14 Best Practices for Maintaining a Strong Email Domain Reputation
Table of contents
Imagine planning a grand dinner party, crafting the perfect invitation, only to find it stuck in a neighbor’s mailbox. The same goes for your emails. If they don’t land in the inbox, your efforts are wasted.
According to GlockApps* email deliverability statistics for January 2024, every fourth message sent by GlockApps users wasn’t delivered to Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, and Outlook, and every tenth email didn’t reach Gmail users.
This is where email domains come into play. A properly configured email domain is your ticket to ensuring that your messages aren’t flagged as spam or lost in the ether.
Think of it as setting up your postal address correctly—without it, how can anyone reliably find you?
To fix deliverability issues, it’s essential to get your email domain right—let’s start by understanding what it is and why it’s crucial.
Table of Contents
- What is an email domain?
- Benefits of using an email domain
- 14 best practices for managing your email domain
- 1. Create a custom domain
- 2. Use subdomains strategically
- 3. Authenticate your email domain
- 4. Maintain a strong domain reputation
- 5. Send high-quality emails
- 6. Warm up new domains
- 7. Monitor sending frequency
- 8. Utilize reputation monitoring tools
- 9. Provide an opt-in experience
- 10. Include a clear unsubscribe option
- 11. Ensure mobile responsiveness
- 12. Avoid spammy practices
- 13. Regularly clean your email list
- 14. Educate your team
- A strong email domain reputation is a must have
What is an email domain?
In an email address, the domain is everything that comes after the “@” character.
For example, in the email [email protected], the domain is business.com. It acts as a digital identifier, directing your email to the right servers.
Just like the street name in your postal address—it’s essential for delivery.
Domains can be customized to reflect a brand or organization. For example, businesses often use email domains that match their website, such as [email protected].
This makes communication more professional and recognizable compared to generic addresses like Gmail or Yahoo. It’s like the difference between a personalized business card and a blank one.
Picking a domain involves confirming it’s available and matching it to your business needs. A tech company might go for @innovate.tech, while a bakery might use @bakehouse.co. The right domain helps establish your identity and makes it easier for recipients to trust your emails.
Benefits of using an email domain
Using a custom email domain can significantly enhance your business communications. It offers multiple advantages, from boosting professionalism to improving security and branding consistency.
Branding and professionalism
A custom email domain helps you present a professional image and further strengthens your brand identity. It adds credibility to your communications and builds trust with recipients.
Improved email deliverability
Emails from a custom domain are more likely to reach inboxes rather than end up in spam. A reputable email domain contributes to a positive sender reputation, improving deliverability.
Better security
Custom email domains allow you to control security measures like spam filters, encryption, and multi-factor authentication. This protects your emails and sensitive data from unauthorized access.
Consistent branding
Having the same domain for both your website and email creates a unified branding experience. It keeps your messaging consistent across different channels.
Customization and flexibility
Lastly, a custom domain allows you to create different email addresses for various departments—significantly improving organization and communication efficiency.
14 best practices for managing your email domain
To keep your email game strong—start with a solid domain.
These best practices can help you stay on top of your email communications and protect your brand reputation.
1. Create a custom domain
As seen earlier, creating a custom email domain (e.g., [email protected]) boosts your credibility and professionalism. It ensures your emails stand out and builds trust with recipients. Using older domains with a strong reputation can improve deliverability, as ISPs often favor domains with an established history.
This Reddit user points out that the first step in getting your email domain is securing the domain name itself.
2. Use subdomains strategically
Segment email types by using subdomains (e.g., [email protected], [email protected]). This helps organize campaigns, protects your main domain’s reputation, and ensures consistent deliverability even if issues arise with specific subdomains.
| Subdomain Use Case | Example Email Address | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing campaigns | [email protected] | Handles promotional emails. |
| Transactional emails | [email protected] | Sends invoices or receipts. |
| Customer support | [email protected] | Resolves customer queries. |
3. Authenticate your email domain
Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC protocols to ensure your emails are authenticated. These measures help ISPs recognize your domain as legitimate, prevent spoofing, and boost deliverability. Authentication also helps add a layer of trust and security to your email domain management practices.
| Protocol | Purpose | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| SPF | Specifies allowed email servers | Prevents unauthorized use of your domain. |
| DKIM | Validates email content integrity | Ensures emails are not tampered with. |
| DMARC | Aligns SPF and DKIM policies | Helps ISPs filter malicious emails. |
4. Maintain a strong domain reputation
Regularly monitor your domain’s reputation using tools like Google Postmaster or MX Toolbox. Avoid spam triggers, honor unsubscribe requests, and keep spam complaints minimal to preserve a positive reputation.
It’s recommended to address issues quickly if your domain reputation score drops.
A strong domain reputation ensures higher deliverability rates and credibility with ISPs. You can track performance metrics like bounce rates and complaint ratios to identify problem areas early.
5. Send high-quality emails
Focus on engaging subject lines, clear sender information—and concise, actionable content. Avoid spammy language and excessive multimedia, and always provide an HTML-only version for accessibility.
Examples of high-quality practices:
| Aspect | Best Practice |
|---|---|
| Subject Lines | Use clear, non-clickbait headlines that match the email’s content. |
| Email Body | Provide actionable insights with concise language. |
| Accessibility | Include alternative text for images and an HTML-only version. |
6. Warm up new domains
Gradually increase email volume over 4–6 weeks when starting with a new domain. This process builds trust with ISPs and ensures stable deliverability.
Also, bear in mind—sending bulk emails immediately may end up getting you flagged as spam. Warming up involves sending small batches of emails to engaged recipients and steadily increasing the volume while monitoring performance.
One Reddit user spoke about their new domain’s email campaign ending up in the spam or junk folder.
He received the following feedback on how to enhance engagement and reduce bounce rates.
7. Monitor sending frequency
Maintain consistent email activity to prevent domain reputation issues. Avoid long periods of inactivity followed by sudden spikes in volume. Predictable activity signals stability and reliability to ISPs.
8. Utilize reputation monitoring tools
Tools like Warmup Inbox offer insights into your domain’s health, spam rates, and blacklisting status. Regular checks can help you address issues proactively. Regular monitoring further enables you to address deliverability issues without delay.
9. Provide an opt-in experience
Adopt double opt-in practices to ensure that every recipient is genuinely interested in your emails. This reduces the likelihood of spam complaints and improves engagement rates. An opt-in ensures your list remains engaged and your domain reputation intact.
10. Include a clear unsubscribe option
Make it easy for recipients to opt out. Honoring unsubscribe requests promptly protects your reputation and demonstrates respect for user preferences. A visible unsubscribe link builds trust and keeps your domain compliant with regulations.
11. Ensure mobile responsiveness
Design emails that look great on mobile devices. Mobile-friendly formatting improves engagement and reduces deletion rates. Use responsive templates and test email previews to ensure readability on different devices.
12. Avoid spammy practices
Keeping your emails genuine and concise helps you stay on the right side of spam filters. Steer clear of clickbait subject lines, excessive capitalization, and overuse of exclamation marks. Check your content against spam detection tools to ensure compliance.
13. Regularly clean your email list
Remove inactive or invalid addresses to maintain a healthy list. This improves engagement rates and prevents ISP penalties for high bounce rates. Use list hygiene tools to automate the cleaning process.
14. Educate your team
Make sure everyone on your team knows the ins and outs of email domain management and security. Simple guides and periodic training can go a long way in keeping everything running smoothly.
A strong email domain reputation is a must have
As we’ve seen in this piece, using a custom email domain offers numerous benefits, from improving your brand’s credibility to enhancing security and communication efficiency. It helps establish a professional image and ensures that your emails are delivered reliably. Additionally, the flexibility of managing multiple email addresses for different functions streamlines operations.
I’m sure you’d have shared inboxes as part of your email domain. To manage them effectively, you can try out a platform like Hiver. It offers an inbox-like interface to help your team assign, track, and collaborate on all incoming emails. There’s complete visibility into who is working on what and how many email queries are yet to be resolved. It’s very effective if you’re managing emails across a team. And the best part is that Hiver has a forever-free plan.
*https://glockapps.com/blog/7-reasons-for-your-emails-not-being-delivered-and-how-to-fix/
