Salman Bareesh

here's what i've learned about keeping emails out of spam. i've been working in cold email for around 2 years now. although i haven't worked on email deliverability day in and day out, i've picked up a few things along the way. after seeing the discussion around my previous post, i got curious and started digging a little deeper. i'm not here to tell you which email provider to use or avoid. i just wanted to share what i've learned about reducing the chances of emails landing in spam. and this isn't just about cold outreach. it applies to cold emails, newsletters, receipts, and transactional messages too. here's what i've learned so far Reputation and Sending Infrastructure > ip reputation matters. other senders using the same shared ip can affect your email delivery. > domain reputation matters too. changing your ip or email provider does not automatically repair your domain's reputation. > separate cold emails, newsletters, and transactional emails into different sending streams. ideally, use separate subdomains and ip pools where practical. > a dedicated ip isn't always better. if your volume is low, a reputable shared ip pool might perform better. > check whether your sending ip and linked domains appear on major blocklists like spamhaus. > check the reputation of domains inside your emails, not just your sending domain. one problematic link can create delivery issues. > use consistent sender identities. frequently changing domains and sender addresses won't automatically improve deliverability. Email Authentication and DNS > configure spf, dkim, and dmarc. these help receiving servers verify that your emails are authorized. > spf and dkim should align with your visible from domain. simply adding dns records isn't enough. > use only one spf record per domain. multiple separate spf records can cause authentication failures. > keep spf within its 10-dns-lookup limit. too many nested services can break validation. > use 2048-bit dkim keys where supported. check that your actual emails are properly signed. > start dmarc with p=none to monitor authentication, then move toward stricter policies after verifying legitimate sending services. > check authentication using gmail's "show original" feature. dns checkers alone don't prove that real messages pass. > if you're managing your own sending server, configure valid reverse dns, forward dns, and tls. Sending Volume and Warm-up > gradually increase sending volume. sudden jumps can trigger throttling or reputation problems. > there is no universal safe daily email limit. 20–40 emails per mailbox is a common cold outreach rule of thumb, not a guarantee. > avoid sending your entire daily volume in one burst. spread bulk sending consistently throughout the day. > if you're restarting an old domain after months of inactivity, don't immediately return to your previous sending volume. > warm-up tools that simulate opens, clicks, and replies aren't necessarily helping. spamhaus explicitly warns against artificial engagement. > watch temporary smtp errors. if receiving servers start deferring emails, reduce volume and investigate. > adding more domains or mailboxes doesn't solve poor targeting, high complaints, or bad sending practices. Email Lists and Bounce Rates > verify email addresses before campaigns, especially when working with older lists. > a verified email only means the address appears deliverable. it doesn't guarantee inbox placement or permission. > aim for very low hard bounce rates. investigate any unusual increase instead of treating 2% as an acceptable target. > don't assume catch-all or unknown verification results are valid. treat them separately from confirmed addresses. > remove permanently invalid addresses immediately. repeatedly sending to nonexistent mailboxes damages list quality. > don't repeatedly email people who have already unsubscribed, complained, or asked you to stop. > maintain a shared suppression list across your sending tools. changing providers shouldn't reactivate unsubscribed contacts. > be careful with old databases. addresses that worked last year might now belong to someone else or no longer exist. Cold Emails > personalization matters more than inserting someone's first name. mention something genuinely relevant to their business. go templatised with spintax if volume is high. > the perfect offer going to stand out from rest of the contents. > keep your initial email focused on one problem or reason to reach out. unnecessary links and attachments add friction. > try sending the first email without tracking links when tracking isn't necessary. fewer third-party domains means fewer dependencies. > avoid fake re: and fwd: subject lines. pretending there's an existing conversation is misleading. > don't confuse high sending volume with good outreach. more emails to irrelevant people can increase complaints. > give prospects a straightforward way to decline future outreach, and honor those requests. > don't automatically subscribe cold prospects to your newsletter. > check local marketing laws. the rules for contacting businesses differ between countries. Transactional Emails > separate transactional emails from marketing campaigns. password resets and order confirmations shouldn't depend on the reputation of promotional traffic. > avoid inserting promotional content into password-reset emails or important account notifications. > protect automated email forms from abuse. bots can repeatedly trigger signup confirmations, invitations, and password resets. > prevent duplicate sends. one user action shouldn't accidentally trigger multiple identical emails. > monitor how long login codes and password resets take to arrive. arriving after the code expires is still a delivery failure. > check bounce and suppression events. an email api returning success doesn't necessarily mean the recipient received the message. > use clear and consistent from addresses for receipts, account alerts, and other transactional messages. Newsletters and Marketing Emails > use confirmed opt-in when possible. people who actually want your newsletter are less likely to complain. > avoid purchased or scraped newsletter lists. a valid email address doesn't mean someone agreed to receive marketing. > don't suddenly increase newsletter frequency. people expecting one email weekly may complain if they start receiving one every day. > segment subscribers by interests and engagement instead of sending every campaign to everyone. > regularly review inactive subscribers. consider re-engagement before removing them from regular campaigns. > make unsubscribing easy. forcing someone through several steps can encourage spam complaints. > bulk marketing emails need proper one-click unsubscribe headers, not just a link in the footer. > evaluate engagement beyond opens. apple mail privacy protection can inflate open counts. Email Content, Links and Tracking > plain-text emails aren't automatically safer than html emails. both can land in spam if reputation or recipient feedback is poor. > there isn't a magic text-to-image ratio that guarantees inbox delivery. avoid image-only emails, but don't obsess over an exact percentage. > don't rely on removing individual spam words. using or avoiding words like "free" won't fix poor reputation. > check your email links before sending. your tracking domain, calendar link, and signature links can all matter. > avoid unnecessary public url shorteners. use recognizable, trustworthy links instead. > make emails readable when images are blocked. important information shouldn't exist only inside an image. > keep html clean and reasonably lightweight. oversized emails can get clipped in gmail, although clipping itself isn't spam placement. Monitoring and Deliverability > use google postmaster tools to monitor gmail spam complaints, domain reputation, and authentication performance. > keep gmail's reported spam complaint rate below 0.1% where possible. avoid reaching 0.3% or higher. > yahoo also expects bulk senders to keep spam complaint rates below 0.3%. > a 0% complaint rate doesn't automatically mean you're safe. emails already landing in spam might generate fewer inbox complaints. > delivered doesn't mean inboxed. your email could be accepted by the receiving server and still land in spam. > don't blindly trust open rates. apple mail privacy protection and automated systems can distort engagement metrics. > some clicks come from security scanners. compare them with real replies and conversions. > gmail's promotions tab isn't the spam folder. don't treat every promotions placement as a deliverability failure. > test emails across gmail, outlook, and yahoo. performance at one provider doesn't guarantee the same results elsewhere. > if deliverability suddenly drops, compare changes in bounce rates, complaint rates, sending volume, and campaign audiences. > don't assume switching providers fixes everything. identify what's actually causing the problem first. > reputation recovery takes time. fixing technical settings today doesn't mean your emails will immediately return to the inbox tomorrow. that's everything i've learned and collected so far. some of these might be wrong, and i'm sure there are things i'm missing. what works for one sender might not work for another sometimes. obviously, none of these hacks can guarantee 100% inbox placement, but even reducing the spam percentage a little would be a win. i'm not here to defend or criticize any email provider. i'm genuinely curious about what others have experienced. what are you guys doing to keep your emails out of spam? any underrated hacks i've missed? instead of fighting over which provider is better, let's share what works, what doesn't, and learn from each other. would love to hear from people who've been doing this longer than me.