10 Best Practices to Multiply Email Delivery Rates by Avoiding Email Blocklists

Have you ever sent an email only to find out it was never delivered to your recipient's inbox? This could be because an email blocklist is blocking your email. 

But what is it exactly?

An email blocklist or blacklist, or denylist is a database of IP addresses and domains marked as spam.

Now,

Does an email blacklist impact your delivery rates—and, subsequently, your business?

The answer is YES.

Whether you're sending newsletters, promotional offers, or follow-up messages, you want to ensure your emails reach the right people. 

Unfortunately, if your emails are constantly in the spam folder, your reputation will suffer, and your email deliverability rate will decrease.

According to a recent study, only 86% of emails sent from business domains reach the inbox. 

That's a 14% failure rate! 

You can't afford to have your emails blocked and end up in the spam folder. Your emails need to reach the inbox so your recipient can see them, engage with them, and take action.

And that’s why we have come up with ten tips to help you maximize your email delivery rates:

10 Tips to Avoid Hitting the Email Blocklist of Your Prospects

1. Verify Email Addresses

When sending emails, have accurate and up-to-date information about your recipients. Invalid or outdated email addresses can lead to a bounce, harming your sender's reputation. 

To avoid this, verify the email addresses of your recipients before sending them an email. Here are a few techniques you can use to verify email addresses:

2. Use Double Opt-in

Double opt-in is a method of confirming that a recipient wants to receive emails from you. It involves sending a confirmation email to the recipient, asking them to do two things:

• Verify their email address
• Confirm their desire to receive your emails

This reduces the chances of sending emails to inactive or uninterested recipients, which can lead to high bounce and complaint rates.

High bounce and complaint rates are red flags for email providers, and they can lead to your IP address being added to an email blacklist. 

Additionally, by using double opt-in, you demonstrate to your recipients that you value their privacy and are committed to providing them with relevant and valuable content. This helps build trust – which can lead to more email engagement.

3. limit Email Sending Frequency

Sending too many emails quickly can lead to high complaint rates, and eventually, your IP address could be added to an email blocklist. Therefore, limiting your email-sending frequency is vital to avoid overwhelming your recipients and maintain a healthy sender reputation.

4. Monitor Email Bounce Rates

Bounce rates refer to the percentage of undeliverable emails returned to the sender. There are two types of bounces: soft bounces and hard bounces. 

• Soft Bounces: They occur when an email cannot be delivered because of a temporary issue, such as a full inbox. 
• Hard bounces: They occur when an email cannot be delivered due to a permanent issue, such as an invalid email address.

Monitoring your bounce rates can help you identify issues with your email addresses, allowing you to take action to resolve them. On the other hand, high bounce rates can harm your sender's reputation and lead to your IP address being added to an email blocklist. 

Monitoring your bounce rates can also help you identify trends and patterns, allowing you to change your email campaigns to improve their deliverability. 

For example, suppose you notice a high bounce rate for emails sent to a specific segment of your email list. In that case, you can take action to resolve the issue and improve deliverability for that segment.

5. Monitor Complaint Rates

Complaint rates refer to the number of recipients who mark your emails as spam. This is a direct measure of how well your audience receives your emails.

By monitoring your complaint rates, you can take proactive measures to ensure your emails are well-received by your audience. On the other hand, high complaint rates can harm your sender's reputation and even lead to your IP address being added to an email blocklist.

Additionally, monitoring complaint rates can help you identify patterns and improve your email campaigns, increasing their effectiveness and deliverability. 

This can be done by:

• Analyzing the segments of your email list with the highest complaint rates
• Making changes to better target and engage those subscribers

6. Use a Reputable Email Delivery Service Provider

These service providers have the technical expertise and resources to ensure your emails are delivered to your subscribers' inboxes while adhering to best practices to avoid email blocklists.

Several factors must be considered when choosing an email delivery service provider to ensure you use a reputable and effective service.

7. Follow Anti-spam Laws

Anti-spam laws are designed to regulate unsolicited commercial emails. They typically require businesses to obtain consent from recipients before sending them emails and allow recipients to unsubscribe from future emails. 

Some of the most well-known anti-spam laws include the CAN-SPAM Act in the United States and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union.

By following anti-spam laws, you can demonstrate to ISPs and email providers that you are a responsible sender and that your emails are valuable to your subscribers. This can help to maintain a positive sender reputation and avoid being added to email blocklists.

Additionally, obtaining consent from your subscribers and providing them with the option to unsubscribe can help reduce complaint rates and further improve your sender's reputation. This can lead to higher deliverability rates and better engagement with your audience.

8. Use Tools for Email Denylist Checker

There are several tools available for checking if an email address or domain has been deny-listed, including:

By checking the status of email blocklists, you can take steps to improve your sender reputation and avoid being added to more blocklists.

In addition, these tools can help you diagnose email delivery issues and provide recommendations for improvement. 

For example, a tool like Mail-Tester can check for issues such as poor email content, a lack of authentication, or a high complaint rate and recommend fixing these issues.

9. Use a Reputable IP Address

The IP address of your email server can significantly impact your email deliverability. 

For example, when an email is sent from an IP address that is associated with spam or other malicious activity, it is more likely to be blocked or filtered as unwanted by email providers.

To ensure your IP address is reputable and does not harm your email deliverability, you can follow these techniques:

10. Optimize Your Email Content

Personalizing your emails as much as possible is a crucial strategy for reducing spam complaints and improving engagement with your audience. Email marketing software can help you craft highly customized emails tailored to each recipient.

When you optimize your emails, you connect with your subscribers and show them that you value their interests and preferences. This can increase engagement and build a stronger relationship with your audience over time.

In addition to personalization, offer your subscribers valuable content they are interested in. When you provide your subscribers with relevant and helpful information, they are less likely to flag your email as spam.

Final Word

Avoiding email blocklists is crucial for the success of your email marketing campaigns. Following the tips above, ensure your emails are delivered to subscribers' inboxes and not filtered as unwanted. 

By partnering with Revnew, you can ensure the success of your email marketing efforts and build strong relationships with your subscribers. 

We do all the hard work for you! How? By sticking to each of the above tips and more. For more information, you can speak to us now.