagged by filters.

Sending on an inconsistent schedule

ISPs love predictability. A sending account that is dormant for months and then suddenly sends tens of thousands of emails looks highly suspicious. Drastic and unpredictable changes in your sending volume can damage your reputation. Similarly, sending emails too frequently can overwhelm your audience, leading to a spike in unsubscribes and spam complaints, which are powerful negative signals to ISPs.

Establish a consistent sending schedule that your audience can get used to. If you need to increase your sending frequency or volume, do it gradually over time. This helps you maintain a stable and predictable sending pattern, which builds trust with both your subscribers and the email providers that control your deliverability.

Making authentication errors

Email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are your digital credentials. They prove to receiving servers that you are who you say you are. Failing to set them up correctly leaves your domain vulnerable to being spoofed by phishers and spammers, which can destroy your reputation. If an ISP can’t verify that an email is legitimately from you, it’s much more likely to send it straight to the spam folder.

Take the time to set up your authentication records properly. SPF specifies which IP addresses are authorized to send email on behalf of your domain. DKIM adds a digital signature to verify the message hasn't been altered. DMARC tells receiving servers what to do with messages that fail these checks. Getting these technical details right is fundamental to building a trustworthy sender identity.

How to Improve Your Email Reputation

Once you know where your reputation stands, you can take clear, actionable steps to protect and improve it. Think of this as ongoing maintenance for one of your most important marketing assets. A strong sender reputation isn’t built overnight, but consistent, smart practices will pay off by getting more of your emails into the inbox.

Keep your list clean

A healthy email list is the foundation of a good sender reputation. Regularly pruning your list to remove old or inactive addresses is essential. Only send emails to people who have explicitly opted in to receive them—using a double opt-in process is a great way to confirm consent. Whatever you do, never buy an email list. It’s a fast track to landing on blocklists, as these lists are often full of invalid addresses and spam traps. Sending to unengaged users tells inbox providers that your mail isn't wanted, which can quickly get you blacklisted. A clean list means you’re only reaching people who actually want to hear from you.

Set up authentication correctly

Email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are your digital handshake. They prove to internet service providers (ISPs) that you are who you say you are. Setting up these records correctly is a critical step that many senders overlook. DMARC, in particular, is a powerful tool for protecting your domain from being used in phishing attacks and for improving your email delivery. When your emails are properly authenticated, mailbox providers see you as a trustworthy sender, which gives your messages a much better chance of landing in the primary inbox instead of the spam folder. Think of it as showing your ID at the door.

Optimize for engagement

ISPs are always watching how recipients interact with your emails. High open rates, clicks, and replies signal that your content is valuable and welcome. On the other hand, if your emails are consistently ignored or deleted without being opened, it’s a major red flag. Low engagement will absolutely affect your sender reputation. To keep engagement high, focus on sending relevant, personalized content. Segment your audience so you can tailor your messages to specific interests. The more you treat your email list like a community of individuals, the more they’ll interact with your campaigns, sending all the right signals to ISPs.

Stick to permission-based marketing

This one is simple but crucial: only email people who have given you their permission. This principle is the core of ethical and effective email marketing. It means no purchased lists, no scraped addresses, and no guessing. Beyond just getting consent, you should also send from a professional email address tied to your company’s domain (e.g., contact@yourcompany.com). Sending from a public domain like Gmail or Yahoo can look unprofessional and suspicious to spam filters. Using your own domain reinforces your brand’s legitimacy and helps build a foundation of trust with both your subscribers and the mailbox providers who deliver your messages.

Send on a consistent schedule

Predictability builds trust. Sending emails on a regular, consistent schedule helps ISPs recognize your sending patterns and view you as a legitimate sender. Avoid sudden, massive sends after long periods of silence, as this can look like spamming behavior. At the same time, be careful not to send too frequently. Bombarding your subscribers with emails is a surefire way to increase your unsubscribes and complaints, both of which damage your reputation. Find a rhythm that works for your audience and stick to it. This consistency shows mailbox providers that you’re a reliable presence, not a random threat.

Monitor your reputation regularly

Your sender reputation isn't static—it can change based on your sending practices. That’s why you need to monitor it actively. Use tools like Google Postmaster Tools, SenderScore, and Microsoft SNDS to get insights into how major mailbox providers view your domain and IP address. These platforms provide valuable data on spam rates, domain reputation, and delivery errors. Regularly checking these dashboards allows you to catch potential issues before they become major problems. Think of it as a regular health check-up for your email program, ensuring everything is running smoothly and effectively.

Prevent risks before they happen

A huge part of maintaining your reputation is protecting your domain from being abused by others. Scammers can try to impersonate your brand in phishing attacks, which can destroy the trust you’ve built. Implementing DMARC is your best defense here. You should also be mindful of your own content. Scammers often use language that creates a false sense of urgency to trick people into acting without thinking. As a legitimate sender, avoid overly aggressive or alarmist language. Clear, honest communication not only builds trust with your audience but also helps you stand apart from the bad actors in the eyes of spam filters.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the real difference between domain and IP reputation? Think of your IP address as the physical mailing address of the post office you're sending from, and your domain as your company's name on the return address. Mailbox providers track the reputation of both. A bad IP reputation means the "post office" itself is known for sending junk mail, which can happen if you're on a shared IP with spammers. A bad domain reputation means your specific brand is seen as untrustworthy, regardless of where the mail comes from. You need both to be in good standing for consistent inbox placement.

How long does it take to repair a damaged email reputation? Unfortunately, there's no magic timeline. Rebuilding a poor reputation depends on how severe the damage is and how consistent you are with your fixes. If you've been blacklisted or have very high complaint rates, it could take several months of diligent effort—like cleaning your list, warming up your sending, and optimizing content—to see significant improvement. The key is to demonstrate a new, positive sending pattern over time to regain the trust of internet service providers.

Is a dedicated IP address really necessary for a good reputation? While you can build a good reputation on a shared IP, a dedicated one gives you complete control. On a shared IP, the sending habits of other users can directly impact your deliverability; if they get blacklisted, you can suffer the consequences. A dedicated IP means your reputation is entirely your own, built solely on your sending practices. For businesses sending high-volume campaigns, this control is invaluable for maintaining consistent performance and troubleshooting issues.

If my reputation is terrible, can't I just start over with a new domain? This might seem like an easy fix, but it often does more harm than good. Internet service providers are suspicious of brand-new domains that immediately start sending large volumes of email, as this is a common tactic used by spammers. You'll have to go through a lengthy warm-up process, and if your underlying sending practices haven't changed, you'll likely end up damaging the new domain's reputation as well. It's almost always better to fix the root problems and repair your existing reputation.

My reputation score looks good, so why are my emails still landing in spam? Your sender score is a huge piece of the puzzle, but it's not the only one. Mailbox providers also analyze the content of your emails, recipient engagement, and your authentication records. Your emails could be flagged for using spammy-sounding phrases, having broken links, or triggering low engagement from your audience. A good score gets you in the door, but the quality and relevance of your message determine whether you get to stay in the inbox.