Emails don't always get through. Why are they blocked?
Email security has tightened to improve user experience, but unfortunately, legitimate emails often get caught in the net. Here's how you can avoid those filters and communicate with your customers.
All email clients have inbuilt spam filters; whether you're using Gmail, Office365 or Yahoo Mail, they will be blocking and filtering incoming email on a daily basis. They are trying to automatically remove unsolicited and dangerous emails.
These systems are able to build automation around certain key rules; a common one is to block phishing emails. These are emails that are pretending to come from a domain, but are illegitimate. If an email is flagged as a phishing message, it will be blocked.
Unfortunately, automated systems are never perfect; they rely on general rules which can catch legitimate messages.
Unfortunately, you can't assume all of your emails will reach their recipients. Instead, it's important to take practical action to give them the best chance of getting through spam filters.
That's why you need to set up SPF and DKIM records in your DNS settings. You'll need access to your DNS records, or to contact the company who handles those records.
SPF records are a way of authenticating the source of an email. Because we send emails on your behalf, you need to validate your website. If you don't, it is more likely that automated emails will be blocked.
Google have provided a handy guide on setting these up.
This is the next generation of email security. A DKIM record will digitally sign individual emails so that recipients can be completely sure that it is a legitimate email. It's the best way to get through spam filters These require access to DNS records and the web server, so they are a little more complex, but they are effective.
Google have produced another handy guide and DKIM records.
If you think there is a problem with your automated emails, please let us know. We can then take a look and help to solve the problem.
There isn't a solution that is 100% effective as spam filters get rule updates on an almost daily basis; the goalposts are constantly moving. Still, following best practices and getting these DNS records set up will make a real difference.
Get in touch