Any successful web host needs to deliver on the front of quality email services. While hosting an email server seems simple at first look, there are several hurdles that can undermine email deliverability. With an email delivery service like MailChannels, you can protect your email reputation and provide an excellent hosting experience for your clients.

What is Email Deliverability?

Email deliverability is the rate at which your servers successfully deliver outbound emails. In this context, success means an email that lands in the desired inbox. It’s not a foregone conclusion that your emails will reach the inbox, as reputation issues might send them to the trash or spam bins. In the worst case, a server on a blocklist will be unable to send outbound emails at all. A web host that guarantees email deliverability has succeeded on one key metric of hosting, while those that fail to do so will jeopardize their own business as well as their clients.

Email Deliverability is Key to Successful Web Hosting

Every day, people and businesses around the world send billions of emails. This represents a vast collection of information across fields such as advertising and communications, a stream of data and connectivity that no modern business can do without. Attempting to compete without access to email would not be too much harder than trying to make do without internet access at all. The central role of email is what elevates email deliverability to such key status.

If a web host cannot reliably provide email deliverability to its users, they’re sure to seek services elsewhere. Avoiding this eventuality is a matter of understanding and accounting for the main obstacles to succeeding with email.

Challenges to Email Deliverability

In general, email shortcomings generally come down to the reputation of your servers declining. Normal server usage, advertising campaigns, etc. will not cause a drop in email reputation. Rather, the leading cause of email deliverability problems is server hijacking by malicious actors. Each day, billions of spam emails target internet users and function as the delivery system for malware, phishing schemes, and more.

Today, individual email services and web users as well as the wider internet are better prepared to combat spam than ever before. Spam is often flagged and sent straight to relevant folders, and while public blocklists cut spammers off from the internet as a whole. However, legitimate email servers that have been hijacked by spammers often get caught in the crossfire. If a malicious actor is able to use your servers to send spam, any websites relying on your hosting services may find themselves unable to communicate with the wider internet.

How to improve email deliverability

There are several steps that web hosts can take to improve their email deliverability. Here are some key strategies:

1. Authentication: Implement protocols like Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) to confirm that the emails you send are indeed from you. These tools prevent email spoofing and increase the chances of your emails landing in the inbox.

2. Keep a Clean Email List: Regularly update your email list and remove inactive or non-responsive email addresses. Sending emails to non-existent or rarely used email addresses can damage your sender reputation.

3. Avoid Spam-Like Content: Pay attention to the content of your emails. Certain words or phrases, excessive use of caps or special characters, and too many embedded links can trigger spam filters.

4. Manage Complaints: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) track the number of complaints or spam reports related to your emails. Make sure to include an easy-to-find unsubscribe link in your emails to allow recipients to opt-out if they wish to, rather than marking your email as spam.

5. IP Warm-Up: If you’re using a new IP address to send emails, start by sending a small number of emails and gradually increase the volume. This process, known as IP warm-up, helps establish a positive sending reputation with ISPs.

6. Monitoring: Regularly monitor your email deliverability rates, bounce rates, spam complaints, and other metrics to understand your performance and make necessary improvements.

7. Outbound Mail Filtering: Using a service like MailChannels, you can control the outbound mail your servers send. This service combines customizable, centralized management with automated spam detection features, providing instant feedback on your current email deliverability situation, and allowing fast action in case of any spam slipping through the cracks.

Guarantee Email Deliverability with MailChannels

Providing for the integrity and reliability of email is the central focus of MailChannels. There are a variety of ways that we work to make sure that messages reach the desired inbox, as intended. For one, we offer a robust outbound mail filtering service. This gives web hosts control over the outbound mail their servers send that combines customizable, centralized management with automated spam detection features. You’ll enjoy instant feedback on your current email deliverability situation, enabling fast action in the case of any spam slipping through the cracks.

Try MailChannels for yourself to see how it can maintain email deliverability, defend your reputation and protect your clients.