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As of February 2024, Google (Gmail) and Yahoo are implementing some changes that could affect many businesses who send bulk emails to a mailing list such as their customers. These changes are intended to protect our email inboxes and decrease the amount of junk and spam emails that are allowed through. Unfortunately for many, these changes could also block the delivery of legitimate emails such as the ones companies send out to their customer lists.
Basically this just means that there needs to be records in place for your domain that ensure you are who you say you are. These records include:
SPF Records - This record defines the mail servers and domains that are allowed to send emails on your behalf.
DKIM - Verifies the message signature and who you are
DMARC - Tells the receiving email server what to do if things are not matching up with your SPF or DKIM records. This information can be helpful in troubleshooting email deliverability issues.
If you are a Zebralove Web Solutions hosting client, you are likely all set! We make sure all our hosting accounts have SPF, DKIM, and, in most cases, DMARC records in place as well. If you get a bounce back (an email that fails to send and returns an error message), simply forward it to us and we will figure out what is going on.
If you do not host your website with Zebralove Web Solutions, I would recommend reaching out to your web developer or hosting company to see if your domain DNS includes the required records. (By the way, we'd love to become your website hosting company - we include this type of update at no additional charge.)
No one likes to go through multiple steps when trying to unsubscribe from an email list. Don't you hate that form some companies make you fill out explaining why you no longer wish to receive the email? It's a sneaky way to keep you on an email list. Well, Google and Yahoo are cracking down on this practice.
If you use email platforms like MailChimp, Constant Contact, or another big email/newsletter software company you should be compliant. You can reach out to their tech support if you have questions.
A high spam score in an email typically indicates that the email has characteristics often associated with spam or unsolicited email messages.
To comply with this rule, it is important to get people to opt-in to your email list before you send promotional emails. Don't buy lists of emails and send them to unexpected recipients, that is a path to getting blocked due to these new rules. People who choose to unsubscribe from your list don't affect this number, just people reporting your email as spam.
You may also want to consider what you are sending in promotional emails. Make sure you are sending quality content that your recipients will value. If your email looks too "salesy" or you continually push people to buy your products and services, it could get reported as spam. Even if the recipient does opt-in to your list, they don't want a business to just SELL to them all the time. Make your newsletter worth reading with valuable content. If you aren't sure how to do that, reach out, we can help!
These changes are essentially enforcing what's already been considered best practice for business and marketing emails. Hopefully, these changes will reduce spam as intended, which we think we can all agree would be great.
If you have any questions about these changes, or other website or digital marketing concern, please contact us and we'll help however we can!
Milly has 18 years experience in designing and developing websites, developing apps, and online marketing. She is an expert at driving traffic to websites utilizing SEO strategies and custom digital marketing efforts. Her company, Zebralove Web Solutions offers full service digital marketing and website development. Comprehensive Search Engine Optimization services, and secure web hosting services.
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