Emails going to spam

[Craftymetal]

Currently not receiving any replies to emails I send customers this is after I’ve replied to an email they’ve sent either through a form on the website or directly to email address.

It seems from testing with family the emails I’m sending out are going straight into peoples spam box.

I’m using siteground to host the website with a sales@ email address run through zoho mail.

I’ve checked all of the spf, dmarc etc is all set correctly as confirmed on the dns records and from zoho admin console.

Anyone have any ideas as to why this is happening?

I’m thinking to change the email address to name@ (using my first name) so it’s more personable anyway would I benefit from moving away from zoho onto something like gsuite or office 365?

 

[fisicx]

Remove zoho and just use your domain email settings.

Make sure your IP isn't blacklisted:

MX Lookup Tool - Check your DNS MX Records online - MxToolbox

mxtoolbox.com

If not, this tool should tell you what the problem is:

Newsletters spam test by mail-tester.com

mail-tester.com is a free online service that allows you to test your emails for Spam, Malformed Content and Mail Server Configuration problems

www.mail-tester.com

 

[ctrlbrk]

Remove zoho and just use your domain email settings.

Can you elaborate?

 

[ctrlbrk]

@fisicx I asked if you can elaborate in my previous post because I too use Zoho.

Thanks for that email test facility, useful. I just tested that and I got a 10/10 score, telling me I am okay to send messages.

However, I did try sending from my domain to a Yahoo email address and it ended up in spam.

 

[fisicx]

Removing zoho from the chain just eliminates one of the possible causes.

Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL and others are notorious for junking valid emails.

 

[WaveJumper]

Out of interest have your emails got a load of fancy pictures or branding attached by any chance.

 

[Craftymetal]

Thanks all for the input testing on the first identifies 6 problems. The second is giving a 10/10 score.

I haven’t got any pictures or branding on the email it’s just plain text

 

[fisicx]

You need to get the blacklist cleared. It’s likely to be other sites on your server.

Siteground has had all sorts of issues with shared servers. Might be a good idea to migrate to a better host.

 

[WRENBRIDGE]

Currently not receiving any replies to emails I send customers this is after I’ve replied to an email they’ve sent either through a form on the website or directly to email address.

It seems from testing with family the emails I’m sending out are going straight into peoples spam box.

I’m using siteground to host the website with a sales@ email address run through zoho mail.

I’ve checked all of the spf, dmarc etc is all set correctly as confirmed on the dns records and from zoho admin console.

Anyone have any ideas as to why this is happening?

I’m thinking to change the email address to name@ (using my first name) so it’s more personable anyway would I benefit from moving away from zoho onto something like gsuite or office 365?

It sounds like you're facing email deliverability problems with Zoho Mail on SiteGround, with messages going to spam despite correct SPF and DMARC settings. To address this, ensure your email content is clean and professional, avoiding spam-triggering words and excessive links or images. Double-check that DKIM is configured correctly and use tools like MXToolbox to diagnose issues. Monitor your domain's reputation with SenderScore and keep your email list healthy by removing inactive subscribers. Test emails with different providers and consider using services like GlockApps to identify problems. Switching to GSuite or Office 365 might also help due to their strong deliverability infrastructure. Using a more personal email address can improve engagement too. These steps should help improve your email deliverability.

 

[BaileyLeblanc]

how can Zoho affect spam?

 

[Kent House Digital]

@fisicx I asked if you can elaborate in my previous post because I too use Zoho.

Thanks for that email test facility, useful. I just tested that and I got a 10/10 score, telling me I am okay to send messages.

However, I did try sending from my domain to a Yahoo email address and it ended up in spam.

There is a useful article on mailmodo.com on optimising to stay out of spam folders on Yahoo specifically (you'll need to Google "How to Pass Through the Yahoo Spam Filter to Land in Customer’s Inbox" since I am not allowed to post useful links in this forum):

 

[ctrlbrk]

There is a useful article on mailmodo.com on optimising to stay out of spam folders on Yahoo specifically (you'll need to Google "How to Pass Through the Yahoo Spam Filter to Land in Customer’s Inbox" since I am not allowed to post useful links in this forum):

Presumably, this is the article?

Yahoo Spam Filter - How Does It Work and How to Get Past It

Yahoo spam filter is a tricky one to get by. Learn how it works and what criteria it requires for your email to get past them.

www.mailmodo.com

 

[Kent House Digital]

Presumably, this is the article?

Yep, that's the one. Thanks for posting it. Bizarrely, I had to delete the link from your quoted reply in order to be allowed to post this reply!

 

[ctrlbrk]

Yep, that's the one. Thanks for posting it. Bizarrely, I had to delete the link from your quoted reply in order to be allowed to post this reply!

I think they tightened the spam rules to deal with the junk posts.

Thanks for the article anyway, I'll check it out.

 

[Kent House Digital]

Presumably, this is the article?

BTW, to answer your original question - so long as SPF, DKIM and DMARC are properly configured - there is absolutely no problem with using Zoho Mail. It's a good service and equivalent to Microsoft 365.

Problems with properly-configured outgoing mail ending up in spam folders at Yahoo, Gmail etc. are generally down to the content or structure of the mail triggering spam detection algorithms. There's a great list of factors to check at postmarkapp.com:

1. Your email isn’t properly authenticated
2. Your sending IP has a bad reputation
3. Your domain has a bad reputation
4. Your recipients marked your emails as spam
5. You don’t keep a clean email list
6. Your forms are being abused
7. You don’t have a working reply-to address set up
8. Your emails don’t have a plain-text version
9. You're using link shorteners
10. You use open URLs (i.e. using URL as the anchor text for links)
11. You're sending suspicious attachments
12. Your content triggers spam filters
13. You're using sloppy HTML

 

[Ricklaws]

Currently not receiving any replies to emails I send customers this is after I’ve replied to an email they’ve sent either through a form on the website or directly to email address.

It seems from testing with family the emails I’m sending out are going straight into peoples spam box.

I’m using siteground to host the website with a sales@ email address run through zoho mail.

I’ve checked all of the spf, dmarc etc is all set correctly as confirmed on the dns records and from zoho admin console.

Anyone have any ideas as to why this is happening?

I’m thinking to change the email address to name@ (using my first name) so it’s more personable anyway would I benefit from moving away from zoho onto something like gsuite or office 365?

Even if you’re not a bulk sender, it’s still good to make sure you adhere to the new requirements. After all, Google and Yahoo implemented these changes so your users won’t be annoyed about unwanted emails. And it’s always good to keep your users happy!

• Step 1: Set up a proprietary domain (@yourcompany.com) instead of using free email domains like @gmail.
• Step 2: Next, authenticate your sender domain with SPF or DKIM. If you’re a high-volume sender (so over 5,000 emails a day), then you should also implement a DMARC policy, even if set to “none”.
• Step 3: Keep spam report rates below 0.30% (even better: try to keep it below 0.10%).

 

[Techonis]

One way would be to set yourself with a Microsoft 365 Business Basic/Standard, depending on your budget, and since its for business you can claim back as expenses + VAT. You will get the MS Office products, i.e. word, excel, Outlook Email, and since it uses Microsoft you will get SPAM protection and you can use your @mycompany.com domain with it. Get the professional email service. Also Teams, for collaborating and Video calls.

 

[fisicx]

Or....

Just use the email service that you get for free with your hosting, configure it correctly and you are good to go. Can't see any point in paying for all that MS junk.

 

[Kerwin]

Or....

Just use the email service that you get for free with your hosting, configure it correctly and you are good to go. Can't see any point in paying for all that MS junk.

I honestly wouldn't trust host provided SMTP unless they were large and well regarded. Running your own email servers isn't as easy as running an HTTP server and requires close monitoring of all senders and spam reports.

If you are a bulk sender use something like Sendgrid or Mailgun. For business mail use Microsoft Exchange Online (Plan 1 or 2) or Google Workspace.

 

[fisicx]

I honestly wouldn't trust host provided SMTP unless they were large and well regarded.

Mine is. I probably should have said in my post that this only applies to decent hosts.

As an aside, the real issue in this thread was more to do with the overzealous spam filters applied to yahoo, hotmail and often gmail than it was the sender. I often have issues sending zip files to gmail as it rejects almost all attachments. Never have this issue when sending to hosted email addresses.

 

[Kent House Digital]

Or....

Just use the email service that you get for free with your hosting, configure it correctly and you are good to go. Can't see any point in paying for all that MS junk.

@Techonis was making the point that Microsoft365 comes with Office licences and more advanced spam and security features, which many businesses would find useful. Sticking with the utilitarian email service bundled with many web hosting packages **might** be adequate in other cases, but it would still need to be configured properly for security, deliverability and for branding. For clients who don't need separate mailbox services, just reliable and professional SMTP for sending mail through their website, we generally use Amazon Simple Email Service. The cost is negligible and it's a properly managed email service with good features.