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Compete Web - Stop your emails going to junk/spam

Can you stop your emails going to junk/spam?

Not completely.
All email is looked upon as being Spam, so it’s up to you to prove you are not a spammer.

Can you help stop your emails from going to the junk/spam folder?

Yes.

Why are my emails going to the junk/spam folder?

We need to look at how emails are sent and received.

  1. Sender sends an email to Recipient
    1. Email is actually sent to the Sending Mail server
    2. The Sending Mail server then asks the DNS server for information about the recipient’s Receiving Mail server details
    3. The Sending Mail server then contacts the Receiving Mail server and tries to send the mail to that server.
  2. The Receiving Mail server will look at the mail being sent from the Sending Mail server and will ask some questions
    1. Modern mail servers treat all email as Guilty Until Proven Innocent.
    2. Is the sender really who they say they are?
    3. The Receiving Mail server contacts the DNS server for Policy information about the senders domain name.
    4. Does the sender have a signature to back up their authenticity?
    5. Is the IP address allowed to send this email?
    6. What is the Policy from the senders domain for sending emails?
    7. f the above details are verified by the Receiving Mail server then there is a HIGH chance the email will not be labelled as spam/junk.
    8. The Receiving Mail server also looks at the reputation of the sender, that is, have they sent spam before, are they listed by others as senders of spam, is the contents of the email suspicious (key words of a sexual nature ETC) and is the domain listed in a black/white list? (Black lists lowers your reputation, while White lists increase your reputation)
    9. f the email is accepted, then it is ranked. If there are any suspect attributes they are listed in the top part of the email (known as the email headers). Hit enough suspect attributes and the Receiving Mail server pops the email in the Junk folder.
  3. The Recipient collects all emails from the Receiving Mail server.
  4. The Recipient’s email program (Outlook, Thunder bird…) will also look at the email and the email headers, it also applies its own rules and may move the incoming email to the Junk folder.

What do I do to get the right policies and reputation so my emails look legitimate to a Receiving Mail server?

  1. Use the correct settings in your mail program (Outlook, Thunder bird ETC).
  2. NEVER use Bigpond, Optus or any ISP as your Outbound SMTP server.
  3. Contact Complete Web and make sure your DNS policies are setup correctly.
  4. NEVER send spam, always use an anti-virus program if you use Windows.
  5. NEVER use your email password for any other website (if a website asks you to join, login, authenticate ETC)