Email remains a critical channel for web hosting customers to communicate with their own customers, partners, and stakeholders. Yet, the seemingly straightforward act of sending an email from hosting infrastructure is complicated by the risk of messages being blocked or relegated to the spam folder by large receivers like Google and Microsoft. Every web hosting support desk is familiar with email delivery complaints caused by IP reputation problems. This is where MailChannels steps in, offering a unique advantage we like to call “too big to block.”

In this blog post, we’ll delve into the inherent challenges of email deliverability when hosting companies go it alone and how MailChannels’ scale and reputation make it a more reliable choice for ensuring your emails get sent and successfully delivered to the inbox.

The Problem with Going Solo

When web hosting companies decide to manage their email-sending infrastructure in-house, they often underestimate the complexity and risks involved. Let’s break down some of the key challenges:

IP Reputation Management

Managing your own IP addresses for email delivery means you’re solely responsible for maintaining their reputation. Even a few spam complaints can tarnish your IP reputation, leading to your emails being flagged, delayed, or blocked by large email providers. And when you’re blocked, users receive error messages leading to a flood of complaints.

Mysterious Delivery Problems

Customer emails often go silently to the junk folder even if you’re not blocked. When messages miss the inbox, receivers like Google and Microsoft have no obligation to tell you about it. As an independent sender, there’s no reason for the big receivers to give your messages preference. After all, it costs them little to put your customers’ messages into the junk folder.

Resource Drain

Operating and maintaining an in-house email-sending infrastructure is more than just technically demanding; it’s resource-intensive. From monitoring spam filters to diagnosing delivery issues, your IT staff will be stretched thin. Not to mention they will have to spend time keeping up with the alphabet soup of email standards and navigating unwritten best practices that are decided behind closed doors at secretive industry meetings.

Limited Redundancy

A single point of failure in your email infrastructure can lead to significant delays or even a total shutdown of email delivery. Without the scale and redundancy that a dedicated email-sending service offers, you’re putting your business and your clients at risk.

In summary, going solo in email delivery is fraught with challenges that can impact your business and the reliability of your clients’ communications. The solution? Leveraging the scale and reputation of a specialized email-sending service like MailChannels.

The Scale Advantage

Scale is vital in email delivery, especially for web hosting companies. Scale isn’t just about having a large user base; it’s about leveraging that user base to build a robust reputation and a resilient delivery infrastructure. Here’s how scale benefits you when you opt for MailChannels:

Reputation Capital

With millions of users, MailChannels has significant “reputation capital.” Large email receivers like Google and Microsoft pay attention to this. The logic is simple: a service serving millions can’t be easily blocked without causing collateral damage.

Negotiating Power

Scale brings with it a certain level of negotiating power. If an issue could affect email deliverability, MailChannels has the clout to work directly with large email providers to resolve it promptly. We’re in the secret rooms where best practices are determined, and we know the people who run the big receivers’ email services.

Infrastructure Resilience

MailChannels operates a complex, high-availability infrastructure designed to handle large volumes of email traffic. This level of resilience ensures a more reliable email delivery service, reducing the risks associated with single points of failure.

Collective Security

The large user base acts as a collective security network. Advanced algorithms monitor email traffic for signs of spam or malicious activity, allowing MailChannels to act quickly to mitigate risks, thus benefiting all users. Patterns of behaviour gleaned from one customer are immediately used to protect others.

Cost-Efficiency

With scale comes cost-efficiency. The operational efficiencies gained from managing email at scale translate to more affordable rates for web hosting companies without compromising reliability or security.

By leveraging MailChannels’ scale, web hosting companies can sidestep the myriad challenges associated with going solo, ensuring that their clients’ emails are not just sent but actually reach their intended inboxes.

Too Big to Block

The phrase “too big to block” is more than just a catchy slogan; it encapsulates a reality that comes with MailChannels’ scale and reputation. Here’s what it means for web hosting companies:

Domino Effect

Blocking MailChannels would mean blocking emails from millions of users. For large email providers like Google and Microsoft, this would translate into a significant user inconvenience, as legitimate emails would be caught in the crossfire.

User Backlash

If large receivers were to block MailChannels, they’d risk a backlash from their users who depend on emails sent through our service. This creates a mutually beneficial relationship that makes blocking less likely.

Ecosystem Stability

MailChannels is an integral part of the email ecosystem. Its size and reputation make it a stabilizing force. Large email receivers know that blocking MailChannels would disrupt this stability, making such a move counterproductive.

Strategic Partnerships

The sheer size and influence of MailChannels allow for strategic partnerships with large email providers and blocklist operators like Spamhaus, facilitating a more harmonious email ecosystem and reducing the likelihood of arbitrary blocks.

Credibility and Trust

MailChannels has invested significantly in maintaining high email standards and compliance, further solidifying its reputation. This credibility makes it a less likely candidate for blocking by large email receivers.

The “too big to block” advantage safeguards web hosting companies and their clients, ensuring that email deliverability remains consistent and reliable.

Evidence

While being “too big to block” may sound abstract, it’s backed by concrete evidence and real-world success stories. Here’s how:

Metrics and Data

MailChannels continuously monitors email deliverability rates, and our metrics consistently show high levels of successful deliveries across major email providers. This isn’t mere chance; it results from our scale and reputation at work.

Customer Testimonials

Numerous web hosting companies have switched to MailChannels and experienced a drastic reduction in email delivery issues. Their testimonials serve as compelling evidence for the reliability of our service.

Case Studies

Consider the example of DreamHost, a provider that was struggling with a mountain of email delivery support tickets. After switching to MailChannels, support tickets dropped by 97% within a week, freeing up valuable resources previously tied up in dealing with email issues. They also avoided spending $1M to build a more complex email filtering infrastructure.

Industry Recognition

A member of the Messaging, Malware, Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG) since 2007 and the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) since 2014, MailChannels is respected by its peers for ongoing contributions to best practices in internet email. This multi-decade investment into the email ecosystem positions MailChannels to receive top-notch peer support when it’s needed to get email flowing.

In short, the evidence strongly supports the benefits of using MailChannels for web hosting companies that require dependable email delivery services.

Conclusion

Navigating the intricacies of email deliverability is a challenge every web hosting company faces. While managing your own email-sending infrastructure may seem tempting and cost-effective, the risks and complexities make it a less-than-ideal choice. That’s where MailChannels comes in, offering an advantage not just rooted in scale but in a principle we’ve termed “too big to block.”

Web hosting companies can sidestep the pitfalls of going solo by leveraging MailChannels’ extensive user base, robust reputation, and high-level partnerships with major email providers. The benefits are clear: higher deliverability rates, reduced operational costs, and, most importantly, satisfied clients who can count on their emails reaching their intended recipients.

So, the choice is clear if you’re a web hosting company looking to optimize your email delivery. Embrace the reliability and security of a specialized email-sending service and give your clients the assurance they deserve. With MailChannels, your emails are not just sent; they’re delivered.