Email & SMTP · 1 min read
Low Domain Reputation: Rebuild Trust
What's happening
Email providers and security services rate your sending domain. When the rating is low, Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo may reject, delay or send your emails to spam. Bounce messages often mention "poor domain reputation" or "domain has been flagged".
How to confirm it
- Check Google Postmaster Tools for a Low or Bad domain reputation.
- Look for "Sender Reputation" or "Blocked" bounce classifications.
- Check your domain on blocklists.
Common causes
- High spam complaints
- Sending to old, purchased or unengaged lists
- High bounce rates
- Sudden spikes in volume
- Missing authentication
Rebuild your reputation
- Pause bulk sending to unengaged contacts.
- Clean your list: remove hard bounces, complainers and contacts who haven't engaged in 90+ days.
- Authenticate with SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
- Restart small: send only to contacts who opened or clicked in the last 30 days.
- Grow slowly: increase volume by about 20–30% per day while metrics stay healthy.
- Keep content clean: clear subject lines, few links, easy unsubscribe.
Timeline
Reputation usually improves within 2–6 weeks of consistent, clean sending. Keep watching Postmaster Tools and your bounce and complaint rates.