Why Your Normal Emails Go to Spam (and How To Fix It)

Below are the 6 primary reasons why your emails might be landing in the spam folder, along with the suggested fixes:

1. Sender Reputation

Sender Reputation is the single biggest factor determining whether your email hits the inbox or the spam folder.

• The Problem: If Gmail doesn’t trust you (low score), nothing else matters. Spam reports, bounces, and lack of engagement are like skipping rent payments for your email credit score.
• The Fixes:
  • Aim for Engagement: Focus on getting clicks and replies (even a “no thanks” is better than silence).
  • Encourage “Not Spam” Rescues: Having friends or colleagues click “Not Spam” on your emails is “pure gold” for your reputation.
  • Earn It Slowly: You cannot hack your sender reputation; you must earn it painfully and slowly, like trust or abs.

2. Unnatural Sending Pattern and Volume Spikes

Gmail’s filters view sudden, irregular sending behavior as suspicious.

• The Problem: Sending a sudden, massive blast of messages (e.g., a thousand random messages from a new account) looks “creepy, weird, and suspicious.” Sudden bursts or spikes in sending volume are major red flags.
• The Fixes:
  • Warm Up Gradually: Start with small batches of emails and then scale up over time.
  • Throttle Your Sending: Spread your emails out a bit to make the pattern look more natural.
  • Maintain a Consistent Rhythm: Gmail loves predictability.

3. Missing or Broken SPF, DKIM, or DMARC

These are authentication methods used to reassure Google that you are who you say you are.

• The Problem: Without these forms of authentication, Google looks at your email like, “Cool, but who even are you?”
• The Fixes:
  • Set Up All Three: Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC if possible.
  • Test Regularly: Broken records are just as bad as missing ones.
  • Don’t Assume: Do yourself a favor and check the records yourself. (These records are described as your “VIP wristband” to get into the club.)

4. Sketchy Links and Tracking

Links within your email can either validate or sink your credibility.

• The Problem: The issue is having sketchy links, such as links pointing to a blacklisted site. This also applies to shared domains (like link shorteners or tracking links) which often get abused by spammers, causing everyone using them to pay the price.
• The Fixes:
  • Use Your Own Branded Domain: Use your own branded domain for links and tracking; don’t piggyback on shared ones that spammers use.
  • Avoid Shady Redirects or Shorteners: Keep links clean and transparent.
  • Check Domains Regularly: Make sure your domains are not on any block lists and have a clean reputation.

5. Bounces and List Hygiene

Sending to dead or inactive addresses significantly hurts your reputation.

• The Problem: Old, unverified, or purchased lists are a fast track to the spam bin. Every bounce is a potential hit to your reputation, and enough of them will tank it completely.
• The Fixes:
  • Regularly Clean Your Lists: Keep your mailing list up-to-date and clean.
  • Remove Immediately: Remove bounced and inactive addresses immediately.
  • Verify Prospects: If you are mining for prospects, make sure you verify all of those emails before you send to them.

6. Email Spam Trigger Words

• The Problem: Before listing spam words, it is important to note that certain words or phrases used alone may not trigger spam filters. Typically, email filters assess factors such as formatting, sender identity, and context to determine if an email is spam. However, these words can still trigger red flags, especially when overused.

The following are some junk words sorted by category. Please try to avoid them or use them with caution in your emails.

1. Exaggerated Statements and Promises

These words are often found in emails that promise unrealistic benefits or use extremely deceptive language.

Secret hack, Guaranteed, Hidden, Risk-free, All-natural, Stop aging, Simple trick, Lose weight fast, 100% guaranteed, New and improved, Double your money, Unbelievable results, Doctors recommend, Without exercise or diet,

Tip: If you have real value to offer, there’s no need to deceive.

2. Non-personalized greetings

Generic greetings indicate to recipients that they may be receiving bulk emails and are less trustworthy. Spam filters may reduce your email deliverability.

Hi there!, Attention, Greetings!, Good day, Good news, Dear friend, Hello friend, Dear customer, Dear subscriber, Special invitation, Friendly reminder, Dear valued customer, To whom it may concern

Tip: Personalized emails generally outperform generic emails.邮件。

3. Money temptation

These words exploit the recipient’s desire for financial improvement or quick money and are commonly seen in scams or misleading promotions.

Bonus, Win big, Cashback, Own boss, Credit check, You’ve won, Easy money, Instant payout, Get rich quick, Secret to wealth, Unclaimed funds, Accept credit cards, Save big money, Claim your money, Exclusive deal, Earn extra income, Double your income, Online biz opportunity

4. False sense of urgency

These words abuse the fear of missing out (FOMO) mentality, and overuse can make emails seem aggressive.

Act now, Buy now, Don’t wait, Click now, Hurry now, Selling fast, Expiring soon, Don’t miss out, Only a few left, Rare opportunity, Limited time only, Once-in-a-lifetime, Limited quantities, Before it’s too lat

5. Technology and Security

Some technology-related terms, when used in emails, may look like a phishing attempt, causing the message to be triggered and landed in the spam folder.

Antivirus, Sales, No catch, Free trials, Click here, Data breach, Verify identity, Final warning, Security breach, Password reset, Suspicious activity, Important update, Account verification, Verify your account

More tips for ensuring good email deliverability (and avoiding spam filters)

In addition to flagging trigger words, emails can also be marked as spam if the recipient isn’t subscribed. Therefore, make sure you only send emails to those who are subscribed and let them know what kind of content they can expect to receive.

With that in mind, let’s look at other ways to ensure good email deliverability.

1. Personalize your emails

Higher open and engagement rates can effectively reduce the risk of your emails being classified as spam, as email service providers can use this to determine that your content is truly valuable to users.

The key to proper personalization is list segmentation. Divide your subscribers into smaller, more specific groups based on shared attributes such as preferences, interests, or demographics.

Get detailed information for segmenting your list by asking for it in your signup form, like in the example above. You can use your website’s analytics tools to observe user behavior and interests over time.

2. Keep your subject line natural

Another helpful way to improve email deliverability is to use clear, natural subject lines. The best subject lines are those that get clicks without being forceful. Therefore, you may want to tone it down with a promotional subject line. Also, avoid using misleading subject lines.

A better alternative to spammy subject lines is to replace those buzzwords with something more specific. Simply tell the reader what your email is about. Like this example from Loom: Readers seeing this subject line have enough information to decide whether they want to open the email.

3. Optimize for mobile devices

Many marketers have explicitly stated that they will use mobile-friendly design in their email marketing. This is a logical move – the vast majority of recipients now access emails on mobile devices like phones. Imagine if your emails are misplaced or poorly displayed on their devices, it would undoubtedly frustrate recipients and negatively impact their impression of your brand.

If users can’t read or interact with emails due to design issues, they may stop opening them or even delete them. This sends a negative signal to the service provider, damaging the sender’s reputation and deliverability.

When designing mobile-friendly emails, keep the following in mind:

• Use email text that is clear enough to be read.

• Allows vertical scrolling layouts on mobile devices.

• Use large, touch-friendly buttons that are easy for users to click.

• Keep subject lines under 60 characters so they don’t get truncated.

• Finally, optimizing the size of images and other visual elements will help your email content load better.

4. Don’t send emails too frequently

Spam filters monitor email sending frequency in real time, and sudden increases in sending volume from new IP addresses or domains are particularly likely to trigger alerts. Excessive sending not only annoys users and leads to unsubscribing or marking emails as spam, but also directly leads to decreased deliverability and a decline in key metrics such as open and click-through rates.

According to Email Benchmark Analysis, about 46% of marketers send one email per week and get better open and click rates.

If you want to increase the frequency of your emails, clearly inform your users when they sign up. This will set clear expectations upfront and make your emails more receptive to your recipients.

In addition, before sending large-scale marketing emails using a new domain name, it is recommended to complete IP warm-up first.

5. Maintain a healthy mailing list

Remove invalid email addresses—those with spelling errors, grammatical errors, or non-existent domains. These email addresses can cause hard bounces, which are permanent delivery failures. Frequently bouncing your emails can trick spam filters into thinking your content is spam, even if it’s not.

Remove generic addresses like info@ or sales@. These are often shared accounts that may rarely or never be viewed. Also, avoid purchased email lists, as they often contain invalid or inactive addresses and can increase spam risk.

6. Simplify the cancellation process

Making the unsubscribe process easy might not be what you want—after all, it might seem like you’re losing potential customers. But it’s actually much better than having subscribers ignore your emails, or even worse, mark them as spam.

It’s often practical to include an unsubscribe button or link in the footer of your emails. Here’s an example:

7. Use links with caution

Using links carefully in emails is crucial both for user experience and for avoiding spam filters.

Use clear, descriptive anchor text instead of vague phrases like “click here.” Stick to concise, meaningful text that tells the recipient what they will get after clicking. In the example below, the hyperlink text “Link your Battle.net account…”

Make links visually distinct. Use underlined text or a different color than the main content. Avoid clustering links together, especially on mobile devices. Links placed too close together can lead to accidental clicks and ruin the user experience.