How to keep your emails out of the spam folder

An email that lands in the spam folder might as well not have been sent. These tips help your campaigns reach the inbox.

Send from your own verified domain

Emails sent from your own domain, with the right DNS records, are trusted far more than emails from an unverified address. Set it up under Settings → Marketing → Email Domains. Only admins see Marketing. See Connecting your email domain so emails come from your own address.

Always include an unsubscribe link

Contacts who can't unsubscribe mark your email as spam instead, and every spam report hurts your sender reputation. Leat checks that a campaign has an unsubscribe or subscription preferences link before you can send it. See How to add an unsubscribe link to an email.

Keep your list clean

Addresses that bounce or report spam end up on your Email suppressions list, and we stop sending to them. That protects your reputation. Check the list now and then, see Email suppressions: why a contact stopped receiving your emails, and how to fix it.

Watch your wording

Spam filters look for patterns, so write like a person:

• Avoid lots of ALL CAPS, bold text or "!!!".
• Avoid phrases like "100% FREE", "Act now" or "No credit check".
• Go easy on emoji and flashy formatting.

Balance images and text

An email that's mostly images with little text looks suspicious to spam filters. Make sure your message also works as text.

Keep an eye on your statistics

High bounce rates, spam reports and low engagement are warning signs. If you see them in a campaign's statistics, adjust who you send to, how often, and what you write. See Email campaign statistics.

Test before you send

Send the real campaign to a small list of your own addresses first. See How to send a proper test campaign.